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Late touchdown pass saves Seminoles

Florida State’s Vince Williams (left) closes in on Virginia Tech wide receiver Dyrell Roberts in the second half Thursday night.
Florida State’s Vince Williams (left) closes in on Virginia Tech wide receiver Dyrell Roberts in the second half Thursday night.

— E.J. Manuel hit Rashad Greene with a slant pass that Greene took 39 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds to play and No. 10 Florida State survived a scare to beat Virginia Tech 28-22 on Thursday night.

The Seminoles (9-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their fourth consecutive and moved within a victory against Maryland on Nov. 17 of securing a spot in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 1.

The Hokies (4-6, 2-4) lost for the fifth time in six games and will have to beat Boston College and Virginia in their final regular-season games to qualify for a bowl game for the 20th consecutive year.

The Hokies had gone ahead 22-20 on Cody Journell’s 21-yard field goal with 2:19 remaining. The kick capped a 52-yard drive that stalled when Logan Thomas ran for 2 yards on third-and-3 from the 6.

The Hokies limited the Seminoles to 311 yards, more than 200 below their average for the season, and gained possession leading to the goahead field goal with a stellar defensive series.

After the Seminoles took over at their 20, Manuel threw incomplete on first down and James Gayle sacked him for a 10-yard loss on second down. A delay of game penalty moved the ball back to the 5 and, when the Seminoles tried running Devonta Freeman to the left, Jack Tyler caught him from behind in the end zone. Freeman tried to throw it, an illegal forward pass, and the safety pulled the Hokies to 20-19.

It also gave them the ball, but when they managed only a field goal, the Seminoles made them pay.

Limited to minus-15 rushing yards for the game, they got 7 from James Wilder Jr. on a fourth-and-1 play from their 41, and Manuel hit Greg Dent for 13 yards two plays later. After Manuel threw a pass away under pressure, he hit Greene on a short slant against a zone defense and Greene took it all the way.

The Seminoles opened a 20-10 lead with a 49-yard touchdown drive after recovering a fumble by Hokies wide receiver Marcus Davis. Manuel completed three passes on the six-play drive, including a 10-yard bullet to Greg Dent in the back of the end zone with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

Virginia Tech replied quickly, driving 80 yards in eight plays. Thomas hit Corey Fuller for 44 and 14 yards on the drive and ran it in himself from the 5, bulling over several defenders.

The game was delayed for about 10 minutes in the third quarter when Virginia Tech safety Michael Cole was hurt and lay face-down and motionless on the field. As the crowd stood in silence, Cole was taken away by ambulance. The school said he had a neck sprain, but had feeling and movement in his extremities.

The Seminoles arrived with the nation’s No. 3 scoring offense, averaging nearly 45 points, but the Hokies neutralized it for the first 27 minutes, allowing just a pair of field goals by Dustin Hopkins.

Sports, Pages 23 on 11/09/2012

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