Florida State loses at home to NC State, 28-14
A week after a tough road loss to Clemson, Florida State (3-5 2-3 ACC) hosted #19 NC State (6-2, 3-1 ACC) in Tallahassee. The Seminoles were forced to play without starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, due to sickness. This resulted in graduate transfer McKenzie Milton getting the starting job for the 'Noles.
Milton and the offense got the ball first but failed to muster a single yard. Florida State was forced to punt after a quick three and out.
The Wildcats started their first drive at their own 39-yard line. But the Seminoles' defense stood strong and, after giving up one first down, forced NC State to punt.
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Florida State's offense took back over, but not for very long as they went three and out once again. The 'Noles were struggling to get any good looks early on in this game.
NC State did not wait long to dial-up their first deep shot of the game. On the first play of the Wildcats' drive, quarterback Devin Leary found C.J. Riley deep over the middle for a 62-yard touchdown.
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NC State was on the board first, leading the Seminoles 7-0.
The 'Noles took back over hoping to get something going after their first two drives combined for 3 yards total. However, it was the same story this time around for Florida State as they went three and out once again.
After a tremendous boot from FSU punter Alex Mastromanno, the Wildcats were forced into tough field position and punted after a three and out.
Shockingly, the 'Noles gave the ball right back to them after an interception on third down.
Florida State's offense had gone for 12 total yards on 12 plays with an interception at this point.
NC State had gained possession already on Florida State's side of the field. However, the Seminole defense continued to play well and stopped the Wildcats for another three and out.
Finally, on the Seminoles' next offensive drive, Florida State had converted their first 1st down of the contest. McKenzie Milton was able to find Andrew Parchment over the middle for a 15 yard gain, which was enough to move the chains. The drive still stalled out once again and the 'Noles punted the ball back to the Wildcats.
Quarterback Devin Leary was able to start this drive off strong for NC State, as he found Trent Pennix along the sideline for a 36 yard gain on the first play of the drive. Leary built off that play and commanded a great drive. The Wildcat QB ended the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Toudle.
That was about all of the action in the first half. Both defenses were playing very well. NC State went into halftime with a 14-0 lead and were going to get the ball to start the second half.
The 'Noles ended the half with 78 yards of offense and three first downs.
Then, all of a sudden, Florida State had some life left in them.
The 'Noles came out of the break with a successful onside kick recovered by Parker Grothaus. That spark seemed to wake up the offense as FSU had their first good drive of the game. After the first play went for 11 yards, Milton found Keyshawn Helton over the middle for 23 yards and Florida State found themselves in the red zone for the first time today. A little bit of McKenzie Milton magic resulted in a 6-yard touchdown pass to Keyshawn Helton.
The Seminoles were on the board and only trailed 14-7.
However, it did not take long for NC State to respond and extend its lead.
The Wildcats went 5 plays for 65 yards and scored a touchdown on a 45-yard reception for Trent Pennix. Florida State missed a handful of tackles on this play.
NC State once again led by two touchdowns.
Florida State took back possession, hoping to build off of their last drive. After a pass interference moved the ball to FSU's 40-yard line, McKenzie Milton completed three passes in a row for a total of 26 yards. Then, back-to-back runs to set up the 'Noles in the red zone once again. This time, Jashaun Corbin finished the drive out of the wildcat with a three-yard touchdown rush.
The defenses started to find their footing again after this FSU score. Both offenses failed to score on the next six drives.
The scoring drought was broken by NC State's Ricky Person Jr. who took a screen pass to the house on a 3rd and 10 from FSU's 43-yard line.
Now down 28-14 with 7:53 remaining, Florida State needed to score quickly to stay in this game.
The 'Noles failed to do so on this drive as they threw three straight incompletions and punted the ball back to the Wildcats with 7:25 remaining.
This would all about do it for Florida State, as they ended up falling to NC State 28-14. Overall, the defense played a good game, but the Seminoles could not do enough offensively to take down the 19th ranked team in the nation.
The 'Noles will host their rival, the Miami Hurricanes (5-4, 3-2 ACC), next Saturday in a much-anticipated matchup. The Hurricanes will come into Doak Campbell Stadiums as winners of their last three games this season, as well as winners of the last four games in the classic rivalry. Florida State will need a victory to stay bowl eligible this year, as they have now fallen to 3-6.
