FSU football game – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Ruth Peterkin
With just seven total yards and one drive in the opening fifteen minutes, Florida State had an awful first quarter.
However, there are four of them in a football game, and in the end, FSU handled matters, winning 24–15 to cover the spread and seal the regular season championship.
Not much better, Florida rode third down conversion after third down conversion to take a 10-0 lead in the second quarter (its first touchdown following a highly dubious unnecessary roughness call). Florida made up ground lost on a missed field goal by taking down Tate Rodemaker for a safety.
FSU didn’t generate any offensive momentum until its final drive of the second quarter, a 10-play, 90-yard drive that saw the Seminoles get their first points of the game. This drive was anchored down by penalties and bad field position.
Trey Benson’s 36-yard dash gave Florida State their first lead of the game as they got the ball first in the third quarter. After a field goal, Florida would quickly drive down the field and retake the lead, making the score 15–14.
That lead would stand until the middle of the fourth quarter when FSU capitalized on a significant punt return by Keon Coleman and a huge fourth-down catch by Ja’Khi Douglas to get within goal-to-go range after the two teams had exchanged pairs of punts. But instead of punching it in, the Seminoles had to settle for a 19-yard field goal to take a 17–15 lead.
On the Gators’ subsequent drive, FSU’s defense tightened up, forcing a third straight three-and-out to give the Seminoles possession of the ball with 5:37 remaining in the game. In an attempt to convert on third and 17 from the Florida State 42-yard line, Rodemaker took off, but two different Gators struck him in the helmet as he was sliding, forcing him to exit the game.
With 3:44 remaining in the game, true freshman Brock Glenn was pressed into duty and had to hold onto the Seminoles’ lead.
What was the outcome? With 2:48 remaining, Benson produced another absurd, mature run, this one a 26-yarder that increased Florida State’s lead to 24-15.
Florida had one more chance to cut the lead, but it was unable to muster any momentum when Jared Verse grabbed two sacks to force a fourth and 20 when Brown was picked off by Kalen DeLoach to seal the victory.
In the ACC Championship, Florida State, 12-0 and unbeaten during the regular season, will take against the Louisville Cardinals.
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Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
