Florida State Makes Its Mark in the ACC : Seminoles: Ward rallies FSU to 24-20 victory over Clemson, signaling a changing of the guard in the conference.

Atlantic Coast Conference newcomer Florida State gave No. 15 Clemson and a crowd of 83,500 an inkling of things to come Saturday night, rallying to beat the Tigers, 24-20.

The game was filled with mistakes--the teams combined for eight turnovers--but it also left the fans screaming and on their feet for much of the first night game at Clemson since 1956.

“I don’t think we did anything to hurt the series tonight,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. “We said it was going to be a natural and this was a great start.

“This doesn’t surprise me. (But) I wasn’t enjoying it on the sidelines.”

Coach Ken Hatfield said the game was a “classic,” even though he lost for the first time at home in three years as Clemson’s head man.

Florida State improved to 2-0 overall and in the ACC. Clemson, the defending conference champion, fell to 1-1 and 0-1.

“Sure, this was a big conference win,” Bowden said. “But they are all big games. If we don’t play better, we won’t win.”

Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward hit Kevin Knox with a nine-yard touchdown pass with 2:08 left. Ward, who threw four interceptions for the second consecutive game, completed all five of his passes for 64 yards in leading the Seminoles to the game-winning touchdown.

But he had help. Knox, who had a career-high six catches for 72 yards, made a diving catch for a 22-yard gain at the Clemson 42. After running for seven yards, Ward hit Lonnie Johnson for 13 before hooking up with Knox for the touchdown. “I found a little sweet spot,” Knox said.

Ward had 311 of the Seminoles’ 354 yards, completing 20 of 39 passes for 258 yards and two scores and rushing 11 times for 53 yards.

“I knew I made a lot of mistakes,” Ward said, “but I knew the defense was going to keep us in the game, and they did.”

Trailing, 10-3, at the half, the Tigers twice took the lead in the second half. But each time the Seminoles answered before the fourth-largest crowd in Clemson history to hand the Tigers their first home loss since a 30-10 defeat to North Carolina State in 1989.