RECAP: No. 4 Florida State Dominates Wake Forest In First Half Of 41-16 Victory
You could tell Florida State had a different desire to win this game than Wake Forest. FSU fans came out in droves to support the garnet and gold, hoping the last two trips up to Winston-Salem would be forgotten here today. Norvell had never beaten Wake Forest in his tenure at FSU, and the way last season's game went, I have a feeling he had a little extra motivation.
That was evident as the Seminoles rolled to a 41-16 victory that was sparked by a big first half. By the time the two teams walked to the locker after the conclusion of the first two quarters, Florida State held a 34-10 advantage.
Florida State's first six plays of the game were all throws, four of them being targets to Keon Coleman. With the 'Noles missing a fair amount of receivers in Johnny Wilson, Destyn Hill, and Hykeem Williams, it only made sense that Keon would see the bulk of the targets in this game.
READ MORE: NoleGameday Staff Score Predictions For Florida State's Game Against Wake Forest
Nonetheless, FSU's first drive would end in 7 points, as Jordan Travis avoided a free rusher as Wake Forest was in man coverage with no spy on Travis, and he waltzed into the endzone, with Ryan Fitzgerald knocking in the XP. A great 9 play, a 75-yard drive to start the game.
Wake would punt thrice and FSU twice before Florida State would get another chance to score, that was set up by FSU's initial punt. After a 3 and out on their third possession, Alex Mastomanno had a beautiful punt to pin Wake Forest inside the 1. Three plays later, and Wake was punting again, with Keon Coleman getting Florida State set up on the right side of midfield at the 48-yard line. They'd only gain 21 yards, but it was enough for Ryan Fitzgerald's field goal range, and he stayed perfect on a 46-yard field goal to give FSU a 10-0 lead.
The Demon Deacons would respond on their next drive, on the heels of a long 51-yard run by Justice Ellison to get Wake Forest their first trip in the red zone, and they would cash in for a touchdown five plays later to make it 10-7.
The Deuce remained loose, as Spann broke open another kickoff return, this time down to the 43 yard line. Florida State would only need three plays to get on the scoreboard again, with Travis hitting the quick route to Coleman to let him work, and he worked for this one.
Coleman's 8th receiving touchdown on the season and another Fitzgerald XP put FSU up 17-7 early into the second quarter, and he was at 4 receptions for 46 yards and a TD at this point in the game.
Not much to note on Wake's next few drives, as they'd gain a total of 1 yard on their next two possessions. FSU thought they had a touchdown on their series in between, but holding negated an insane touchdown catch from Kentron Poitier, and an offensive pass interference on the next play (very questionable call) made it 2nd and 35, with FSU essentially giving up on the play.
Following the next Wake punt that rolled into the endzone for a touchback, Trey Benson took a screen pass to the house for 80 yards, a great display of vision, toughness, and ability to break tackles to make it 24-7 late in the second quarter. He becomes the first player in Florida State history with an 80-yard touchdown rushing and receiving.
Following yet another three and out forced by FSU's defense, they would strike quick on a drive that featured a phenomenal slot fade to Jaheim Bell, and shortly after just an insane one-handed TD catch for Keon Coleman, his second of the day, to make it 31-7. He just remains a freak of nature. I even overheard some NFL scouts in the press box say "He's easily the best player on the field today," which seems obvious.
Florida State would force another three and out, the sixth three and out for Wake Forest's offense in the first half and the fourth straight, giving FSU another chance to score before the half. And score they would, as Fitzgerald knocked in a field goal from 34 yards to give the 'Noles a 34-7 lead at the break. No one had scored more than 30 points on Wake Forest all season, Florida State had 34 in the first half alone.
As good as FSU's offense was, the defense stepped up to the plate in the first half, holding WF to just 75 yards on 31 plays, and if you take out the one long 51-yard run, they managed just 24 yards on the other 30 plays. Wake Forest had three drives ending in negative yardage, not counting the kneel-down to end the half. Not to be outdone, Florida State's offense had 351 yards on 38 plays, with Jordan Travis having a Heisman-like first half: 14/23 for 273 yards and 3 TDs, while adding another 33 yards and score on the ground.
The second half got off to a shaky start, as Wake's offense scored three on the opening possession to make it 34-10, and then forced a 3-and-out for FSU's offense, with a great hit on Jaheim Bell on 2nd down leading to the 'Noles punting out of their own endzone, and Wake returning it out to the 42.
A shaky late hit call gave them another 15 yards, but Wake's offense couldn't do much from there, going for it and failing to convert on 4th and 6 from the 23, despite kicking a field goal on 4th and 6 on the 6 earlier in the quarter.
Florida State would drive almost the whole length of the field, before Darion Williamson and Keon Coleman couldn't connect with Jordan Travis on back to back shots to the endzone. This led to Fitzgerald's first missed field goal of the season, with this one being from just 29 yards out. He's been good all season, and is still 10/11 on the year.
Following the missed field goal, Wake would put together an impressive 10-play, 80-yard drive that took just 3:48 off the clock, and was capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run by Tate Carney. Their 2-point conversion would fail, making it 34-16. It's the second game in a row the Seminoles have failed to score in the 3rd quarter.
It was still a three score game entering the fourth quarter, but Florida State fans would've felt a lot better if the offense could put another touchdown on the board. On that drive, Jordan Travis threw arguably his best ball of the season to Kyle Morlock up the middle of the field for a gain of 32 yards.
A sack would push the offense back, and they essentially conceded that they would take 3 points on the drive by handing it off, but Trey Benson decided to put the icing on the cake with an 18 yard touchdown run on 3rd goal, which put Florida State up 41-16 with 11 minutes left, which would be the final score.
That would end the starting offense's day. Jordan Travis finished 22/35 for 359 yards and 3 TDs, adding 29 yards and another score on the ground. Trey Benson had a great all around game: 10 carries, 55 yards, 1 rushing TD, while adding 4 receptions for 100 yards (which led the team), and that long receiving TD. Just a great physical game from Benson, who hasn't had the greatest season so far. Keon Coleman finished with 5 receptions for 60 yards and 2 TDs, while Jaheim Bell had a sneaky game, with four receptions for 51 yards, coming up big when FSU needed him.
Jared Verse had a great game with two sacks and four total tackles. Kalen DeLoach and Byron Turner Jr each had a sack (first of Turner's career), while Tatum Bethune and Patrick Payton each had half a sack. DeLoach and Payton each had 2.5 TFLs, really making their impact felt in this game.
There are still some things that need to be cleaned up, especially the penalties. We talked about it in the preview with the penalty disparity when teams play at WF. The Demon Deacons finished with 5 penalties for 44 yards, whereas FSU had 9 penalties for 115 yards. Better teams would've found ways to take advantage of that, but luckily FSU was playing Wake Forest.
READ MORE: NoleGameday Staff Score Predictions: Florida State Seminoles At Wake Forest Demon Deacons
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