There weren't many people who thought the Florida State Seminoles were going to beat the Virginia Cavaliers last Saturday. With that said, the game was never in doubt after Virginia took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter as the Seminoles started rolling.
Yes, their defense didn't allow another point for the rest of the game, and they racked up 10 sacks, but quarterback Ashton Daniels was the star of the day. He gained 136 yards on the ground on 17 carries. However, it was the five rushing touchdowns he scored that made his performance so memorable, which set an FSU record. Also, he completed 12 of his 19 passes for 183 yards.
Sometimes in football, the stars just align, and everything goes right, and that's exactly what happened to Daniels against
Virginia. His performance, not surprisingly, didn't go unnoticed by head coach Mike Norvell. When he spoke about Florida State's big win, he was very complimentary of Daniels.
Yeah, I thought Ashton played at a high level really did some good things and took advantage of opportunities that presented themselves. He was a great play maker. You see the respect that the defense tonight had for our backs, our receivers and the way they were trying to defend us. I think Ash earned some respect tonight on the performance he had. So we got to continue to grow from it but I love the young man, he shows up every day to try to push to be better. He shows up every day trying to encourage his teammates and the willingness to be an example. Our football team deserved that tonight. He deserved that tonight. I was proud of him for the way that he was able to go play and excited for our team and where we can build and grow from here.
Daniels threw three interceptions against the Alabama Crimson Tide a few weeks ago, but he also threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns. In the last two games against the Central Arkansas Bears and Virginia, he's had his two best completion percentage games of the season with 66.7 and 63.2, respectively. He still needs to cut down the turnovers, but Daniels has been significantly better than what he showed in the first two games.
FSU has the Louisville Cardinals and the Miami Hurricanes up next on the road before returning hom to play the Clemson Tigers on Halloween. If they want any chance at making a bowl or competing for the ACC title, they need the trajectory of Daniels to keep pointing up and pull out at least a couple more wins in October.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Mike Norvell praises QB Ashton Daniels after historic performance
