Florida State Lets Up After Building Lead : ACC: Seminoles’ 31-18 victory over North Carolina is 20th in a row against conference foes.

Bobby Bowden was getting ready to sit on a stool and nurse his sore back, but North Carolina kept him on his toes.

“They gave us fits,” the Florida State coach said Saturday night after a 31-18 victory over the Tar Heels. “I had the stool ready and was thinking we’d get one more score and I could sit down.

“I thought it was over,” said Bowden, who is under doctor’s orders to rest his back following surgery in August.

The third-ranked Seminoles seemed to have things in hand with a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter, but No. 13 North Carolina had momentum when the game ended.

“They might be a darned great ballclub,” Bowden said. “If they’re not, we’re not going to make it.”

It was Florida State’s closest Atlantic Coast Conference game since a 13-3 victory at Virginia in October, 1992. The Seminoles, 4-0 overall and in the ACC, are within a game of matching Maryland’s conference mark of 21 consecutive victories set in the mid 1970s.

North Carolina (2-1, 0-1) pulled to within 31-18 early in the fourth quarter and had good field position on two other possessions, but lost fumbles on successive drives, including one at the Florida State 11.

Tripp Pignetti’s 42-yard field goal with 12:15 to play brought the Tar Heels to within 31-18. North Carolina had cut its deficit to 31-15 late in the third quarter on Malcolm Marshall’s one-yard touchdown run and Curtis Johnson’s sweep around end for a two-point conversion.

“I don’t want to play that option any more,” Bowden said. “It drives you crazy. We simply could not stop that quarterback.”

Jason Stanicek completed 17 of 29 passes for 178 yards and kept the Seminoles on their heels for much of the second half, but three fumbles ruined North Carolina’s upset hopes.

“We’re not into moral victories,” North Carolina Coach Mack Brown said. “We can be a really good football team if we stop making mistakes.”

North Carolina started four times in Florida State territory in the first half, but managed only one score.

Danny Kanell passed for three touchdowns and Warrick Dunn ran for 121 yards for Florida State, which is off next week before going into the Orange Bowl Oct. 8 against Miami.

Kanell’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Kez McCorvey gave Florida State a 31-7 lead with 6:56 to play in the third quarter before the North Carolina defense took charge.

“It’s a little discouraging to come out and really jump on them and then kind of let up and finish the way we did,” Kanell said. “We got a little complacent.”

Andre Cooper, who caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, set up Florida State’s first score of the second half with a leaping catch at the North Carolina one. Zack Crockett scored on the next play.

Kanell’s five-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Pearsall ended a 79-yard drive on the game’s first possession and the first of Scott Bentley’s four conversion kicks gave the Seminoles a 7-0 lead.

Dunn, who carried five times for 44 yards during the opening drive, had 105 yards rushing at halftime.

The defenses took over the rest of the half.