TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A 39-yard interception return by Charles James set up Charleston Southern's first touchdown of the season, but the No. 4/5 Florida State Seminoles were just too much for the Bucs as CSU took the 62-10 loss on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

The Bucs had 84 yards of total offense on 45 plays and were led by Malcolm Dixon who went 7-of-15 for 50 yards. Mike Davis was Dixon's most targeted receiver, with three catches for a total of 39 yards. Teddy Allen - who also threw a touchdown pass on the night - led the rushing effort with 17 net yards on eight carries. B.J. Hackworth also had eight carries for 13 yards.

James, who also boasted the longest punt return of the night at 13 yards, had the lone interception for either team with a 39-yard return. O'Brian Campbell led the defense with 13 total tackles, followed by Chris Kuzdale with 10. Cornelius Sterling (five tackles) and Garrett Libertowski (three tackles) each recorded a sack.

Andy Brown also had a strong night, punting 11 times for a total of 429 yards. He averaged 39.0 yards per punt, with his longest going for 52 yards. Tray Dorsey had six kick returns for a total of 136 yards, including a 63-yard return.

Florida State finished the night with 647 yards of total offense, with 170 yards on the ground and 477 through the air. EJ Manuel was 24-for-35 for 329 yards and four touchdowns and was sacked once. He was replaced by Clint Trickett, who went 6-of-7 for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He was also sacked once.

Rodney Smith led FSU's receivers with five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Kenny Shaw had also had five catches, totaling 67 yards while Greg Dent caught four passes for 42 yards. Bert Reed and Rashad Greene each caught two touchdown passes, with Lonnie Pryor adding another. James Wilder Jr. rushed for 76 yards on 10 carries, but it was Trickett and Chris Thompson who recorded the two rushing touchdowns of the night.

Tommy Jernigan had four tackles for the Seminoles, including two tackles for loss and a sack. Dan Hicks also finished who three total tackles, including two TFL. Brandon Jenkins and Anthony McCloud each recorded a sack for FSU.

The Bucs won the toss but deferred until the second half, giving the Seminoles the ball to start the game. FSU quickly took advantage, marching 55 yards down the field on just three plays to score on a 45-yard Manuel pass to Rodney Smith. Dustin Hopkins' kick put the Seminoles up 7-0 just 1:20 into the first quarter.

CSU went three-and-out on its first possession, with the 'Noles getting the ball back at their own 26-yard line. However, they quickly made it into Buccaneer territory. Picking up two first downs on back-to-back rushing plays, Manuel then threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Bert Reed, putting FSU ahead 14-0 after Hopkins' kick with 8:11 to go in the first half.

The Bucs got the ball at their own 12-yard line with Teddy Allen rushing for six yards. Dixon was sacked on the next play, resulting in an eight-yard loss and negating Allen's play. Dixon then threw and incompletion on the next play, bringing out Andy Brown to punt again.

Florida State got the ball at their own 44-yard line, picking up the first down on a 16-yard completion to Jarred Haggins. A 21-yard pass to Devonta Freeman got the 'Noles another first down before a 19-yard completion to Kenny Shaw brought them to the CSU 6-yard line. A holding penalty on the drive meant third and 23 for the Seminoles, forcing a 24-yard field goal by Hopkins to put the score at 17-0 in favor of Florida State with 5:07 to go in the first half.

Bucs started the second quarter with the ball on their own 21-yard line and were forced to punt once again. The Seminoles also went three-and-out on their next possession, giving the ball back to CSU at their own two-yard line. Three straight rushes by B.J. Hackworth fell short of the first down, as Brown punted once again.

FSU made quick work of the short field, taking just three plays and 65 seconds to find the endzone on a 6-yard pass to Reed, putting the Seminoles ahead 24-0 with 10:21 to go in the first half.

Both teams were forced to punt on their next drives, and the Bucs were again unable to pick up the first down. FSU got the ball at their own 14 yard line, but Manuel drove the 'Noles down the field. A 53-yard pass to Christian Green set up a two-yard touchdown run for Chris Thompson, giving FSU the 31-0 advantage after the extra point with 4:44 to go in the half.

