CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the first time in almost a decade, Florida State has returned to the top of the ACC football world.
With a third-string quarterback thrust into the starting lineup, the No. 4 Seminoles relied on their defense in a major way Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium.
The defense rose to the occasion, limiting a prolific Louisville offense to 188 yards of offense and only six points. And the Seminoles (13-0, 8-0) relied on three field goals from Ryan Fitzgerald and a single touchdown to beat No. 14 Louisville (10-3, 7-1) 16-6 and improve to 13-0 for just the fourth time in program history.
FSU scored 13 of its points in the second half after leading 3-0 at halftime.
FSU true freshman quarterback Brock Glenn completed just 8 of 21 passes for 55 yards, but the Seminoles ran for 164 yards, a career-high 118 of which came from Lawrance Toafili, who also had the only touchdown of the game.
The Seminoles’ defense swarmed all night with seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss. That’s the most sacks FSU has had in a game since 2019 vs. Syracuse and the most tackles for loss since 2016 vs. Michigan.
With this win, FSU’s 19th in a row dating back to last season, the Seminoles create quite a tough spot for the College Football Playoff committee. Will they leave out an undefeated Power Five champion (without its starting quarterback) for the first time in the CFP/BCS era or leave out an Alabama team which has one loss but beat No. 1 Georgia Saturday?
We’ll find out Sunday at noon.
FSU defense delivers a gem
It was the Seminoles who were down to their third-string quarterback for Saturday’s game.
But you wouldn’t have known that from how the first half played out. FSU’s defense almost totally squashed a potent Louisville offense which was at full strength unlike the Seminoles.
Entering Saturday’s game averaging 6.57 yards per play and 33 points per game, FSU’s smothering defense held the Cardinals to 69 yards (2.4 yards per play) and no points over the opening 30 minutes. The Cardinals had just three first-half first downs and converted 1 of 8 first-half third downs.
In the second half, Louisville’s offense started finding more success. The Cardinals got into the red zone on their first second-half possession but FSU’s defense held them to a field goal.
When the Cardinals broke an explosive run to get back into the red zone trailing 10-3, the FSU defense again bucked up, holding the Cards to another field goal and preserving their lead.
And when disaster struck and Louisville took over at the FSU 12 after blowing up an FSU punt before it could be sent off, Tatum Bethune came through with an interception in the end zone. The lead, inexplicably, was preserved again.
And when Louisville got the ball back with a chance to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter, the FSU defense forced an intentional grounding and then got a sack that was nearly a safety.
Braden Fiske, who finished with nine tackles (five solo) and three sacks, finished each of Louisville’s final two drives with sacks on fourth downs to clinch the win.
For an FSU team that was dealing with the struggles associated with a true freshman quarterback playing in a conference championship, this utter dominance was just what the Seminoles needed.
Wildcat runs wild
It’s been a few years since the Wildcat formation (with a running back lined up at quarterback) was truly in vogue amongst football circles.
Mike Norvell turned back the clock Saturday night.
As FSU’s offense struggled to generate much traction with Glenn at quarterback, FSU went to the Wildcat to try and spark things. Early in the second quarter, FSU picked up its first non-penalty first down of the game on an eight-yard direct snap to Lawrance Toafili. He then picked up another first down with a three-yard Wildcat run two plays later.
After Louisville tied the game with a field goal midway through the third quarter, FSU went back to the Wildcat on its next drive, starting things off with a 73-yard run by Toafili on the very first play of the drive. The very next play, Toafili reached the end zone from two yards out for the only touchdown of the game.
Toafili had a few more productive runs later in the game as a traditional running back and finished with a career-high 118 rushing yards for his third career 100-yard game and his since last year’s season opener vs. Duquesne.
Offensive weapons don’t exactly help Glenn settle in
For much of Saturday’s game, Glenn looked like the true freshman he is. He got away with a few dangerous passes, struggled at times to make the right decisions and held onto the ball too long at moments.
However, Glenn was not aided in quite a few ways by his offensive weapons around him. Keon Coleman had two drops on nice downfield passes from Glenn during the same second-quarter series.
Johnny Wilson and Kyle Morlock had critical third-down drops in the third quarter which would have kept drives alive.
It didn’t end up mattering whatsoever in the result of the game. But moments like these may have cost the Seminoles style points they need ahead of Sunday’s CFP announcement.
