The Florida state season ends in Gainesville, 24-21

The battle for bowl eligibility is here. And it was a pretty ugly game between the Florida State Seminoles (5-7, 4-4 ACC) and the Florida Gators (6-6, 2-6 SEC). In that case, Florida defeated rival Florida State, 24-21.

Florida State won the throw and postponed the option to the second half.

Both UF quarterbacks performed on the Gators’ first run; but on a 3rd and short, Anthony Richardson was injured. After 8 games for 28 yards, Florida was left with a 3rd and a 9, and Emory Jones was able to find Kemore Gamble for a 47-yard touchdown on the sideline.

UF was first on the board, leading 7-0.

The offense of the Seminoles didn’t make the start any better. When they three and went out, and FSU QB Jordan Travis appeared injured after being sacked in 3rd place.

Then on 4th and 15th FSU player Alex Mastromanno had one of his worst efforts of the season and the ball was knocked out at the FSU’s 45 yard line.

The ‘Noles’ defense, however, managed to force the Gators to poke after playing three games that didn’t win a single yard.

The FSU regained possession at the 10-yard line.

Florida State was able to get something going here with a few chunk plays. A 17-yard finish for Ja’Khi Douglass and a 13-yard run for Jordan Travis brought the ‘Noles to UF territory for the first time in that game. But the injury to Jordan Travis caught up with him and head coach Mike Norvell had to replace the graduate transfer McKenzie Milton. The first game with Milton in the game resulted in a 16 yard loss after failing to catch the snap and diving for the ball at the FSU 40 yard line. The drive stalled after that and the ‘Noles hit the ball back to Florida.

After a 62-yard punt from Alex Mastromanno, the Gators took over on their own 4-yard line. They caught one on the driveway first, but then drove back to the Seminoles.

The FSU offense faced early 3rd and 8th places with McKenzie Milton crashing an open Ja’Khi Douglass and UF DB Rashad Torrence II intercepted the pass at the UF 44 yard line.

However, on the first game of UF’s Next Drive, QB Emory Jones gave it straight back to the ‘Noles when FSU DB Jammie Robinson played a bad pass down the middle.

On the subsequent FSU trip, the newcomer Tate Rodemaker was substituted on as quarterback for the ‘Noles. Three of the Seminoles went out on this trip.

Florida took over on its own 22-yard line. Given a 3rd and a 4th, Emory Jones found Kemore Gamble for a 25 yard win, then Emory Jones ran for 12 yards on the following play. UF was within the Florida state 40 yard line. Then, two games later, Emory Jones ‘pass was intercepted by FSU LB Kalen Deloach and the’ Noles took over again.

This time Jordan Travis was back in quarterback. And man, did he look good.

After the Gators failed to pass in the second game of the drive, FSU found themselves in midfield with their own 48. A few games later, Jordan Travis found a wide open Andrew parchment in the middle of the field for 26 yards. Then Jordan Travis had an incredible scramble 15 yards within UF’s 10 yard line. The following game was another scramble for Jordan Travis, in which he found the end zone for Florida State’s first touchdown.

The ‘noles tied this with 7 each.

The next Gator drive was a long drive with four 3rd down conversions. It went up to the FSU’s 9-yard line for 15 games. Then, on play 16 of the drive, Emory Jones threw his third interception in three drives. This went to FSU CB Jarvis Brownlee and the FSU took over their own 20 with 29 seconds to go.

FSU was able to run down the field quickly and was at UF’s 39 yard line with 9 seconds to go and a timeout. The next track was a Jordan Travis scramble that took up the rest of the time.

At halftime it was 7 points in an ugly competition.

FSU came out of half and started the ball at the 35 yard line after the UF kick went out of bounds. But the ‘Noles couldn’t use their good field position and hit the ball away. The barge was returned to the 45 yard line by UF and was assisted by a targeted call to FSU WR Darion Williamson.

UF started their first half-way ride on the FSU’s 40-yard line.

After a bad throw by Emory Jones on the 2nd and 8th, Anthony Richardson was substituted on as quarterback for the Gators in the game. Richardson turned the third down with a 14-yard pass to Jacob Copeland, and UF was in the red zone after a 5-yard rush from Richardson. The Seminole Defense managed to keep them out of the end zone and the Gators opted for a field goal.

UF had regained the lead with 10-7.

After a holding was called during the FSU’s kickoff return, the ‘Noles faced a poor field position starting at their own 9-yard line. But they came from a bad position after an incredible one-handed catch from FSU WR Ontaria Wilson. What got the Seminoles to the 45-yard line. A few chunk plays later got FSU on the Florida 30-yard line. Given a 3rd and 9th Jordan Travis fell back to fit but was fired by Florida’s Brenton Cox Jr.

Florida was stuffed and punted on the 3rd and 2nd. But the Gators got help from the FSU after Ontaria Wilson subdued the punt and Florida recovered at the FSU’s 33-yard line. Then Jermaine Johnson showed everyone why he’s a projected first-round pick, and he sacked Anthony Richardson, making the Gators a 3. The Gators scored a 5-yard pass for Justin Shorter a few games later.

UF now led the ‘Noles 17-7 with 2:09 to go in the third quarter.

Then, two plays on the next FSU Drive, the Gators intercepted a pass to a deep ball that looked like the ball hit the ground but called for interception. The Gators took over on their own 38-yard line.

The Gators almost put that thing away after running 10 straight times and scoring a touchdown to keep the lead at 17 points with 12:36 in the game.

Florida State did its best to come back despite the odds and went straight down on their next drive to reduce the Florida lead to 10 with just under ten minutes to go.

The FSU also stopped the Gators on their next drive and had the ball just under eight minutes before the end. But the FSU couldn’t get anything going and returned to Florida with 5:12 remaining and 3 remaining timeouts.

After stopping Florida again, FSU took over on its own 8-yard line. A big close to Ja’Khi Douglass for 23 yards got the ‘Noles going. Florida State fought to the Florida 2-yard line but was called in for a pass disorder that pushed them back to the 17-yard line. Then a personal foul on UF brought FSU back 1:03 in the game back into 10. Jordan Travis then completed a pass to Ontaria Wilson for a touchdown.

FSU had fought its way back and was only 3 behind with: 49 seconds and 2 timeouts remaining.

The ‘noles had to regain an onside kick in order to have a chance to win or tie this game.

Unfortunately, FSU kicker Parker Grothaus missed the ball on his onside attempt and the Gators had possession. This is officially out of reach for the ‘noles.

In a game where both teams battled to qualify for the bowl, we saw the Florida Gators (6-6, 2-6 SEC) defeat Florida State Seminoles (5-7, 4-4 ACC) 24-21 . This would be Florida State’s final game of the season. After starting 0-4, the ‘Noles have built momentum in their last eight games and ended their season 5-3. These players never quit this season and they had many chances to do so. What everyone should be proud of this team.

A good start season for the ‘Noles; and in a year or so we could be talking about this program in a very different way. This team will only get better after this year and fans should be excited to see the direction of the program. See you next year FSU fans.

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