Florida State would score once more before the half was over, with Manuel once again leading the 'Noles down the field and picking up 27 yards through the air. However, after a sack and two incompletions FSU had to settle for a Hopkins field goal as they took a 34-0 lead into halftime.

The Bucs got the ball to start the half, but were unable to make it out of their own territory. Florida State took over at its own 19. Manuel completed a 9-yard pass Smith, but his next pass attempt was picked off by James and returned 39 yards to the FSU 3-yard line. Dixon pitched it to Allen, who sent a sideline pass to Carson Leshin for the touchdown; CSU's first of the season, to get the Bucs on the board down 34-7 after Brown's extra point with 10:24 to go in the quarter.

FSU struck back with a score of its own, driving 40-yards down the field for a 14-yard touchdown pass to Pryor. Hopkins' kick put the 'Noles up 41-7 with 6:35 to go in the third quarter.

Allen was able to pick up 15 yards on three carries on CSU's next possession, but it wasn't enough to get them to the endzone as they were forced to punt. The Seminoles got the ball back at their own 39-yard line but quickly crossed into CSU territory. Trickett completed a 23-yard pass to Dent to pick up the first down at the CSU 23. He then threw a 23-yard touchdown to Greene, putting the score at 48-7 in favor of FSU after the extra point.

The Bucs went three-and-out to start the fourth quarter, but made up for it with a 10-yard sack of Trickett to start the Seminoles' next possession. However, it didn't hamper the Seminoles as Crickett completed a 69-yard pass to Green for the touchdown to give the Seminoles the 55-7 lead.

Despite being sacked on the drive, Dixon led the Bucs down the field with a 31-yard completion to Davis. Allen then threw his second pass of the day - ironically to Dixon for a 10-yard completion. The played helped to set up a 22-yard field goal by Brown to make the score at 55-10 in favor of FSU.

Wilder and Trickett combined to lead the Seminoles down the field for their final score of the night with Wilder picking up 20 yards on the ground. Trickett then finished the night with a four-yard touchdown run to put the final score at 62-10 in favor of FSU.

The Buccaneers return to the Sunshine State next weekend for a 1:30 p.m. match up at Jacksonville.

Postgame Quotes - Head Coach Jay Mills

Opening statement
"We have been playing two FBS opponents a year for the last four years; I don't know if anybody in the FCS has done that. We might be the only ones. We had Florida two years ago which was an incredible environment - this was outstanding, first class as we had thought and hoped. It was especially special for our young men - so many from the state of Florida - it's a great opportunity for them as well."

What did you say to the team before the game?
"I talked with them about - I think it's William Jennings Bryant - I told them destiny is not a matter of chance it's a matter of choice. It's not something to be hoped for it's something to be attained. We are a faith based school and we believe there is a purpose for everything and it's by divine choice and we don't get many opportunities like this; we can't control opportunities in life, all you can control is being prepared for the opportunity. I shared with them John 15, 16, as well, too. We want to glorify God with how we play. Win or lose we want to make sure that we are honorable and that we are giving back. Hopefully, we are about mission and ministry as well too, so we want to with our play honor him and bring glory to his name. It was mainly about those things and to compete, to toe in, to move forward and to not giving in. There are a lot of ways to measure success and one of them certainly is the scoreboard but there are other victories along the way.

What positives do you take away from the game?
"We got better; we definitely improved. We have almost 50 percent of our team had never been in a college game a week ago. I felt like until we had a couple of mistakes at the end by some young guys on penalties we were pretty good as far as our discipline, our game structure and our organization. We were playing better up to the speed of the game - the FBS speed than we had before. Our ball security was very good. I thought our defense definitely did some good things. If you take away a couple of big plays - I thought we improved against the run. We gave up big yards on the reverse and on the last play of the game when all of us were trying to get some more players in to get experience. I thought our punt team did an outstanding job. I think we took another step up as far as talent that we played against but I felt that it was obvious from the naked eye to see that we had improved in all phase of the game."