COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Florida State Drops Hammer on Duke : ACC: No. 1 Seminoles rout Blue Devils, 70-26, remain unbeaten in conference play.

A decade of contending for national championships has taught Florida State a lot about how to protect high rankings. The Seminoles take no one for granted.

The No. 1 Seminoles scored touchdowns on seven of their first eight possessions Saturday and routed Duke, 70-26, before a crowd of 51,200 in the Citrus Bowl.

“So far, so good is about all I can say about this one,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. “I’d grade our effort as an A for the offense and B or B-minus for the defense. They were able to exploit our defense a few times, and that concerns me.”

Danny Kanell threw for 275 yards and four touchdowns for Florida State, which amassed 797 yards total offense and remained unbeaten against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents since joining the league in 1992.

Rock Preston and Warrick Dunn each scored once and rushed for more than 100 yards in the first half to pace a 351-yard ground attack. The 70 points allowed by Duke, which accepted a lucrative offer to move its home game from Durham, N.C., to Orlando, were the most in school history.

The victory was the 250th for Bowden, who joined Bear Bryant, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner and Joe Paterno as the only coaches to reach that plateau in Division I-A.

“I don’t think we could have asked for a better first game, especially from the first-team offense,” Kanell said. “Everybody was executing just like they were supposed to. It was really a case of us showing what we’re capable of doing.”

Preston scored on an 85-yard run and Dunn broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and went 33 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Pooh Bear Williams, the Seminoles’ 280-pound fullback, scored on three short runs en route to a 54-12 halftime lead.

Kanell completed nine of his first 10 passes and finished with 21 completions in 27 attempts.

E.G. Green scored on a 24-yard reception and Andre Cooper caught touchdown passes of one and 11 yards from Kanell, who left the game midway through the second quarter only to return briefly in the third.

Duke, held to 167 yards in the first half by Florida State’s first unit, scored against the reserves on Charles London’s 51-yard run early in the third quarter and Spence Fischer’s 35-yard pass to Corey Thomas.