Florida State falls to Duke for the first time in program history, 23-16

The Seminoles were able to score on their first possession after two explosive plays from Lawrance Toafili. The drive would stall in the red zone, but it was still enough to take a 3-0 lead. Otherwise there was little excitement at the beginning.

There were four three-pointers in the first seven possessions of the game. It would have been five, but Coach Norvell hit a fake punt to Kyle Morlock that went 31 yards and FSU was in business. Thanks to a Malik Benson deficit on third-and-long, they were unable to convert field position to better position. Immediately afterwards the wheels would fall off the train.

When Alex Mastromanno was forced to settle for a field goal, a high snap occurred and Alex Mastromanno couldn’t make the punt, so Fitzgerald’s attempt barely got off the ground. After another three-pointer forced by the FSU defense, FSU got the ball back and had the opportunity to make up for that mistake.

Three plays later, Duke’s Chandler Rivers stormed into the end zone after a Brock Glenn interception, giving Duke its first lead and its only sign of life. For the second straight game, Rivers has a pick-six against the Seminoles. On the very next play, Brock Glenn pulled the ball on a read option and fumbled. 10 plays and 36 yards later, Duke penetrated the end zone and led 14-3.

Brock Glenn has some time to think and realize his mistakes, comes back into play and intercepts the first play of the series. Three plays in a row, three turnovers in a row.

The defense held Duke to a field goal, which they converted into a 17-3 lead.

That would be all we saw from Brock Glenn. Three turnovers in a row were enough for Norvell to pull the plug and bring in true freshman Luke Kromenhoek. Glenn finished the night going 3/10 for 37 yards, two interceptions and a fumble.

On Kromenhoek’s first drive, he appeared afraid to throw, missed a drag route and was sacked instead. They had punted on his first drive, but it was an improvement over the turnovers.

After another three-pointer forced by the defense, Kromenhoek was given another chance. He uncorked a GORGEOUS deep ball to Kentron Poitier, but as is par for the course, it was dropped. A few plays later, FSU had to settle for a field goal, and Ryan Fitzgerald kicked the ball from 53 yards out to bring the score to 17-6.

Duke would make another three-pointer and put the ball back to Florida State with 38 seconds left. After Hykeem Williams let a pass slip through his hands that he should have caught, Florida State took a 17-6 lead into the locker room.

FSU had 150 yards to Duke’s 62 and a yards per play range of 3.9 to 1.9. Even if 31 of those yards came on a fake punt, being down 17-6 with stats like these is impressive.

READ MORE: What games could Florida State realistically win in the second half of the season?

The second half started with déjà vu for FSU as they returned the first kickoff for a touchdown. Sam Singleton managed 95 yards to get into the end zone. For the second year in a row, FSU scored a kick return touchdown against Duke, and last year Deuce Spann scored a touchdown.

Duke responded with its best drive of the game: 10 plays, 48 ​​yards that took up more than five minutes of game time. They used two wildcat formations, one of which turned into a reverse for quarterback Maalik Murphy, who placed a tight ball between Omar Graham and Cam Riley for a big attack. The drive stalled with a field goal attempt and Todd Pelino hit the 44-yarder to extend the lead back to 20-13.

After a few exchanged punts, Florida State got the ball back just before the end of the third quarter and used Brock Glenn at quarterback again. His first play was a shovel pass to Lawrance Toafili that missed a defender and scored a first down. Two plays later, Glenn missed a defender in the backfield and ran 17 yards free to end the third quarter.

The promising drive would stall in the red zone after a delay of game and a block from behind, giving them 2nd-and-25 from the 35-yard line. Two plays later, Glenn scrambled up the middle and gained 14 yards to give them an easier field goal, and Fitzgerald threw in the 38-yarder to make the score 20-16 with 11:35 left.

Florida State thought they had the momentum-changer they needed in Shyheim Brown, who got the better of Maalik Murphy, but he had to reach back to keep Ashlynd Barker on the defensive end. On the very next play, Duke failed with a 44-yard run and brought them to the edge of field goal range. Their drive would stall there and they would settle for three to push the lead back to a touchdown, 23-16, with 8:58 to play.

Brock Glenn came up with another promising attack, throwing nice throws over the middle to Poitier and Hykeem Williams and getting some help from Toafili on the ground. But Kam Davis brought the ball down just outside the red zone with 5:26 left and had to leave the field with a leg injury. So FSU’s defense had to get Brock Glenn the ball.

Which they would, thanks to a hold call that negated a long run that could have put the game on the ice. Instead, Duke punted, and the ‘Noles took the lead with 2:43 left and took the lead by 41 minutes.

Lawrance Toafili would be tackled for a loss on first down. Brock Glenn would be sacked on second down to bring about the two-minute timeout. On 3rd and 13, Glenn scrambled for nine yards to make it 4th and manageable. Glenn would convert and go into the pocket to find Ja’Khi Douglas for the first down.

In a new series of losses, Glenn would be sacked on the first play of the game and Darius Washington would be injured and helped off the field. A false start by Jeremiah Byers left him on second-and-24. Glenn threw it flat to Thomas, who couldn’t bring it in. On 3rd-and-24, Glenn escaped to right and threw it back into play field. It was intercepted but thrown out of bounds, but a waiting call on the play (which was declined) brought 4th-and-24. On 4th down, Glenn came under pressure at the top of his dropback and threw the ball back to Toafili, who threw it back with nowhere to go. And that would be all she wrote.

FSU was just 2/14 on 3rd downs but outscored Duke 291-182. The turnovers cost them in the end. FSU’s QBs finished the game with just 129 yards on 12/26.

Florida State falls to 1-6 and plays Miami next Saturday at 7 p.m. EST.

READ MORE: Florida State running back leaves game against Duke after injury

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