SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 27, 2010

Florida State emphatically put an end to a galling losing streak and got even better news afterward.

Christian Ponder threw three touchdown passes and the Seminoles got what they have long been looking for, a win over Florida, with a 31-7 rout on Saturday in a non-conference battle between in-state rivals.

The Seminoles found out after the game that they had won the ACC Atlantic Division title when North Carolina State (5-3 in ACC) lost 38-31 to Maryland. Florida State (6-2 in ACC) will play Virginia Tech next Saturday for a berth in the Orange Bowl.

Florida had won six straight in the series and Gators coach Urban Meyer started his career by going 5-0 against Florida State. But many of those wins came with Tim Tebow at quarterback. Tebow is now gone and so is Florida’s stranglehold on the series.

Ponder and the Seminoles (9-3, 6-2 ACC) got going in the second quarter. The Gators had a 7-3 lead but that was erased by a 10-yard touchdown run by Lonnie Pryor that gave Florida State a 10-3 lead.

Ponder, who completed 16-of-24 passes for 221 yards, then threw scoring strikes of 39-yards to Rodney Smith and 15-yards to Taiwan Easterling to give the Seminoles a 24-7 lead at the half.

Ponder threw his final touchdown pass in the third quarter, a 29-yarder to Willie Haulstead, to cap the scoring.

Having already beaten Miami this season, Florida State has now topped both it’s main state rivals in the same season for the first time since 1999.

John Brantley threw a 20-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for the Gators (7-5, 4-4 Southeastern Conference).