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TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Ticker) -- Freshman Chris Rix passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns as No. 15 Florida State built a 35-point lead and bounced back from its worst loss in 18 years with a 48-24 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Wake Forest. Rix looked very much like a freshman last week, when he struggled throughout a 41-9 defeat at North Carolina. But he appeared more poised against Wake Forest, completing 16-of-21 passes and throwing touchdowns to three different receivers. "I think tonight was probably the most comfortable I felt as a starter," Rix said. "It also makes it a lot easier when you are playing in front of the home crowd. ... I was able to sit behind the offensive line and make throws and get the ball to the receivers. There was a different mind-set after the loss. Everybody did a good job of bouncing back." "We changed our offense quite a bit," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden added. "We decided not to protect our quarterback and just call the plays. I think we did the right thing in trying to protect our quarterback in the first three games, but we just can't do that now. We came out tonight and tried to establish the passing game first and then run." Nick Maddox rushed for 94 yards and two scores on 19 carries as the Seminoles (3-1, 2-1 ACC) avoided suffering consecutive losses for the first time since 1991. Last week, North Carolina held Florida State to 88 rushing yards. "The team responded like the other teams we've had that took a licking in the conference," Bowden said. "I think our players' attitude changed a lot. I think they realized we can't go on the field and win with our name." Wake Forest (2-1, 0-2) has lost the last 10 meetings with the Seminoles but managed a 7-7 tie when quarterback Anthony Young rambled 71 yards for a touchdown with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter. It was all Florida State thereafter. Maddox scored on runs of 17 and three yards to spark a 35-point outburst. Rix hit fellow freshman Javon Walker for a 52-yard score, then hooked up with freshman running back B.J. Ward for a 31-yard TD two minutes later. It was the first career scoring reception for Ward, a converted defensive back. Greg Jones' one-yard run made it 42-7 with 3:21 to go before halftime. "They were ready to play and we knew they would be," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "We just didn't match up very well with them and they took it to us." Fabian Davis capped an 80-yard drive with an eight-yard run in the final minute of the second quarter, temporarily halting Florida State's momentum and getting the Demon Deacons within 42-14 at halftime. Wake Forest was able to move the ball against the Seminoles, rolling up 436 total yards, including 265 on the ground. "You can't take anything away from the Florida State defense because they are very talented, but I thought our offense moved the ball well at times. We just couldn't capitalize on that," Grobe said. "We could have possibly made it interesting, but it just wasn't to be tonight." "I still see shortcomings on this team," Bowden said. "Wake Forest got an awful lot of yardage." The Seminoles never were threatened in the second half. Jones ran 13 yards for the only touchdown of the third quarter, giving Florida State a 48-14 lead. Wake Forest sandwiched a pair of safeties around Fred Staton's nine-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Grobe used two quarterbacks as Young completed 2-of-9 passes for 15 yards and two interceptions and James MacPherson was 8-of-15 for 156 yards. Young added 69 yards on five rushes, trailing only John Stone, who carried 11 times for 70 yards. "I thought we moved the ball around pretty good and I am happy whenever we can move the ball," Grobe said. "We're still making too many mistakes right now and that keeps us from getting points. We are making some of the same mistakes we made in the first game, and you just can't keep doing that."
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