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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A strong second-half surge helped propel Florida State to a 34-10 victory over BYU on Saturday in Tallahassee in front of 68,795 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Freshman quarterback Jake Heaps threw his first career touchdown, finishing 15-of-31 for 114 yards on the day after coming in for Riley Nelson early in the first half. Junior running back JJ Di Luigi followed up his first-career 100-yard game at Air Force last week with 93 yards on 18 carries while adding 36 yards on three catches.

The Seminoles were the only team to get on the scoreboard in the first quarter, converting a 26-yard field goal with 36 seconds left on the clock. The Cougar defense stiffened to force the three points after Florida State marched 62 yards in 10 plays on the drive.

BYU’s defense again stood strong when needed in the second quarter after a Heaps fumble at the team’s 20-yard line gave the Seminoles great field position. Three plays later FSU had lost nine yards and was forced to attempt a 47-yard field goal, which sophomore Dustin Hopkins knocked through for a 6-0 advantage.

The lead quickly grew to 13-0 when sophomore running back Chris Thompson took the first handoff of FSU’s next possession and broke free for an 83-yard sprint down the left sideline to the end zone.

BYU responded with a 49-yard drive to get on the board with a 28-yard field goal with 4:26 to go in the half. Heaps led the drive with Di Luigi contributing on several nice runs.

After the BYU defense forced a three-and-out, Heaps and Di Luigi again helped provided some offensive firepower, guiding the Cougars 71 yards over 11 plays for Heaps’ touchdown pass, a 4-yarder to freshman Cody Hoffman just 14 seconds before the half. Heaps converted the throw on a third-and-goal call, hitting Hoffman crossing over the back of the end zone. The touchdown was also the first of Hoffman’s career.

Heaps went 8-of-13 in the first half for 59 yards while Di Luigi gained 72 yards on the ground as BYU totaled 152 yards of total offense in the half compared to 215 by the Seminoles.

The Cougars started the second half without the services of Outland Trophy candidate Matt Reynolds, who was hurt on the touchdown throw at the end of the half. He returned at the end of the third quarter and played with a lower leg contusion after x-rays were negative. Also out after a blow to the head in the first half was starting free safety Steven Thomas, who, unlike Reynolds, was not able to return with a concussion.

BYU was unable to put points on the board in the second half, while FSU scored touchdowns on both of its chances in the third quarter to retake the momentum with a 27-10 lead heading into the final quarter. After a fumble by Heaps on a four-down conversion attempt, the Seminoles added a late touchdown with under two minutes remaining for the final tally.

BYU is now 1-2 while Florida State improves to 2-1 on the season. The Cougars will play in LaVell Edwards Stadium for the first time in three weeks on Sept. 25, taking on Nevada (3-0) in Provo.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

Brigham Young....... 0 10 0 0 - 10 Record: (1-2,0-1)

Florida State....... 3 10 14 7 - 34 Record: (2-1)

Scoring Summary:

1st 00:36 FS - Dustin Hopkins 26 yd field goal, 10-62 4:44, BY 0 - FS 3

2nd 09:56 FS - Dustin Hopkins 47 yd field goal, 4--9 1:24, BY 0 - FS 6

07:40 FS - Chris Thompson 83 yd run (Dustin Hopkins kick), 1-83 0:14, BY 0 - FS 13

04:26 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 28 yd field goal, 7-49 3:14, BY 3 - FS 13

00:14 BY - HOFFMAN, Cody 4 yd pass from HEAPS, Jake (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 11-71 1:56, BY 10 - FS 13

3rd 07:16 FS - Ty Jones 2 yd pass from Christian Ponder (Dustin Hopkins kick), 14-63 6:53, BY 10 - FS 20

00:55 FS - Christian Ponder 1 yd run (Dustin Hopkins kick), 4-86 1:37, BY 10 - FS 27

4th 01:35 FS - Ty Jones 9 yd run (Dustin Hopkins kick), 4-7 2:23, BY 10 - FS 34

BY FS

FIRST DOWNS................... 17 19

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 35-76 44-278

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 115 149

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 35-16-1 21-14-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 70-191 65-427

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-19 4-18

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 1-24 2-18

Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 1-2

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-47.0 3-47.0

Fumbles-Lost.................. 4-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards............... 5-45 8-65

Possession Time............... 25:54 34:06

Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 15 6 of 13

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 3 1 of 1

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 5-6

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 3-16 8-52

RUSHING: Brigham Young-DI LUIGI, JJ 18-93; KARIYA, Bryan 7-27; QUEZADA,

Joshua 1-9; NELSON, Riley 3-8; HEAPS, Jake 6-minus 61. Florida State-Chris

Thompson 9-123; Ty Jones 15-95; Christian Ponder 13-50; Jermaine Thomas 4-9;

Lonnie Pryor 1-5; TEAM 2-minus 4.

PASSING: Brigham Young-HEAPS, Jake 15-31-0-114; NELSON, Riley 1-4-1-1.

Florida State-Christian Ponder 14-21-0-149.

