The Florida State Seminoles survived The Swamp and beat Florida 24-15 on Saturday.
What did we learn about Florida State this weekend?
Mission Accomplished
The primary goal for Tate Rodemaker, making his first start of the season at quarterback for the injured Jordan Travis, was to keep the Seminoles record perfect and finish the regular season 12-0. Rodemaker and the Seminoles accomplished that mission. It was not pretty, and Rodemaker’s performance could not be described as good, but they survived thanks to a fourth-quarter meltdown from the Gators. FSU outscored Florida 10-0 in the fourth quarter, and the Gators ran seven plays for minus 17 yards in the final 15 minutes, with one turnover. Rodemaker was 12 for 25 for only 134 yards and was sacked three times. Rodemaker showed no signs of being able to lead FSU to a win in the College Football Playoff if the Seminoles manage to get there.
Florida State’s Defense Was TremendousThe Florida State defense likely knew they would need to be great to win on Saturday against the Gators. With Travis out and an inexperienced Rodemaker leading the offense, the defense had to keep Florida’s offense in check, and they did. The Gators, starting a backup quarterback of their own, do not have a good offense, but FSU was excellent in the second half. Florida was held to only 48 yards in the second half, and the Seminoles were suffocating in the fourth quarter. Florida had 232 yards and gained only 3.9 yards per play. Max Browne only had nine completed passes for 86 passing yards, and Kalen DeLoach had an interception to seal the game. Jared Verse had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss, while Patrick Payton had a pair of sacks.
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Turnaround Complete
Mike Norvell deserves a ton of credit. Two seasons ago, his Florida State Seminoles missed a bowl game, and there were loud calls for the former Memphis head coach to be ousted. In two short seasons, the Seminoles are 12-0 in the regular season and are headed to the ACC Championship Game with a chance to earn a bid to the College Football Playoff. The game against Louisville, despite the Cardinals getting upset by Kentucky on Saturday, is crucial for the Seminoles. They have a one-game body of work with Rodemaker at quarterback, and it was not an excellent performance. If Florida State wins the ACC and moves to 13-0, could the committee take Ohio State or the 12-1 Big 12 Champion Texas over the Seminoles? That seems unlikely, but a strong performance against the Cardinals would go a long way toward putting doubts to rest.
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