1996 Florida State vs Georgia Tech first half

ATLANTA, GA - Florida State used big plays by its offense, defense and special teams to fuel a 28 point second quarter and an eventual 49-3 win over Georgia Tech in front of an ESPN national television audience. Florida State's offense opened the game as cold as the Atlanta night, which dipped to sub 40 degrees by the end of the game. Thad Busby threw three interceptions on the night, all to Brian Wilkins, including his first attempt of the game which Tech picked off at the FSU 34 yard line. The Seminole defense held Georgia Tech out of the endzone, but the Yellow Jackets nailed a 35 yard field goal to take the lead. A fired up Tech home crowd was silenced for good with 13:28 left in the second quarter when FSU linebacker Lamont Green, starting the first game of his career, stepped in front of a screen pass and raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give the Seminoles a 7-3 lead that they would never relinquish. On FSU's next possession, Warrick Dunn exploded for a 51 yard run that set up a six yard Rock Preston touchdown scamper to put the Tribe up 14-3 with 8:43 left in the first half. Seminole special teams put the game away effectively in the first half when Peter Boulware blocked a Georgia Tech punt from the 13 and Shevin Smith pounced on the ball in the endzone to give the Tribe a 21-3 lead. Andre Cooper kept the Yellow Jackets' heads spinning when he battled for a 38 yard Busby bomb in the endzone to push the advantage to 28-3 at halftime. FSU scored 21 points in under seven minutes of the second quarter. Dunn added another brilliant run in the third quarter, a 45 yard touchdown jaunt, that capped a marvelous night for the senior. He would finish the game with 121 yards on just 13 carries. Thad Busby, nursing a sore left wrist (diagnosed as a fracture following the game), completed 11 of 22 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown before taking a seat at the end of the third quarter. Redshirt freshman Dan Kendra replaced Busby and led the Tribe to two scoring drives in the final quarter. He hit Peter Warrick on a 19 yard TD pass with 11:07 left and dove in from the two to cap an eight play, 86 yard drive with 5:10 left in the game. The Seminole defense limited Georgia Tech to just 114 yards passing and 269 yards of total offense. They also held Tech without a touchdown, making them the third opponent that failed to scored a touchdown on FSU this year. Daryl Bush had a career high 17 tackles to stuff the Tech running game from his middle linebacker position.