FSU football overcomes bad start as Seminoles beat Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE — No. 5 Florida State overcame an awful start to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 24-15 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday night.

The victory completes FSU’s seventh perfect regular season and sends the Seminoles (12-0) surging into next week’s ACC championship against No. 9 Louisville. A win in Charlotte, North Carolina, will likely clinch FSU’s first College Football Playoff appearance since 2014.

The loss is devastating for the Gators. Their 5-7 record gives Florida three consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1945-47 — a stretch that included losses to Villanova and the Navy Amphibious Base of Little Creek, Virginia. Florida’s season-ending five-game losing streak means the Gators finish one victory shy of bowl eligibility, depriving Billy Napier’s young team of pivotal bowl preparation.

The game could not have started much better for Florida — or worse for FSU. It felt like a reversal of these two rivals’ seasons; Florida was poised and organized in all three phases while the Seminoles looked like an absolute mess.

The Gators forced three-and-outs on FSU’s first two possessions. Through 19 minutes, Seminoles star receiver Keon Coleman had one target (an incompletion), and standout running back Trey Benson had one rush for minus-11 yards. Through 26 minutes, FSU had more penalty yards (17) than yards of offense (10).

Florida quarterback Max Brown didn’t look like a redshirt freshman making the first start of his college career. Brown — starting in place of Graham Mertz (collarbone) — completed six of his first seven passes with a pair of third-down conversions. His 24-yard dart down the right sideline to Hayden Hansen was one of the Gators’ best throws of the season.

FSU quarterback Tate Rodemaker , however, did look like a quarterback making his second career start and first against a major-college opponent, in front of a wild crowd of 90,341 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Rodemaker — stepping in for star Jordan Travis, who watched warmups with his injured left leg propped up on a folding chair — missed on four of his first seven throws. He also took a safety when Derek Wingo flew up the middle and teamed up with Princely Umanmielen for a sack.

FSU’s myriad uncharacteristic issues culminated in one disastrous sequence early in the second quarter.

On fourth and 6 and its 29, FSU tried a fake punt — a direct snap to Preston Daniel, who ran left and had the first down and more ... except the Seminoles snapped the ball too late. After the delay of game penalty (one of three through the first three quarters), FSU punted for real. It was shanked for 16 yards.

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Explore all your options They were, collectively, the types of unforced errors that have doomed the Gators frequently over their first 11 games. Not this time. But Florida could only muster a field goal out of the drive, despite starting at the FSU 40.

Everything seemingly went Florida’s way. A fumble bounced out of bounds instead of toward the Seminoles. A tipped pass went to UF receiver Eugene Wilson instead of an FSU defender. A questionable unnecessary roughness penalty gave the Gators a fresh set of downs inside the 10.

As poorly as things went for FSU, the Gators failed to put the Seminoles away. They tried, most notably up 12-0 and after Trevor Etienne took a free kick after the safety 29 yards and into FSU territory. The Gators tried a trick play of their own — a reverse flea flicker — that ended with an intentional grounding penalty and momentum-sucking 14-yard loss.

The Seminoles found a way to come back, just as they’ve done all season under Mike Norvell. The spark was spit from an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Florida’s Jamari Lyons near the end of the first half. FSU took the yardage and momentum and stole a touchdown on Benson’s short rush. Then FSU stole the lead on the first drive of the second half when Benson broke off a 36-yard score.

The Gators retook the lead on a field goal thanks to a drive kept alive by a pair of Brown third-down conversions. FSU jumped ahead again midway through the fourth quarter on Ryan Fitzgerald’s 19-yard field goal.

FSU’s defense held on the next drive with a pair of Patrick Payton sacks and an incompletion that was nearly an interception. On FSU’s ensuing possession, Rodemaker scrambled on third and 14 and slid short of the marker, but Jaydon Hill was flagged for targeting to give the Seminoles a first down.

Florida’s defense crumbled in key moments, as it has too often this year — like the fourth-and-17 conversion it allowed last week at Missouri or throughout the second half and overtime against Arkansas. This time it was: a fourth-and-3 slant from Rodemaker to Ja’Khi Douglas; a targeting call on Rodemaker’s third-and-14 scramble that would have otherwise come up short; and an offsides penalty on second down in the closing minutes; and, finally, four missed attempts to tackle Benson on his game-clinching 26-yard touchdown with 2:48 left.

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