College Football | Wake Forest too good for Florida State

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Riley Skinner wasn't good enough to play for the Florida State Seminoles. Once again, he proved talented enough to help Wake Forest beat them.

Skinner's 35-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Moore in the fourth quarter led the Demon Deacons past No. 21 Florida State 24-21 on Thursday night and helped the sophomore quarterback improve to 2-0 against his home-state school that didn't recruit him.

"We needed that for Wake Forest this year [because] a lot of people doubted us, we hadn't really won real pretty," Skinner said. "We needed that for our confidence and to show we're for real."

Skinner completed 19 of 27 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns for the Demon Deacons (4-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).

The defending league champs rallied in the second half to follow up last year's stunning 30-0 rout in Tallahassee by claiming the first consecutive wins over the Seminoles (4-2, 1-2) in school history.

"They didn't want to be a one-hit wonder and just have a good season last year," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "There's been a lot of pressure on this football team."

Skinner led the Demon Deacons 82 yards in nine plays, converting three third downs during their go-ahead drive. The biggest came when Skinner sidestepped a pass rush, stepped forward in the pocket and found Moore, who had a step on cornerback Jamie Robinson at the goal line, for the easy score that put Wake Forest up 21-14 with 6:41 remaining.

"It got into a battle of quarterbacks, and their quarterback made the play down there that won the game," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said.

Josh Adams rushed 18 times for 140 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown run, and caught a scoring pass. Micah Andrews gained 57 tough yards in helping spark the comeback from a 14-7 halftime deficit. The Demon Deacons ran all over Florida State's 11th-ranked run defense, gaining 180 yards, more than double the Seminoles' 81.8 yards entering the game.

"Everybody got that first hit, and after that, we kind of figured out that ... we can play with these guys," Andrews said.

Sanchez to start

at QB for USC

LOS ANGELES — Quarterback Mark Sanchez will make his first career start for No. 10 USC on Saturday, replacing the injured John David Booty against Arizona.

USC coach Pete Carroll made official after practice Thursday what had been expected since the beginning of the week, when Booty was unable to throw because of the soreness and swelling in the broken middle finger on his throwing hand.

"We're counting on him to play a heck of a game," Carroll said of Sanchez, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt sophomore. "He had a great week. He's been around this offense for years. I know how excited he is — I've got to calm him down. He's ready for this. He's waited for this. He's been in games."

Notes

• Texas A&M officials admonished coach Dennis Franchione for his secretive, for-pay newsletter and said the embarrassing episode would be a factor in deciding whether he returns next season. Franchione didn't lose his job, but athletic director Bill Byrne said the newsletter — which delivered inside information to boosters for $1,200 a year — would be considered when he evaluates the coach after the season. Franchione was ordered to shut down his Web site, CoachFran.com. The school said it would report the results of its investigation to the NCAA because of possible rules violations. "The Aggies are embarrassed right now," Byrne said.

• An exchange of words with another motorist on a campus road was blown out of proportion by Internet-fueled rumors and media speculation, Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. The motorist complained to university police about Paterno's conduct after the Oct. 5 incident. No charges were filed. "I really resent the whole thing. I don't even know the names of the people who accused me of it," Paterno said.

• Weber State quarterback Cameron Higgins was reinstated to the team after prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to charge him with shoplifting, a misdemeanor.