Florida State had the kind of night that can turn on one play, then another, then another - and still end with the same result. In a game that opened with a stadium power outage and a 9:15 p.m. kickoff delay, the Seminoles hung around, traded blows with No.
19 SMU and forced four turnovers. But when the final chance arrived, the Mustangs escaped Tallahassee with a 27-24 win.
Nothing about the setup felt normal from the start. Once play finally began, the game still lacked several usual elements, with no public address announcements, in-game video replay, coach-to-player audio or video board. SMU had already won the coin toss before the outage and chose to receive.
That decision immediately put Florida State in position to strike. SMU fumbled on its opening possession, and Quindarrius Jones recovered it to hand the Seminoles their first snap of the night. But FSU couldn’t cash in, and the drive ended without points.
The offense started to settle in after that. Ousmane Kromah picked up a first down, then Duce Robinson added another.
Florida State kept the drive alive on fourth down when Jalyn Boggs moved the chains, and a face mask penalty on SMU pushed the ball to the Mustangs’ eight-yard line. Ashton Daniels finished it himself, keeping the ball and punching in the touchdown.
The extra point tied it at 7-7 with 1:55 left in the first quarter.
Florida State’s defense kept the pressure coming. Caleb LaVallee broke up a third-down throw on SMU’s next possession, forcing a field goal try that the Mustangs missed.
Daniels nearly gave it right back on the first play of FSU’s next drive with a throw that almost became an interception, but he bounced back by finding Boggs for another first down. The Seminoles eventually faced fourth-and-one and went for it again, only to be stopped and turn it over on downs with 9:30 left in the second quarter.
SMU made the most of that opening. The Mustangs worked into the red zone, survived a penalty for having too many players on the field, and still found the end zone to go up 14-7.
Florida State answered fast. Kromah ripped off a 65-yard run to put the Seminoles deep in SMU territory, and while the drive stalled, the field goal trimmed the margin to 14-10.
The back-and-forth kept rolling. SMU hit Jalen Hale for 64 yards to reach first-and-goal, and although Florida State kept the Mustangs out of the end zone, they settled for another field goal and a 17-10 lead.
Samuel Singleton Jr. gave FSU a 29-yard kickoff return on the next possession, but the Seminoles couldn’t get any points before halftime.
The second half started quietly for the offense. Florida State completed a pass to Robinson, then punted.
But the defense stepped up again when SMU reached third-and-goal from the six. Nehemiah Chandler picked off the pass and stopped the Mustangs from adding to the lead.
That takeaway didn’t immediately become points, and FSU punted again. Still, the special teams unit created another opening when SMU muffed the punt return and Gemari Sands recovered it.
Florida State lined up for a field goal at first, but an offsides penalty on SMU gave the Seminoles a first down and another shot at the end zone. On fourth-and-two from the SMU nine, Kromah finished the drive with a touchdown run, and the extra point tied it 17-17.
The defense kept the pressure on and forced a punt, but Florida State’s next possession also ended with a punt. Even so, the Seminoles kept pushing as the game moved into the fourth quarter.
Daniels used his legs for a first down, then hit Micahi Danzy for 21 yards and another chain-moving play. Daniels then found Singleton for a 39-yard touchdown, and the extra point tied it again at 24-24.
Ashlynd Barker gave Florida State one more chance with an interception. The Seminoles had the ball back and the game still in reach, but they couldn’t turn that turnover into the go-ahead score.
SMU eventually got the ball back and drove to the FSU 12-yard line with two minutes left. Facing fourth-and-one near the goal line, the Mustangs took the field goal and moved ahead 27-24.
That left Florida State 21 seconds to work with, and the Seminoles couldn’t mount one last scoring drive.
SMU finished with 585 total yards to Florida State’s 324, including 430 passing yards. The Seminoles ran for 199 yards, while the Mustangs had 155.
Third down told a big part of the story too: FSU went 2-for-15, while SMU converted 8 of 14. Even so, Florida State forced four turnovers and stayed in the fight until the end.
In the end, the unusual night still ended the same way for the Seminoles: close, competitive, and short of the finish they needed. SMU left Tallahassee with a 27-24 win.
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