Florida State had the takeaways. It had the ground production. It even had the late answer to tie things up in the fourth quarter.
What the Seminoles didn’t have Monday night at Doak Campbell Stadium was the final stop.
No. 19 SMU escaped Tallahassee with a 27-24 win in Florida State’s conference opener, handing the Seminoles a 1-1 mark overall and 0-1 in league play. The Mustangs improved to 1-0, 1-0.
Florida State leaned on its run game and got a career night from sophomore back Ousmane Kromah, who carried 22 times for 116 yards and a touchdown. He also became the first Seminole with 100 or more rushing yards in consecutive games since Trey Benson put together three straight 100-yard outings in 2022 against Georgia Tech, Miami and Syracuse. As a team, Florida State ran for 199 yards, outpacing SMU’s 155.
Ashton Daniels did plenty with his legs and enough through the air to keep the Seminoles alive. The fifth-year quarterback completed 12 of 23 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown, while adding 71 rushing yards on 16 carries.
His 15-yard completion to senior wideout Duce Robinson in the first quarter pushed Daniels past 5,000 career passing yards. Robinson finished with two catches for 25 yards and reached 100 career receptions.
Florida State’s defense kept giving the offense chances. The Seminoles forced four turnovers - two interceptions and two fumble recoveries - and opened the night by punching the ball loose on SMU’s first drive.
Senior defensive back Quindarrius Jones forced and recovered the fumble, ending a six-play, 44-yard march. It was the first forced fumble and fumble recovery of Jones’ career, and for the second straight game he produced a takeaway on the opening drive.
The defense also got strong nights from several front-line tacklers. Senior defensive back Ja'Bril Rawls, fifth-year linebacker Omar Graham Jr. and junior linebacker Chris Jones each finished with a team-high nine tackles. Fifth-year defensive back Ashlynd Barker added seven tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception.
The game’s first points came on SMU’s second possession, a 50-yard touchdown that put the Mustangs in front. Florida State answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that showed plenty of patience. Daniels converted a fourth-and-three with a six-yard completion to sophomore receiver Jayvan Boggs, then the Seminoles kept hammering the ball on the ground before Daniels finished it himself with an eight-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the season.
SMU threatened again on its next trip, reaching the Florida State 21. But the Seminoles tightened up from there. Caleb LaVallee and CJ Richard Jr. teamed to stop a run for a four-yard loss, then LaVallee broke up a Kevin Jennings pass on third-and-10 to force a missed 38-yard field goal.
The Mustangs moved back ahead with 5:35 left in the second quarter, capping an eight-play, 43-yard drive after stopping Florida State on downs. But Kromah answered immediately, bursting for a 54-yard run on his seventh carry of the night. That set up Gabe Panikowski’s 46-yard field goal and trimmed the deficit to 14-10.
SMU added another field goal before halftime after a 64-yard play moved the ball to the Florida State 10-yard line. The 28-yard kick sent the Mustangs into the break up 17-10.
Florida State came out of the locker room with another takeaway. On SMU’s first possession of the second half, Nehemiah Chandler intercepted Jennings in the end zone on third-and-goal for his first turnover of the season.
Later, the Seminoles cashed in again after a muffed punt. Gemari Sands recovered it at the SMU 29, and an offsides penalty on fourth down kept the drive moving. Daniels found Desirrio Riles on another fourth-down play for three yards, and Kromah punched in a six-yard touchdown run to tie it at 17-17.
SMU answered with a 79-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to go back in front, 24-17. Florida State responded with a play of its own: Daniels hit Samuel Singleton Jr. for a career-long 39-yard touchdown catch to even things at 24-24.
The Seminoles then forced their fourth turnover of the night when Barker picked off Jennings four plays into the next SMU series. But after Florida State punted it back, SMU put together a 71-yard drive in nine plays and lined up a 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds left. The kick held up as the difference, and SMU walked away with the 27-24 win.
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Mandrell Desirs Week 1 outing against SMU gave Florida State fans plenty to chew on, and not in a good way. The Seminoles defensive back drew attention for a rough performance and for a bizarre pre-snap moment when he mimicked a basketball dribble, a flash that only added to the scrutiny as supporters picked apart his role in the opener.
After the criticism piled up, Desir went to social media with a dismissive response, while defensive coordinator Tony White moved to calm things down from the football side. White said no disciplinary action would be taken and framed the sequence as part of Desirs style, leaving the bigger question less about punishment and more about how quickly the Seminoles can turn the conversation back to play on the field. [Read more 🡒]
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Johnson recently said Miami has been his dream school, and he is set to visit Hard Rock Stadium for a Hurricanes game, which only sharpens the concern for Florida State. A flip would sting not just because of the player involved, but because it would give Miami a major victory in a head-to-head battle for a coveted prospect, putting added scrutiny on the Seminoles' coaching staff and the rest of the class. [Read more 🡒]