RECEIVING: Brigham Young-HOFFMAN, Cody 5-17; DI LUIGI, JJ 3-36; CHAMBERS,

O'Nei 2-27; KARIYA, Bryan 2-10; ASHWORTH, Luke 2-6; HAGUE, Mike 1-13; JACOBSON,

McKay 1-6. Florida State-Bert Reed 9-89; Rodney Smith 2-18; Willie Haulstead

1-34; Taiwan Easterling 1-6; Ty Jones 1-2.

INTERCEPTIONS: Brigham Young-None. Florida State-Xavier Rhodes 1-2.

FUMBLES: Brigham Young-HEAPS, Jake 3-0; NELSON, Riley 1-1. Florida

State-Bert Reed 1-1; Christian Ponder 1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): Brigham Young-MANUMALEUNA, Ea 1-1; PENDLETON, Jord 1-1.

Florida State-Brandon Jenkins 2-0; Dan Hicks 1-0; Everett Dawkins 1-0; Markus

White 1-0; Anthony McCloud 1-0; Xavier Rhodes 1-0; Bjoern Werner 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Brigham Young-PENDLETON, Jord 9-3; RICH, Andrew 6-4;

JORGENSEN, Aust 7-0; HUNTER, Shane 4-0; FUGA, Romney 2-2; LEUNG-WAI, Aven 2-2;

LOGAN, Brian 2-2; FRAZIER, Jameso 3-0; THOMAS, Steven 2-1; FOOTE, David 2-0;

BRADLEY, Brando 2-0; EASON, Corby 2-0; MANUMALEUNA, Ea 1-1; MENDENHALL, Zek 1-0;

UALE, Travis 1-0; DI LUIGI, JJ 1-0; SO'OTO, Vic 0-1. Florida State-Kendall Smith

5-2; Greg Reid 4-2; Nigel Bradham 4-2; Markus White 4-0; Brandon Jenkins 3-1;

Nick Moody 3-1; Terrance Parks 2-2; Xavier Rhodes 2-0; Bjoern Werner 2-0; Mike

Harris 2-0; Everett Dawkins 2-0; Lamarcus Joyner 2-0; Mister Alexander 2-0;

Jacobbi McDaniel 2-0; Anthony McCloud 2-0; Dan Hicks 1-0; Chris Revell 1-0;

Jajuan Harley 1-0; Telvin Smith 1-0.

Game 3: BYU Cougars vs. Florida State Seminoles

BYU will take on Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live from Doak Campbell Stadium on ESPNU and KSL Radio 1160 AM and 102.7 FM. The game will be rebroadcast Saturday evening on BYUtv at 9:30 p.m. MT.

BYU (1-1) at Florida State (1-1)

September 18, 2010

3:30 p.m. ET

Doak Campbell Stadium

Tallahassee, FL

THE BYU-FLORIDA STATE SERIES

BYU has had little luck against Florida State and is still looking for its first win in the series. Last season, the Seminoles came into LaVell Edwards Stadium and upset BYU, ranked No. 7 in the country. BYU also played Florida State in two season openers in 1991 and 2000. In 2000, the two teams played in the Pigskin Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., where quarterback Chris Weinke lead Florida State to victory. In 1991, Ty Detmer and the Cougars traveled to Anaheim, Calif., for another Pigskin Classic in one of three losses for BYU that year.

BYU VS. FLORIDA STATE NOTES

- BYU is looking for its first win in four tries against Florida State. The game is the first the Cougars have ever played in Doak Campbell Stadium.

- Last season, quarterback Riley Nelson threw 3-for-3 for 61 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to JJ Di Luigi in the fourth quarter in BYU’s 54-28 loss to the Seminoles.

- The Cougars have never won a football game in the state of Florida in four tries. BYU’s first attempt was in the Tangerine Bowl where the Cougars lost, 49-21, to Oklahoma State. In the Citrus Bowl in 1985, BYU dropped a close decision to Ohio State, 10-7. The latest two games have been regular season contests with the Cougars falling at Miami, 41-17, and at Jacksonville against Florida State, 29-3.

- BYU has not defeated an ACC team since August 28, 2003, against Georgia Tech, a 24-13 win in Provo. The last time the Cougars defeated an ACC opponent on the road was a 38-35 win at Virginia on September 2, 2000.

FULL DEFENSE

After two games, 22 different BYU defenders have notched at least one tackle. Four players have double-digit totals while four others have nine tackles apiece. Seven defenders have at least 0.5 tackles for loss while the defense has two sacks, one interception, eight pass break-ups, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble.

COPY CATS

BYU rushed for 139 yards in the first quarter alone after gaining 140 yards total on the ground last week against Wash- ington. The Cougars finished with 221 yards on 34 carries against Air Force.

FIRST IN THE NATION

BYU’s kickoff return defense has been ranked first in the nation both weeks of the 2010 football season. The Cougars allowed just 20 yards on three punts against Washington and 12 yards on one punt at Air Force for an average of 8.0 yards per game.

RUN, RUN, RUN

JJ Di Luigi led the Cougars for the second week in a row on the ground, rushing for his first-ever 100-yard rush- ing game. Di Luigi ran for a career-high 103 yards on seven carries. The junior had 76 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. He also set a new career-long rush of 43 yards in the first quarter.

Di Luigi is 24th in the country in all-purpose rushing, averaging 157.5 yards per game. That mark is also good for first in the MWC.

See the attached PDF for the complete Air Force game notes.