TALLAHASSEE -- For several years, the Florida State-N.C. State rivalry has been defined by defense.

Dating back to the 2004 game, when each team accounted for less than 125 yards of total offense, the Seminoles and Wolfpack have pounded away at each other with punishing defenses and simply hoped their offenses would do enough to escape with a victory.

Consider these two statistics: Neither team has scored more than 27 points in any of those five games, and the average score of the winning team was 22.8.

But if current trends are any indication, both might eclipse those numbers Saturday.

``If you look at it on paper, it looks like a shootout,'' FSU coach Bobby Bowden said.

That would be putting it mildly.

Florida State and N.C. State not only possess two of the Atlantic Coast Conference's top three passing offenses, they also own two of the ACC's worst three scoring defenses.

During their past four games, the Wolfpack have allowed an average of 40.5 points. And they were particularly bad in their last two outings, giving up 49 points against Duke and then 52 against Boston College. The Wolfpack hadn't allowed that many points in a game since 2000, when FSU racked up 58.

While this year's FSU squad isn't quite on par with that group -- the last of Bowden's teams to play for a national championship -- the Seminoles have proved to be plenty dangerous with junior quarterback Christian Ponder. Through seven games, Ponder leads the ACC in passing yards and total offense.

``Ponder's probably down there salivating about the opportunity to throw against us,'' said N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien, whose injury-depleted defensive backfield has started seven different lineups in eight games. ``Certainly we have to play better pass defense.''

If only that were the extent of N.C. State's problems.

One week after Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis blistered the Wolfpack for 459 yards and five touchdowns on 40-of-50 passing, Boston College tailback Montel Harris gobbled up 264 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries.

But what makes this match-up particularly interesting, from an offensive standpoint, is that the Seminoles haven't played any better on defense. FSU has allowed at least 27 points in five of seven games, and Mickey Andrews' unit is the only one in the conference giving up more than 400 yards per contest.

Add in the fact that N.C. State boasts perhaps the conference's most dynamic quarterback in sophomore Russell Wilson, who was named first-team All-ACC as a freshman, and it's easy to see why the Vegas oddsmakers put the over-under total at 64 ½ points.

``He's dangerous with his feet as well as his arm,'' Bowden said of Wilson.

The Seminoles did a decent job of containing Wilson last season in a 26-17 victory; he completed 13 of 25 passes for 181 yards and ran four times for 33 more. But Andrews and Bowden said they have little reason to expect a similar performance.

FSU's defense has dropped off considerably since then, and Wilson has expanded his game.

``You've got to remember he was a freshman last year,'' Andrews said. ``He probably didn't have all of his offense in at that time. I do know that he got us on two big plays; two touchdown passes. He is one of the most elusive people that we have faced. He reminds you of that quarterback at Virginia Tech [Tyrod Taylor].''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@