Florida State walks into Friday night with a number hanging over it: more than 1,000 days since its last road win. The Seminoles have dropped 11 straight away from home since beating Florida 24-15 in The Swamp on November 25, 2023, and now they get another shot at Louisville with momentum finally on their side.
The Seminoles are 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, riding a two-game winning streak and coming off one of their cleanest performances of the season. In a 38-7 win over Virginia, Florida State piled up 72 points across its last two games and looked dangerous on both sides of the ball.
That surge has put them in position to try to break the road skid in Louisville, where kickoff is set for 7:00 PM ET at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. The game will be on ESPN.
Florida State’s recent jump has been driven by Ashton Daniels. Against Virginia, he set a school record with five rushing touchdowns, and he now has 15 total touchdowns this season.
His nine rushing touchdowns place him among the top three nationally. The Seminoles’ ground game has also gotten a lift from Ousmane Kromah, who keeps pounding away with a physical style.
Kromah has 477 rushing yards and five touchdowns, averages 5.89 yards per carry, and is second in the nation in forced missed tackles with 37. He’s forcing missed tackles 43 percent of the time.
The defense has been just as important to Florida State’s current run. The Seminoles sacked Virginia 10 times and have climbed to No. 7 nationally in sacks with 17, while also sitting No. 19 in tackles for loss with 36. That front could be a major problem for a Louisville running game that will need to get moving early.
Louisville enters at 2-3 and 1-2 in the ACC, and the record doesn’t tell the full story of how close the Cardinals have been. All three of their losses have come by three points, and they’ve dropped two in a row.
Offensively, though, they can score. Louisville is No. 2 in the ACC in total offense at 486 yards per game.
Quarterback Lincoln Keinholz, a transfer from Ohio State, has been the engine of Jeff Brohm’s offense. Keinholz has 15 total touchdowns and is averaging 278 passing yards per game. The Cardinals also have balance in the backfield, where Keyjuan Brown and Isaac Brown have combined for 689 yards and five touchdowns.
On the outside, Tre Richardson and Lawayne McCoy give Louisville real playmaking juice. Richardson leads the team with 445 receiving yards, which ranks third in the ACC, and he has two touchdowns. McCoy leads the Cardinals with four receiving touchdowns and is averaging more than 20 yards per catch, second in the ACC.
Florida State’s pass defense will be tested. The Seminoles are allowing 265 passing yards per game and have given up nine passing touchdowns. That gives Louisville a clear opening if Keinholz and his receivers can connect downfield.
The concern for Louisville is on the other side of the ball. The Cardinals’ defense has been shaky, allowing eight passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns, and Florida State will try to exploit those holes. With the Seminoles playing their best football of the season, they’ll see this trip as a real chance to keep the climb going and finally end a road drought that has lasted nearly three calendar years.
In Other News...
Florida State Has A Chance To Make A Real ACC Statement Tonight
Florida State gets a timely chance to say something real about itself tonight, with Louisville coming in for an ACC matchup that should tell a lot about where both teams stand. The Seminoles are looking for a win that would clean up the picture around their record, and the game sets up as a good test of whether their offense can keep pace against a Cardinals team built to make noise.
Ashton Daniels is a key part of that equation for Florida State, especially against a Louisville defense that will be trying to force the Seminoles into mistakes. On the other side, Louisville brings an explosive offense and there are injury factors in play for both sides, which only adds to the volatility. The expectation is a close, high-scoring game, and for Florida State, the bigger question is whether this is the night it can turn a solid opportunity into a meaningful ACC statement. [Read more 🡒]
Florida States Pregame Lineup Shakeup Just Changed A Few Key Battles
Florida States trip to Louisville already had plenty of intrigue, and the pregame picture added a little more to it. The Seminoles will be in all-white at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, while Louisville goes with black, with Jon Noli serving as head referee and NFL scouts along with bowl representatives expected on hand for a game that carries real weight beyond the immediate matchup.
The bigger development for Florida State came with an updated depth chart that shuffled several positional battles and brought a few players back into the mix. Those changes matter because they hint at how the Seminoles want to line up for one of the seasons more closely watched tests, and they could shape both the rotation and the feel of the game from the opening series onward. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Gets A Late Break Before Urgent Louisville Road Test
Florida State is heading into a tricky league road test at Louisville with the availability picture shifting late in the week. The Seminoles and Cardinals are set for their third conference game of the 2026 season, and both sides enter with heavy absences, leaving coaches to sort through a long list of unavailable players before the 7 p.m. ET kickoff.
The good news for Florida State is that the final reports brought a little relief, with some players who had been listed out now expected to suit up. Louisville is still working around its own injury issues, though, and the biggest name on that side remains running back Keyjuan Brown, who will not play. In a game where depth already figures to matter, those late availability changes could end up shaping how this one unfolds. [Read more 🡒]