Florida State holds off Alabama

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Xavier Lee came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes to De’Cody Fagg, and Antone Smith scored on a five-yard run as Florida State defeated No. 22 Alabama, 21-14, Saturday in front of 85,412, the most to see a game in Jacksonville.

Florida State (3-1) gave Coach Bobby Bowden his 369th win in his first game against Alabama.

It was Florida State’s first victory in four tries against Alabama in the first meeting between the schools since 1974, when Alabama won, 8-7, by scoring a safety and field goal in the final 1:27.

Lee, who went into the game in the second quarter, hit Fagg with a seven-yard pass for the game’s first touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. The two then teamed up on a 70-yard touchdown pass with 4 minutes 46 seconds to play to give the Seminoles a 21-7 lead.

Alabama (3-2) cut the lead to 14-7 with 5:04 left on DJ Hall’s leaping grab in the back of the end zone on a pass from John Parker Wilson.

Wilson added a 17-yard scoring pass to Keith Brown with 1:06 left.

Wilson completed 28 of 53 passes for 240 yards with Hall catching seven for 83 yards. Alabama’s leading rusher, Terry Grant, was held to 36 of the team’s 89 yards rushing.

Lee completed 12 of 19 passes for 224 yards after making his first appearance of the year and ran for a game-high 59 yards in what began as a defensive struggle for both teams. He replaced Drew Weatherford, who could not produce any first-quarter points despite having good field position and a brisk wind at his back.