GAME NOTES: The 21st-ranked Florida State Seminoles try to continue their winning ways this Thursday, as they invade Winston-Salem to do battle with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a key ACC showdown. The Seminoles enter the contest on a roll, as they have posted four straight victories following a season-opening loss to Clemson (24-18) that dropped them out of the national rankings until this week. FSU was able to earn its way back into the Top 25 this past week courtesy of a 27-10 triumph against NC State over the weekend. The win was the 370th of Bobby Bowden's head coaching career and it also helped the Seminoles pull to an even 1-1 in conference play. FSU will now gun for its first five-game winning streak since starting off the 2005 season with five wins in a row. As for Wake Forest, it also comes into the tilt with a good deal of momentum on its side following three straight victories. The most recent of those wins came this past weekend, when the Deacons held off Duke, 41-36. With the triumph, the team moved over .500 overall (3-2) and in league play (2-1) for the first time this season. As far as the all-time series is concerned, FSU owns a commanding 21-3-1 advantage over Wake Forest, including a 14-1 mark under Bowden. That lone loss however, came last season, when the Deacons blanked the Seminoles, 30-0, at Doak Campbell Stadium. It was their first win over FSU in 33 years.

Making his first start of the season, Xavier Lee threw for a touchdown and ran for another to lead FSU to a 27-10 win over NC State last weekend. Lee, who replaced Drew Weatherford and led the team to a victory over Alabama the previous week, completed 16-of-28 pass attempts for 257 yards last weekend. The versatile Lee has the mobility Weatherford lacks and that is important when considering Antone Smith leads the club with just 290 rushing yards for the season. Smith posted 55 of those yards last week for FSU, which gained 124 rushing yards as a team. Greg Carr has started to emerge thanks to the strong arm of Lee and he put forth another big effort last weekend, catching four balls for 140 yards and a score. For the year, Carr now has 17 catches for a team-best 400 yards and two touchdowns. The Lee to Carr connection is going to have to stay hot if FSU is hoping to improve on its modest scoring average of 23.2 ppg.

As has been the case all season, the Seminoles were solid on defense last weekend, holding NC State to just 268 total yards of offense. The unit forced four turnovers, including three interceptions, and also recorded six sacks. Stopping opponents from scoring (15.6 ppg) and gaining yards (302.6 ypg) isn't new for FSU, but creating big plays is a different story. Coming into last weekend, the Seminoles had registered just six turnovers and eight sacks, and while those numbers aren't awful, they aren't indicative of how good this unit has been this year. Slowing down opposing ground attacks has been a real strength of this defense, which is giving up just 81.8 rushing ypg thus far. Derek Nicholson leads the team with 38 tackles, and Geno Hayes is next in line with 36 stops, to go along with his eight TFLs and three sacks. Hayes recorded two of those sacks and 10 tackles in last weekend's win.

The Deacons enter the contest averaging 27.6 ppg and 338.0 total ypg of offense, and those are some pretty good numbers, especially when considering this unit has turned the ball over 14 times already. Last weekend however, Wake Forest did a nice job protecting the ball, as it committed just one turnover in a 41-36 win over Duke. The Deacons racked up 336 total yards against Duke, which isn't exactly known for its defense. Wideout Kenneth Moore did it all for Wake Forest last weekend, as he rushed for 84 yards and two scores, in addition to catching 11 passes for 100 more yards. Moore leads the team with 38 catches and 360 receiving yards on the season, and despite just 23 attempts, he also leads the squad with 245 yards and three scores on the ground. Putting the ball in the hands of Moore is quarterback Riley Skinner, who completed 22-of-30 tosses for 221 yards and interception in last weekend's win. For the year, Skinner has completed an efficient 70.6 percent of his tosses, but he has thrown for just two touchdowns against seven interceptions. He will need to limit his mistakes if the Deacons expect to move the ball against this stingy Seminoles' defense.

Defensively, the Deacons have fared well against the run (111.0 ypg), but they could stand to improve against the pass, allowing 247.4 ypg through the air. The unit however, has made up for some of those passing yards allowed by recording 14 turnovers (nine interceptions) and the same amount of sacks. Last weekend, the Deacons forced two turnovers and four sacks and that helped them overcome the 386 total yards gained by Duke. The defense also put some points on the board, as Alphonso Smith picked off his third pass of the season and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Jeremy Thompson added a sack in the win and he leads the Deacons with seven TFLs and six sacks on for the season.

Both teams come into the game with a full head of steam and that should make for a close contest. FSU however, has the edge on both sides of the ball, especially on defense, where it should be able to dominate for the victory.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Florida State 23, Wake Forest 13