Florida St. Reaffirms Its Status

Florida State used a remarkable 30 minutes of football to regain its stature as the team to beat in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Chris Rix threw two touchdowns and ran for another as the fifth-ranked Seminoles took a 30-point halftime lead and rolled past Maryland, 37-10, Saturday night.

After having their nine-year run as ACC champions halted by Maryland last season, the Seminoles (3-0, 2-0) re-established their superiority in authoritative fashion.

Turning three turnovers into touchdowns, Florida State went up, 30-0, at halftime and improved to 13-0 against Maryland (1-2, 0-1). Since joining the ACC in 1992, the Seminoles have won 11 in a row over the Terrapins by an average score of 50-15.

Unlike last year, when the Seminoles fell behind, 14-0, and needed a late surge to beat the Terrapins, this one was decided when FSU scored 24 points in the second quarter.

Rix followed a Terrapin fumble with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin to make it 13-0. The quarterback also scored from the one after a Florida State interception, and 31 seconds later Rix passed to Talman Gardner for a 56-yard touchdown pass after another Maryland fumble.

Maryland finally got a field goal in the third quarter, but by that time the crowd of 51,758 had thinned.

Rix completed 13 of 25 passes for 227 yards, leaving after absorbing a hard hit in the fourth quarter. Greg Jones rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Gardner had four catches for 109 yards.