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JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- The Gator Bowl had extra significance for Leon Washington.

A native of Jacksonville who grew up 10 minutes from Alltel Stadium, Washington ran 69 yards for a touchdown on his first carry and rushed for a career-high 195 yards to lead 15th-ranked Florida State to a 30-18 victory over No. 23 West Virginia.

"I really wanted to play well today and it couldn't have started any better," said Washington, who carried the ball just 12 times.

On the second play from scrimmage, Washington darted to his right and raced down the sideline for the longest touchdown run in Gator Bowl history.

It was the 19th bowl win for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden (19-8-1), moving him within one of the NCAA record held by Joe Paterno of Penn State. Bowden is 5-0-1 in the Gator Bowl, including a 31-12 win over his former school - West Virginia - in December 1982. He coached at West Virginia from 1970-75.

"It was special to me not only because I'm the coach at FSU, but because of my years at West Virginia," Bowden said. "There was 40 years of my life out there between FSU and West Virginia. It was very sentimental for me."

The Mountaineers (8-4) lost for the 11th time in their last 12 bowl games, including five straight here.

"It's frustrating. We're all disappointed," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.

Playing in his final college game for Florida State (9-3), Chris Rix was shaky, completing 16-of-31 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice and fumbled three times.

"Chris played kind of like his career has gone," Bowden said. "When he comes out of the huddle he's going to make something happen. You just don't know for which team sometimes."

"The biggest thing I wanted was a win," said Rix, who finished with a 28-11 record. "I had planned on 300 yards and four or five touchdowns, but when I walked out on the field today, I said 'Chris, don't worry about the stats, all you need is a win.'"

Rix, the second quarterback in school history to throw for more than 8,000 yards, engineered two long touchdown drives in the second half. He completed five straight passes in a 16-play, 90-yard drive, capping it with a 14-yard touchdown to Craphonso Thorpe, who made a leaping catch in the right corner of the end zone with 3:05 left in the third quarter.

After Andy Good kicked a 34-yard field goal to pull West Virginia within 23-18 with 14:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Seminoles went 80 yards in seven plays.

Rix started it with a 17-yard pass to Chris Davis. Washington then broke off a 19-yard run, Lorenzo Booker added 22 yards on three carries and West Virginia was penalized twice for 25 yards before James Coleman scored on a one-yard run with 11:12 left.

Washington's rushing total was the highest for Florida State since Sammie Smith had 212 yards against Tulane in 1988.

The Seminoles rushed for a season-high 301 yards. Booker also reached the century mark, rushing for 101 yards on 20 carries. Florida State last had two backs rush for more than 100 yards in the same game when Rock Preston (126) and Warrick Dunn (124) achieved the feat in the 1995 season opener against Wake Forest.

West Virginia's Kay-Jay Harris ran for 142 yards, including a one-yard score, against the nation's No. 1 run defense and caught a 36-yard touchdown pass.

Both of his touchdowns came in the first quarter and were followed by missed extra points, leaving West Virginia with a 12-10 lead. Brad Cooper missed the first and Good was wide right on the second.

"After missing those two extra points, I wasn't overly confident in field goal kicking, but we had to give Andy a chance and he came through with two later in the game," Rodriguez said.

Rasheed Marshall, the Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Year, threw for just 130 yards with one interception for the Mountaineers.

Xavier Beitia kicked field goals of 32, 36 and 28 yards for Florida State.