The Florida state pass rush was limited to a frustrating loss for Florida

Jermaine Johnson knew the Florida Gators would pull out all the stops to take the strength of the Florida state defense all season long.

And the Gators managed not to let one of the most disruptive pass-rushers in the nation do to him what he had done to so many others during a short but impactful career in Florida State.

“It was pretty frustrating,” said Johnson. “I was expecting to get chipped and double-collaborate and run away. I don’t know which coach I spoke to after the game, but they said it was hard to be on the pitch, you had to be prepared for that. I was expecting to be chipped. But that’s not an excuse. “

Johnson didn’t make any of the Florida quarterbacks until he had just over five minutes left in the third quarter when he battled right tackle Richard Gouraige through a hold to bring down Anthony Richardson.

This would be the only time an FSU pass rusher had hit either Richardson or starter Emory Jones in a 24-21 loss to the Gators on Saturday.

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Johnson’s lone sack was the 33rd of the season’s Seminoles – a total that more than tripled its total from 10 last year.

Of these, 11.5 were with Johnson and 29.5 of those 33 were on the FSU line of defense.

But a Gators offensive line that had only allowed 11 sacks into the game found a way to contain Johnson and the rest of the FSU’s pass-rushers.

“We had to put more pressure on as a unit and that’s up to me, but it was fun,” said Johnson. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to. But I’m forever grateful to be a Florida State Seminole, that’s for sure. “

Both Jones and Richardson are elusive and mobile dual-threat quarterbacks.

But neither is it the greatest threat in this department that the FSU has faced this season.

Yet the FSU Russians fell short of hitting the quarterback and some of the drive-ending stops they’d grown accustomed to in the past few weeks when the Seminoles won five of their last seven.

It enabled Florida to convert 8 of its first 10 third downs, including three on its initial scoring drive to open the game.

Johnson finished with three quarterback Eiles and Keir Thomas had two in any player’s last games as a Seminole. This came as no surprise as the duo accounted for 18 sacks of the FSU this season.

A couple of those rushes contributed to Jones’s three interceptions that resulted in his being banked in favor of Richardson in the third quarter.

The FSU could not reach Richardson after this one instance, however, as the Redshirt newcomer cranked Florida’s offense towards the end of the second half, which led them to three scoring drives, including two touchdowns, which proved to be the difference.

“It felt like anything that could go wrong could go wrong,” said FSU coach Mike Norvell. “That was one of those situations. You can go back now and look at this and this or this and wish I had. But at the end of the day it is what we have to live on, what we have to live on and what we have to decide on in order to improve in the further course. “

Norvell and Johnson reflected after the game on the impact the latter had on FSU during his lonely season in Tallahassee, which went well beyond the All-American caliber season he had put together.

“It’s all just blurry. I feel like I didn’t get here until January so I can’t really talk about it right now, ”said Johnson. “I’m just grateful to be part of this family. It’s bigger than soccer. The kind of lessons this place taught me are astronomical. I love this university. I love tallahassee. I love the program and will definitely be back. Playing for Florida State is one of the most fun things of my life. “

Reach Andre Fernandez at afernandez@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @FernandezAndreC.

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