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Kentucky holds off shorthanded Florida State

Jan 1, 2008 - 1:29 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Andre' Woodson showed Florida State why he was one of the Southeastern Conference's most exciting players.

Woodson ended his career in style, throwing four touchdown passes to lead Kentucky to a 35-28 victory over the shorthanded Seminoles in the Music City Bowl on Monday.

He finished his senior year with 40 touchdowns, breaking the previous SEC single-season mark of 39 set by Florida's Danny Wuerffel in 1996.

Kentucky (8-5) posted bowl wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1950-51. The Wildcats defeated Clemson, 28-20, in last year's Music City Bowl.

Woodson also set a school record with 79 career TD passes and was named the Music City Bowl's Most Valuable Player for the second straight year.

The Seminoles, who were without 36 players due to an academic cheating scandal, other violations of team rules or injuries, battled Kentucky to a 14-14 tie at halftime.

Florida State erased a 14-7 deficit when cornerback Tony Carter returned Woodson's interception 24 yards for a touchdown with 3:28 remaining in the second quarter.

But that was one of the few mistakes made by Woodson, who completed 32-of-50 passes for 358 yards.

Kentucky, which averaged just under 37 points during the regular season, wore down the Seminoles in the second half.

Woodson tossed a 2-yard TD pass to Rafael Little with 6:49 left in the third quarter to snap the tie. Tony Dixon's 4-yard TD run pushed the Wildcats' lead to 28-14 with four seconds left in the period.

During the two drives, Kentucky ran 25 plays and took nearly nine minutes off the clock.

The Seminoles tried to rally, closing within 28-21 on Drew Weatherford's 1-yard keeper with 8:02 remaining.

But Woodson worked more magic and the Wildcats put away the contest less than three minutes later on Steve Johnson's 38-yard TD reception. Johnson took a dump-off pass and broke several tackles against Florida State's tired defense.

Again, the Seminoles answered, pulling back within a touchdown on Weatherford's 7-yard TD pass to Greg Carr with 2:14 remaining.

Florida State got back the ball again but its hopes ended when Weatherford's desperation pass from the Kentucky 44-yard line fell incomplete as time expired.

The Seminoles made their 28th straight bowl appearance under Bobby Bowden, the winningest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 373 victories.

But Florida State has fallen into mediocrity in recent years, finishing at 7-6 for the second time in three seasons.