, whose team generated 511 yards of offense. "I think tonight shows you we are getting back."
Noles starting quarterback Christian Ponder, who is a red shirt junior, looked unstoppable as he completed 21 of his 25 pass attempts for 195 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers as Florida State improved to 2-1 on the season.
While Ponder was putting together his solid night with his air attack, he also had the help of solid play from several tailbacks as the running game got on track after struggling in the first two games of the season. Sophomore Ty Jones rushed for 109 yards on 13 carries and Freshmen Lonnie Pryor turned in 50 yards of his own with two scores on seven rushes. Ponder also had a successful night rushing the ball as well as he ran for 79 yards of his own with one touchdown.
The receivers also had a break out night, as Jacksonville's own Rod Owens, who is a red shirt senior and Sophomore Jarmon Fortson had four catches each combining for 90 yards. Bert Reed recorded 34 yards of own and tight end Caz Piurowski had 38 yards as well.
For the Seminoles, the defense continued to struggle as they had a tough time containing the Cougars offense as quarterback Max Hall had a solid night in his team's loss, as he and his offense posted 475 yards and four touchdowns. The defense, despite the yards and the points given up, did come up with several huge plays as they forced five turnovers and contributed 17 points off those takeaways.
After looking flat in their win over Jacksonville State, the Noles looked like a very different offensive team right out the gates.
On the opening drive of the football game, Florida State marched 80 yards and scored first when Jones dove into the end zone with a three yard run.
In the ensuing drive where BYU threatened to answer with a score of their own, Budd Thacker forced a fumble which was picked up by Kevin McNeil.
The Tribe were once again methodical, as they once again dominated the Cougar defense on a time consuming 18-play drive that was capped off by Pryor's first touchdown as a Seminole to push the lead to 13-0.
Brigham Young's offense responded on their next possession, as Hall and his receivers had several nice plays which resulted in a touchdown that cut the lead to 13-7.
Despite the Cougar score, the FSU offense once again picked up where it left off as they were set up by a nice kickoff return to the 40-yard line. After a spectacular highlight-reel run by Jones of 47 yards, Pryor scored yet again to make the score 20-7.
On the next BYU possession, it was obvious that the defense for the Noles would struggle with the Cougars potent offense, as they once again scored to cut the lead to 20-14. Ponder and company once again responded nicely as they orchestrated another awesome drive. Tavares Pressley, playing in his first game as a Seminole put his team in great position as he had a 12-yard run to put FSU on the 5 yard line. Two plays later Piurowski grabbed a five yard pass in the back of the end zone to up the score to 27-14 with 24 seconds left in the second quarter.
Despite little time on the clock in the half, the offense was not through scoring.
On the following kickoff for BYU, true freshman safety Jajuan Harley forced a fumble setting up Dustin Hopkins for a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give FSU a 30-14 advantage at the break.
After the break, the Noles picked up where they left off in the third quarter, as Reid ended a nice half opening drive by the Cougars as he picked off a pass from Hall and returned it for a touchdown to make the score 34-14.
On the next BYU possession, the Noles forced the Cougars into their first punt of the night, which once again returned the football back to Ponder and the offense. On top 37-14 against a Brigham Young team that had just allowed an average of eight points per game to Saturday's contest, the offense scored again when Ponder dove in the end zone to up the lead to an amazing 44-14 lead.
The Cougars demonstrated that they still had fight in them, as they scored on their ensuing possession on an 80 yard pass to cut the lead to 44-21.
Two possessions later, where BYU had possession, linebacker Nigel Bradham set up a Hopkins field goal with his first career interception to give the Noles a 47-21 lead. On the last scoring drive for the Noles Ponder connected with Fortson on a 16-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 54-21. Cougar's backup quarterback Riley Nelson hit JJ Di Luigi down the middle for a 30 yard touchdown pass with 5:11 to play for the final 54-28 margin.
With the win by the Seminoles, it snapped BYU's 18 game home winning streak, and the 54 points were the second most points allowed by the Cougars on their home turf.
Florida State returns to action on Saturday, September 26, 2009, as they will return home to face the USF Bulls. Fans will be encouraged to sport white shirts, and the team will don all-white uniforms at home for the first time in the history of the program.
Game time is slated for a noon kick-off.
