Seminoles expect no less than Hokies’ best

LITTLE ROCK — When No. 10 Florida State and Virginia Tech meet tonight, only the Seminoles will be playing for high stakes.

The Hokies (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) are in the midst of their worst season in 20 years and fighting just to become bowl eligible.

It’s exactly the kind of setup Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel has warned his teammates about this week - a struggling team putting its best effort forward on a big stage.

“I think I saw that a little bit in the N.C. State game,” Manuel said of Florida State’slone loss, 17-16 at North Carolina State on Oct. 6. “Not to say that we took them lightly, but they played lights out, they had a good game. ... If they get a chance to knock us off, it will kind of make their season.”

The Hokies have three games remaining, and need to win two to qualify for a bowl for the 20th consecutive season. They still have games against Boston College and Virginia, but beating the Seminoles would be a big boost.

And despite how frustrating the season has been, Hokies cornerback Kyle Fuller knows they have the talentto win.

“I know what we can do,” Fuller said. “I’m not feeling sorry for us. We can’t settle. We’ve let a lot of games get away from us this season. We can’t settle with that. We have to improve and gain back those games that we lost. This would be a great one to do it.”

The Hokies and Seminoles (8-1, 5-1) have split four meetings since Virginia Tech joined the ACC in 2004, each winning once when the matchups came in the ACC Championship Game.

It starts with Manuel, who hails from Virginia Beach.He’s completing 70 percent of his passes this season and has thrown for 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also makes plays with his feet as Clemson learned when he threw for 380 yards and ran for 102 more in a 49-37 victory on Sept. 22.

With the very efficient Manuel at the controls, the Seminoles rank third nationally with an average of nearly 45 points per game. Making the challenge more daunting, they allow just 227 yards per game, best in the country, and rank in the top four in rushing defense, passing defense and scoring defense (12 ppg).