TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Wyatt Sexton threw three touchdown passes in his starting debut and Leon Washington ran for 153 yards and a touchdown as No. 9 Florida State defeated North Carolina 38-16 Saturday.<br>
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Florida State (3-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) built a 24-6 lead early in the third quarter, but didn't put the game out of reach until Sexton's 15-yard TD pass to Chauncey Stovall completed the scoring with 6:53 left.<br>
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Stovall also caught a 5-yard scoring pass in the final minute of the first half that gave Florida State a 21-6 lead at halftime.<br>
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North Carolina (2-3, 1-2 ACC) managed 363 yards against Florida State's tough defense, but had difficulty reaching the end zone. <br>
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Darian Durant passed for 254 yards and the Tar Heels' lone touchdown, an 8-yard scoring toss to Jawarski Pollock in the third quarter that cut Florida State's lead to 24-13.<br>
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Connor Barth kicked field goals of 20, 32 and 37 yards to round out North Carolina's scoring.<br>
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Sexton, making his first start in place of injured Chris Rix, hit 10 of 11 passes to open the game as he took the Seminoles to touchdowns on their first two drives.<br>
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Sexton completed 6 of 7 passes for 48 yards and drove the Seminoles 81 yards on their opening drive of the game, climaxed by Washington's 18-yard run for a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 play. <br>
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Sexton also teamed with Craphanso Thorpe on an 11-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Lorenzo Booker added a 12-yard scoring run.<br>
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Booker added 84 yards on 13 carries as the Seminoles ran for 190 yards in the second half and finished with 249.<br>
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Sexton, who completed 20 of 31 passes for 191 yards, came off the bench last week and rallied Florida State from a 7-3 deficit to a 41-22 victory over Clemson after Rix sprained his right ankle.<br>
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Rix was on the sideline Saturday with a soft cast on his ankle and the timing of his return remains uncertain.<br>
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Florida State put freshman quarterback Drew Weatherford into the game in the fourth quarter, but he sprained an ankle on an apparent bootleg to his left on his first college play.
