By Matt Schulz
FANSonly.com

PASADENA, Calif. -- Apparently being down 21 points in the second quarter of the Rose Bowl in front of a decidedly partisan Michigan State crowd isn't enough to rattle Chris Weinke.

The veteran quarterback led the Noles to 24 unanswered points -- including a 15-yard scoring strike to Ron Dugans with less than two minutes left in the game -- and Florida State's defense tightened up in the second half, carrying Florida State past Michigan State 24-21 in thrilling fashion.

The Seminoles advance to the Virtual Championship Series semifinals for the second straight year. FSU will face the winner of tomorrow's Marshall-Alabama matchup in the Fiesta Bowl.

Still, it looked like Florida State's national title dreams were nearly finished in the second quarter against Michigan State. Two 7-yard touchdown runs by Lloyd Clemons put Michigan State up 21-0 less than a minute into the second quarter. Meanwhile, Weinke (27-of-38, 269 yds., 2 TD, 1 INT) was just 1-for-7 passing, including an interception that set up Clemons' first TD.

But falling behind 21-0 must've been a major wake-up call to Weinke because he was nearly flawless from that point.

The Noles scored twice in the second quarter to trim the Spartans' lead to seven points. The second score came with 42 seconds left in the half, a 15-yard strike from Weinke to Germaine Stringer.

Neither team could muster much offense in the third quarter. However, a Sebastian Janikowski field goal with 13:48 left in the fourth finally broke the ice, cutting the Spartans' lead to 21-17. Meanwhile, the Seminole defense was stopping MSU consistently after being run over throughout the first half.

Still, the Spartans had held on to their tenuous lead with just two minutes remaining in the game. But it wouldn't last much longer.

Combining runs by Travis Minor (90 yards, 1 TD) and screen passes to Peter Warrick (5 recs., 61 yds.), Weinke moved the Noles downfield confidently. Finally, with 1:51 left in the game, Weinke connected with Dugans to give the Noles the lead they would never relinquish.

Reggie Durden sealed the Noles' victory with a interception of Michigan State's Bill Burke (21-of-36, 291 yds., 0 TDs, 2 INTs) with just under a minute remaining.