McManus Gets His Chance, Leads Florida State, 38-12

It was a long wait for Florida State sophomore Danny McManus, but it paid off Saturday. McManus, who was a redshirt player last season, threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in his first collegiate start to lead the Seminoles to a 38-12 victory over Tulane in the Superdome.

It was Florida State’s ninth consecutive season-opening victory. Tulane, with Mack Brown making his head coaching debut, lost its season opener for the sixth straight year.

“They had some good defensive backs, but our receivers can make other defensive backs look real bad,” said McManus, who scattered his 14 pass completions among seven receivers.

Darrin Holloman caught seven passes for 84 yards, including a 22-yard scoring play that gave Florida State the lead for good at 14-7 in the second quarter.

“I give him (Holloman) a five-yard pass, and he can turn it into 85 yards,” McManus said.

Phillip Bryant caught McManus’ other scoring pass, a 15-yarder on Florida State’s second play of the game.

McManus capped his finest collegiate day with a pair of one-yard touchdown runs in the final period as Florida State pulled away. He finished with 14 completions in 19 attempts for 191 yards. He threw one interception.

“Danny McManus played a lot better than I could have hoped for,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. “We needed to find out today whether he could do the job, and I think he proved he can.”

Tulane kept it close until the second half. The Green Wave tied the game in the first quarter on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Kim Karcher to running back Rodney Hunter, then got a safety and a 52-yard field goal from freshman Dwayne Clements to trail, 14-12, at halftime.

Florida State used a 14-yard run by Cletis Jones and a 49-yard field goal by Derek Schmidt to build its lead to 24-12 after three quarters. Jones led Florida State runners with 81 yards in 13 carries.

Early turnovers by Florida State kept it close in the first half.

After holding Tulane on the opening series, Florida State drove 34 yards for the game’s first touchdown. McManus threw a 19-yard pass to Hassan Jones on the Tulane 15, then hit Bryant for the touchdown on the next play.

Florida State drove inside the Tulane 15 on its next two possessions, only to fumble the ball away.

The Seminoles made it 14-7 in the second period by driving 40 yards in just four plays. After Jones carried twice for six yards, McManus threw 12 yards to Pat Carter to the Tulane 22 and hit Holloman for a touchdown on the next play.

Tulane got most of its yardage through the air, with Karcher completing 19 of 27 pass attempts for 135 yards.