Florida State’s road woes are behind them as the Seminoles (5-5, 3-4) traveled to Pittsburgh Friday night and defeated Pitt (6-4, 3-4), 16-10, for their second straight win away from home.
This contest was never going to be pretty, but FSU’s defense, led by interim defensive coordinator Ernie Sims, brought its hard hat and lunch pail to the Steel City and stole a win for the Seminoles. Florida State held the Panthers to only 4.3 yards per play and 5-for-15 on third downs. The Seminoles also had an interception
and turned Pitt over on downs three times, giving the offense short fields in a game where field position was paramount. FSU did catch a break with Pitt forced to start true freshman Corey Dailey on short notice, but Sims deserves a ton of credit for switching FSU’s defensive structure to a 4-2-5 in less than two weeks and having his unit ready to play.
On offense, Ashton Daniels and co. did enough to manage the game and push the Noles over the line. While it wasn’t the prettiest effort, Daniels averaged 10.9 yards per completion, and the offense rushed for 72 yards in the second half after rushing for only 25 in the first. Daniels committed an ill-timed fumble on a controversial call in the fourth quarter, but he otherwise played a clean game and let his defense take over.
Florida State is back to .500 for the first time since defeating Central Arkansas in September and finally seems to have an identity on both sides of the ball. As mentioned, FSU didn’t earn any style points for this win, but it would be hard to say the previous administration could have gone on the road, on a short week, and won after trailing at the half. Rick Stockstill, Sims, and offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. deserve a ton of credit for the work they have put in over the two weeks since Mike Norvell’s firing.
The game certainly started as expected between a team with an interim head coach on a short week and a freshman quarterback on the other. FSU and Pitt combined for three punts on their first three drives before Florida State, aided by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty, opened the scoring with a field goal with 3:41 left in the first quarter. After Pitt punted on its third consecutive drive, the Seminoles doubled their advantage with an impressive 11-play, 83-yard possession that resulted in another field goal, headlined by Jasen Lopez’ 46-yard catch on third-and-three.
Pitt finally started to move the ball towards the end of the end of the second quarter, and freshman QB Corey Dailey led the only touchdown drive of the first half as Pitt took its first lead of the game, 7-6. QB Ashton Daniels could not respond in FSU’s final possession before the break, and the Noles went into halftime with only four drives, six points, and 25 rushing yards.
After the Seminoles went three-and-out to start the second half, the Florida State defensive line gave FSU a much-needed shot in the arm. On second-and-10, Daniel Lyons’ pressure forced Dailey to make a quick decision. The freshman QB fired the ball across his body, got deflected, and landed in the waiting arms of Rylan Kennedy for a tip-drill interception. With excellent field position at the Pitt 32, FSU’s offense needed only five plays to find the end zone and a 1-yard Amari Thomas TD-rush put the Noles back in front, 13-7.
Pitt halved Florida State’s advantage with a late third-quarter field goal, cutting the Noles’ lead to three, 13-10, and seemed on its way to taking the lead before the defense stood tall again. Seldom-used DT Jordan Sanders blew up Pitt’s fourth-and-1 on the Panther 42, handing the ball back to FSU with a short field.
However, just when the Noles seemed to be putting the game out of reach, a critical turnover came at a critical moment. Daniels picked up a first down in the red zone on third-and-six, but as he and the offensive line kept churning for yards, the Panthers ripped the ball from his hands and recovered it. While Daniels doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt on turnovers, the Seminoles had a strong claim that forward progress was stopped.
The questionable calls did not stop there. When Pitt took over on downs, CJ Richard Jr. dropped what should have been an interception, but again, if the call on the field was an interception, it probably would have stood. Then, later in the drive, on third-and-10, Chris Jones committed a roughing-the-passer penalty with targeting on an incomplete pass, handing the Panthers a first down. Yet again, it was a 50-50 call that looked like shoulder-to-shoulder contact. But as the defense did all night, they stood up when they had to, and on the next set of downs, Caleb LaVallee sacked Dailey on fourth-and-three to force the second turnover-on-downs of the game.
This time, though, Stockstill’s team capitalized on the TOD as Gabe Panikowski nailed his third field goal of the night, a 47-yard boot, to push FSU back up 16-10.
On the next two drives, Pitt and Florida State each traded punts, giving the Panthers the ball back with 1:51 left, but on their own two-yard line, after much-maligned punter Daniel Hughes drilled a 64-yard punt. The Seminole defense did not make it easy for itself, giving up a 24-yard run and another roughing-the-passer penalty, but, once more, the defense turned Pitt over on downs at midfield, sealing the 16-10 win and bringing the Noles one win away from being bowl-eligible.
