What is the story about?
Florida State won as a road underdog for the first time since 2021 (vs. Boston College), outlasting the Pitt Panthers Friday night to move to .500 on the season (5-5, 3-4 ACC) and within one win of bowl eligibility.
The win was won on the back of the defense, who set up the Seminoles’ sole touchdown after picking off Pitt quarterback Corey Dailey and held the Panthers to 1-4 on fourth-down attempts.
What takeaways are there from Rick Stockstill’s second win as interim coach? The Tomahawk Nation staff
breaks it down below.
Who was the MVP of tonight’s win?
- Curt Weiler: Ernie Sims. Nice to see a defensive coordinator know how to dial up proper pressures. Been a while since we have seen that.
- Josh Pick: No one majorly stood out above the rest, but I’ll take Caleb LaVallee, who had six tackles (five solo) and a huge sack on fourth down. When he’s healthy and given chances, he always seems to be around the ball.
- Jacob Smith: Lowkey, I have to give flowers to Gabe Panikowski. He has not missed a kick all year. He was responsible for nine of FSU’s 16 points in a gritty win, so yeah.
- FrankDNole: I would say the entire defense, because there was not one person (except Chris Jones) who outshined the whole unit. My fear was that Pitt was going to run all over our defensive front, and without any numbers yet to confirm, I think they did a damn good job.
- Tony Morris: Defense. They played great, held them to only 10, and we actually had solid pressure on defense.
- Seminole Uprising: Ernie Sims. He dialed up the pressure at the right time, but really his change to the 4-2-5 was the difference. Pitt struggled to run the ball all night, continuously facing third-and-long and making the night uncomfortable for its freshman QB.
- Perry Kostidakis: It’s hard not to go with the defense, but just for the sake of switching it up, I’d like to shout out Jasen Lopez, who really held it down in both the pass game as well as being the first comforting punt returner to line up for FSU in a few years. He’s really stepped up in the wake of Duce Robinson’s season-ending injury, and it’s exciting to see him grow week-to-week.
What was the most egregious call (or non-call) by the officiating crew?
- Curt Weiler: The non-blown-dead scrum which was somehow ruled a fumble by Ashton Daniels. FSU was about to go up 20-10 and put the game away until the refs forgot they have whistles around their necks that they are supposed to use.
- Josh Pick: Sadly, there are WAY too many from which to choose, but I’ll say the Ashton Daniels fumble in the red zone after a huge third-down pickup. Forward progress had been stopped for at least five seconds (not the first or last time this crew butchered forward progress on the evening).
- Jacob Smith: The AD “fumble.” Like, what are we doing, man?
- FrankDNole: There were several obvious pass interference calls that were not called. But WTF are they doing allowing rugby-style scrums for five seconds after contact? Players get hurt with these late whistles. That said, the refs called it even both ways in regards to late whistles only.
- Tony Morris: There were a lot, but I would have to second the AD fumble, with it being OBVIOUS forward progress.
- Seminole Uprising: Wow. Tough question. Worst was Daniels’ fumble. Forward progress was clearly stopped, and if FSU scored points on that drive, the game would have been over.
- Perry Kostidakis: Out of all of them, the non-whistle on Ashton Daniels’ fumble had to be the most ridiculous. The refs were slow on their whistles all night but for them to swallow them in such a crucial moment was one of the worst calls I’ve seen from this conference, and that’s saying a lot.
Was this FSU’s most impressive defensive showing this season?
- Curt Weiler: I think so. I don’t think this Pitt offense is good at all without Mason Heintschel, but Ja’Kyrian Turner ran for 185 yards and two TDs last time out against Georgia Tech, so he’s capable and was shut down. It was also nice to see the defense make a freshman QB look how a freshman is supposed to look. Rattled as all hell.
- Josh Pick: Pitt’s O is trash, but I’d say yes by a decent margin. The Panthers only had one good drive, and it was inches away from going nowhere. Credit to Ernie for switching up the defensive formation and being more aggressive tonight, especially late on the fourth downs.
- Jacob Smith: Ernie Sims is coming into his own, man. It’s incredible. I have no problems putting this at No. 1, over Central Arkansas.
- FrankDNole: No. Pitt’s NCAA offensive rankings were inflated due to weak early opponents and with their star QB taking the snaps.
- Tony Morris: No. That game vs. UVA was huge and honestly had me thinking ACC championship-bound with the 10 team sacks and all. This was versus a freshman QB whose offense hasn’t shown anything since their starter got hurt.
- Seminole Uprising: For sure. It is shocking to see how much different this unit looks without TW. The front seven flew to the ball and always seemed in control. Plus, it was even more impressive the Noles didn’t melt down when Chris Jones was disqualified.
- Perry Kostidakis: The Virginia game is the only other contender, but even considering the fact that Pitt wasn’t particularly good on offense heading into the game and had to trot out its third-string freshman, the Seminoles’ held steady and held the Panthers to just 10 points despite 306 yards of offense. It was very FSU to give up a giant rush to the Dailey when it had Pitt pinned, but Florida State stepped up to the plate and managed to make 16 points enough for a win.
What was the biggest play of the game?
- Curt Weiler: The pick. Nice play by Diggs to get a hand on it and great awareness from Kennedy. I’m not confident that FSU was going to be able to find the end zone without being handed a short field, so the defense delivered just that and the offense came through.
- Josh Pick: Rylan Kennedy’s INT, leading to a short field and Amari Thomas TD (please get healthy soon, young fella!).
- Jacob Smith: I have to agree with Curt and Josh on the Kennedy INT. It was the difference-maker.
- FrankDNole: When Ernie sent the pressure on fourth down. I kept calling for more pressure all game, but Ernie fooled me and Pitt — and BC last week — by bringing the house at the end of the game.
- Tony Morris: That interception by Rylan Kennedy had me hype.
- Seminole Uprising: Biggest play of the game was the deep throw to Lopez early in the contest. FSU needed to put points on the board early and force Pitt into a dropback game. That sort of happened, and Florida State took advantage of one of its few explosive plays of the night.
- Perry Kostidakis: FSU’s second fourth down stop following the fumble. Earlier in the year, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see this team crumble immediately after a devastating turnover but instead, the Seminoles’ buckled down and managed to prevent any points from it — even after missing out on an interception.
Will FSU win out to finish the year?
- Curt Weiler: I’m not yet sure they will win out. Florida has, at times, shown it’s capable of playing at a much higher level than this FSU team. But by the same token, the Gators have had some rough games as well, so it’s certainly possible. What I am confident in? FSU will be bowl eligible for the first time since 2023 after its home game against NC State next week.
- Josh Pick: It’s feasible, but my guess is UF finds a way with their talented roster.
- Jacob Smith: I don’t think UF is a win, but NC State could be the launchpad into a bowl game. Big win nonetheless! I look forward to getting in the Birmingham Hot Sauce Bowl.
- FrankDNole: You talking to me? My name is FrankDNole.
- Tony Morris: Yes. NC State is winnable if we play how we have played the last couple games (maybe a bit better on offense), but it really comes down to UF, who I believe we can pile the points on, and we just need our defense to lock in. Rick Stockstill best interim FSU coach run ever?
- Seminole Uprising: 1-1. NC State is bad. Florida will still run all over them.
- Perry Kostidakis: I need to see how Florida looks tomorrow before I’m fully convinced of it, but right now, I’m submitting to Stockstill Syndrome and saying that Florida State will pull it off. Back-to-back home games against programs in a slide while seemingly getting more comfortable in its current scheme each week is a recipe that I like.
