FSU Seminoles

With 2012 winding to a close, we're counting down the five biggest moments of the past season for Florida State. Today, we look at No. 3: Rashad Greene's touchdown catch to beat Virginia Tech.

When fans perused the schedule before the season began, it was the Thursday night showdown against Virginia Tech most often circled as the key to Florida State's fortunes. As the season developed, however, the Hokies slumped, and with each passing week, that road trip to Blacksburg, Va., in mid-November felt less and less significant.

By the time the game was finally over, however, there was no question that Florida State's win -- and more significantly, the final, brilliant drive -- was one fans would remember for a while.

Florida State went into the game with still faint hopes of a national title and was cruising toward a conference title. Virginia Tech's season was already on life support, and pride and a bowl appearance were the last vestiges of inspiration. Still, the Hokies showed plenty of fight.

FSU battled to a narrow lead at the half then took what seemed to be a commanding 20-10 lead on a 10-yard touchdown throw from EJ Manuel to Greg Dent midway through the third quarter. Then the wheels came off.

The running game never could get going, and the Seminoles finished with a historically bad minus-15 yards on the ground. The offensive line was a mess, and Manuel was sacked five times. Dent and Rashad Greene carried the load for the receiving corps.

A Logan Thomas touchdown, a brutally ugly safety on a Devonta Freeman run and a Tech field goal quickly turned the tide, and with 2:13 left to play in the game, the Hokies clung to a two-point lead.

It was disaster for Florida State. To lose again as a heavy favorite after the offense disappeared in the second half would've been a huge blow, and for all of Manuel's accomplishments during his five years in Tallahassee, leading a game-winning drive of this magnitude wasn't on his resume.

That was about to change.

The drive started badly -- a penalty, an incompletion, and a short, 6-yard pass. Manuel's third-down pass to Kenny Shaw left FSU a yard short of a first down, and given the struggles of the running game, it might as well have been a mile.

Still, Jimbo Fisher trusted his sophomore tailback, and the bruising James Wilder Jr. plowed forward -- first held up at the line of scrimmage, then fighting through for a 7-yard gain and a first down.

"I lost yards two of the four times I ran the ball, but we got that 1 yard when we needed it," Wilder said.

A 13-yard completion to Dent moved FSU into range for a long field goal try, but Greene wasn't interested in risking a kick. With 40 seconds to play, he hauled in a short slant from Manuel, dodged defenders and raced 39 yards for the touchdown.

In a season in which he earned nearly as much criticism as acclaim, this was a highlight for Manuel, who finished the day with 326 yards and three TDs, and the final drive -- which was followed by a game-securing interception by Tyler Hunter -- kept Florida State's ACC championship dreams alive.

"I've always watched great quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning, all those guys have done it time and time again," Manuel said of the late-game drive. "When you're actually in those shoes making those plays, and you see a receiver make a catch and go down the field and score the winning touchdown, there is no more gratifying feeling as a quarterback. It was a huge, huge momentous event."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In a season during which Dustin Hopkins set one team, conference or national record after another, it's perhaps a bit strange that a play that actually cost his team a few yards makes his personal highlight tape for the year.

On a kickoff against NC State, Hopkins saw his chance to make a tackle, and he shed a blocker aggressively, getting a bit of the player's face mask in the process. A 15-yard personal foul flag was thrown, making Hopkins the rare kicker to get penalized for being too physical.

"It's just fun to be able to tackle somebody," Hopkins said.

Hopkins' drive to be a football player rather than just a kicker has always set him apart in the Florida State locker room, but it's still his leg that has written his legacy at FSU, which now includes status as an ESPN.com All-American.

With one game left to play, Hopkins has already set career highs as a senior with 24 field goals, 133 points and an 85.7 success rate on field-goal tries, while going a perfect 5-for-5 on kicks of 50 yards or more this season. But it's the breadth of Hopkins' career that is the true measure of his accomplishments, now ranking as the most prolific kicker in ACC and FSU history and holding the NCAA record for most points scored by a kicker. Hopkins figures to be the first kicker taken in this year's NFL draft.

While Hopkins' was the lone FSU player to earn ESPN All-America status, four members of the Seminoles defense were named to the ESPN.com All-ACC team: Junior Bjoern Werner and senior Cornellius Carradine were both named All-ACC at defensive end, while junior Lamarcus Joyner earned honors at safety and junior Xavier Rhodes was an all-conference performer at cornerback.

With 2012 winding to a close, we're counting down the five biggest moments of the past season for Florida State -- those plays that defined 2012. Coming in at No. 4: Bryan Underwood's game-winning touchdown that ended FSU's hopes for a national title.

Perfection ended for Florida State in the most painful way possible.

In early October, the Seminoles left for Raleigh, N.C., with a sterling 5-0 record, but their only road test had been a short trip to USF, where nearly half the stadium was packed with FSU fans. The trip to NC State would be different -- far more hostile. But few players were concerned.

Just a year earlier, the Wolfpack were routed by Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium, and just a week earlier, NC State's secondary was torched by Miami to the tune of 566 passing yards. With EJ Manuel under center and the Seminoles' explosive offense ready for a road show, even a somewhat sluggish first half, which left FSU with a 16-0 lead, did little to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

But if the first 22 quarters of football in 2012 had been an emphatic confirmation of all the preseason expectations, the next two would erode months of good will, reignite a decade's worth of frustrations and, most importantly, add nothing to that 16-point lead that slowly disappeared amid an endless array of dinks and dunks by the NC State offense that ultimately led to Bryan Underwood's 2-yard touchdown reception that sent the Seminoles to their first loss of the season.

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Andrea Adelson and Heather Dinich preview the Discover Orange Bowl between Florida State and Northern Illinois.

With 2012 winding to a close, we're counting down the five biggest moments of the past season for Florida State. Starting off at No. 5: Lamarcus Joyner's 90-yard kick return against Clemson.

In the end, there were myriad highlights, and the list of heroes on both sides of the ball was extensive. But in what proved to be the biggest win of the season for Florida State, the play that defined the Seminoles' come-from-behind win over Clemson in Week 4 came on special teams.

Through the first three games of the season, Florida State's defense allowed just one score, which meant Lamarcus Joyner had enjoyed precious few opportunities to return kicks. Midway through the third quarter against Clemson, however, Joyner finally found some room to run, and his 90-yard kick return swung the momentum in the game.

“That was a big play there. That ignited us," Jimbo Fisher said. "That was a tremendous play. In the first half we struggled on special teams but in the second half, we took over.”

With 7:07 to play in the quarter, Clemson had just booted a field goal to take a 10-point lead, the fifth time the Tigers had scored in nine possessions. FSU didn't just need a touchdown -- it needed one quickly if it was going to mount a late rally.

Joyner delivered. Almost.

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