Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor (left) was lost for the game when he was hit by Florida State's Toddrick Verdell on the Hokies' first play from scrimmage.

After a solid first half in relief of Tyrod Taylor, Tech's Sean Glennon was knocked out of the game midway through the third quarter.

Third-string quarterback Cory Holt (12) leads the Hokies on one scoring drive in the fourth quarter in relief of Sean Glennon.

Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech tight end Andre Smith (88) catches a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from third-string quarterback Cory Holt during Saturday's game in Tallahassee, Fla.

Florida State's Rod Owens (86) celebrates a third-quarter touchdown for the Seminoles during their victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Some refer to Florida as the "hospitality state." Virginia Tech's football team might not buy that one today.

Not only did the Hokies lose a football game, they lost their top two quarterbacks to injury in a 30-20 loss to 24th-ranked Florida State on Saturday afternoon at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Losing their most lethal weapon, starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, on the game's first play from scrimmage, and then losing backup Sean Glennon late in the third quarter, the Hokies ran out of spark and couldn't finish the deal in front of 81,876 fans.

With its second straight ACC loss, the Hokies (5-3, 2-2) dropped into a tie for third in the league's Coastal Division behind surprising Virginia (5-3, 3-1) and Georgia Tech (6-2, 3-2). Because it beat Georgia Tech and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker edge, Tech still can win the division if it wins its final four games -- Maryland, Duke and Virginia at home, and at Miami.

Taylor, whom FSU coach Bobby Bowden said earlier in the week was the biggest threat on the field, sustained a sprained left ankle while being sacked by the Seminoles' Toddrick Verdell.

He never returned, sitting on the sideline with an ice bag on his left foot. He later was placed in a protective boot. His injury was diagnosed as a sprained left ankle, the same one that cost him 3¹₂ games last season.

Glennon, who had played only sparingly since being benched after the season-opening loss to East Carolina, came on and played well before suffering an injured left leg with 5:47 left in the third quarter. Like Taylor, Glennon's injury occurred during a sack, this one courtesy of FSU linebacker Dekoda Watson.

Although Tech head athletic trainer Mike Goforth suspected at first that Glennon has sustained a fractured left fibula, X-rays taken at the stadium were negative. Glennon's left foot also was placed in a protective walking boot. He will undergo further X-rays today in Blacksburg.

Cory Holt, a former QB who has been taking reps at wide receiver the past few weeks, played the rest of the way for Tech.

"I don't think so," said Tech coach Frank Beamer, when asked if he had ever lost his top two QBs to injury in the same game. "I don't think so ever. I can't remember one."

Holt, who knew some of the plays but couldn't check out of any calls, did lead the Hokies to one score, a 4-yard TD pass to Andre Smith that cut FSU's lead to 27-20 with 8:26 to play in the game.

"Coach Bowden told me after the game, it's kinda tough trying to win a game with your third quarterback," Beamer said.

The biggest play of the game, according to Beamer, was when Tech freshman Eddie Whitley was called for roughing the punter with FSU facing fourth-and-20 and trailing 13-10 midway in the third quarter.

The personal foul gave the Seminoles a first down. They continued on the drive to take their first lead of the game, 17-13, on Dustin Ponder's 6-yard TD pass to Taiwan Easterling.

"I was disappointed that we roughed that kicker," Beamer said. "I said I wanted to go after it one time, we tried it another, and we had a couple returns I really felt we could get the kick. I think they had a shot, but a freshman guy [Whitley] didn't bend hard enough.

"We kind of had them in long yardage, but I thought if we get it [a block], we'd probably win the ballgame, too. I thought we could block it."

FSU outgained Tech 116 to minus-4 in the final 7:18 of the third quarter. Marcus Sims scored on a 1-yard run to make 24-13 with 69 seconds left in the third quarter.

Tech led 13-10 at halftime, but it could have been ahead by a much bigger margin.

The Hokies nearly tripled the Seminoles in total yards (205-70), including 133-15 in passing yards and held an 11-3 edge in first downs.

Not showing any signs of rust, Glennon came up huge, completing nine of 15 passes for 133 yards.

Freshman receiver Jarrett Boykin enjoyed a fabulous first half, catching four passes for 89 yards. However, Glennon was sacked four times, three time by Seminoles star defensive end Everette Brown.

Tech squandered chances to get more points. Backup tailback Josh Oglesby fumbled at the Tech 46, killing one drive. Another Tech drive, a 67-yard thrust spiked by a 41-yard connection to Boykin to the FSU 24, returned no dividend when Dustin Keys pushed a 43-yard field goal right with 4:21 left in the half.

After both teams did nothing on their first two possessions, Tech took advantage of field position to score first. Set up by a 16-yard punt return by Macho Harris, Keys hit a 41-yard field to make it 3-0 with 5:51 left in the first quarter.

On their next possession, the Hokies moved down field behind a couple of Glennon completions, including a 14-yard hookup with Boykin and a subsequent personal foul on FSU's Korey Mangum that moved the football to the FSU 21. After a 15-yard burst by Evans off a pitch from Glennon got the ball to the 5, Glennon scored on a 1-yard sneak to make it 10-0.

Meanwhile, a FSU offense that entered the game without a three-and-out in its last 28 drives could do nothing against Tech's defense in the first quarter, failing to muster a first down on three possessions. Thanks to a pair of sacks of Ponder -- by end Orion Martin for a 6-yard loss and by linebacker Cody Grimm for a 10-yard loss -- the Seminoles' offense finished with minus-18 yards in the period.

Florida State's lone significant offensive play in the first half was a big one. Tailback Antone Smith took a pitch left and powered his way down the sideline for a 39-yard TD run to make it 10-7. Besides Smith's scoring jaunt, the Seminoles managed only 31 yards on their other 20 snaps.

Set up by Oglesby's fumble, the Noles tied the game at 10 on Graham Gano's 50-yard field goal with 9:33 remaining in the half.

Paced by four completions by Glennon for 48 yards, including a 21-yarder to Boykin, the Hokies drove to 66 yards to the FSU 3, but had to settle for Keys' 20-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in the half to go ahead 13-10.

"I thought we played hard; we just didn't get it done," Beamer said.