Florida State beats Florida Football in offensive showdown

The Florida State Seminoles beat Florida Football, 45-38. In possibly his last regular-season game for the Gators, Anthony Richardson threw for 198 yards on 9 completions. He ended up completing 9 of his 27 passes. Additionally, he threw for 3 touchdowns on the day. On the other end, Jordan Travis threw for 270 yards on 13 completions, while also throwing for one touchdown.

The opening drive started out with a fumble from Florida State after Travis completed a pass to Ontaria Wilson. The Gators couldn’t do anything with the good field position, as they struggled for yards and failed to convert on fourth. Trey Benson made up for the earlier fumble by Florida State by using his legs for the first score of the game.

Trevor Etienne shut up the Florida State crowd with a 48-yard kick return that put the Gators in  good field position. Anthony Richardson and Ricky Pearsall took advantage of Etienne’s run and quickly answered by getting a 52-yard TD connection.

Jordan Travis used his arm and legs to get the Seminoles into good field territory. They couldn’t it turn into points, as they went for fourth and 12 at Florida’s 36. On the next drive, the running combo of Etienne and Montrell Johnson Jr used their legs to lead the Gators to a TD and the lead. Florida State responded with a TD behind the Jordan Travis show.

On the next drive, Anthony Richardson threw an interception near midfield on the fourth play of the drive. Florida State wasn’t able to turn the interception into points, as they only got one first down and a missed 37 yard field goal on that drive.

Anthony Richardson made up for his turnover with two big passing plays that ended in a touchdown for the Gators. Jordan Travis used his legs to lead Florida State to a TD response. The rushing attack allowed the Gators to move the ball, but they had to settle for three, as Anthony Richardson couldn’t connect with his wide receivers.

Florida State stopped the fireworks on the next drive, as they went three and out due to three straight incompletions. Still, the scoring fireworks were amazing at the half, as the Gators were up 24-21. The Gators would struggle in the third quarter, having three straight three and outs.

After the first three and out by the Gators, Florida State would use the rushing attack to get into good field position. They had to settle for three, but the field goal tied the game. On the second three and out from the Gators, the offense didn’t end the drive with positive yardage. Trey Benson and Jordan Travis took advantage of the Gators’ poor offense, using their legs to take the lead.

The last three and out from the Gators would be sealed by a delay of game penalty that made third and eight, third and thirteen, making converting the third into a first almost impossible. The Gators punted the ball away and Jordan Travis didn’t waste too much time getting the Seminoles a two-possession lead.

While they were aided by a holding penalty from the Gators the play earlier, Jordan Travis had two solid completions to make it a fourteen-point lead.

Florida Football’s offense finally got aided by their rushing attack on their way to a TD. While they got aided by Florida State penalties that extended the drive, the Gators’ rushing attack got working and allowed Florida to make it a one-possession game.

One noteworthy play was when Montrell Johnson ran for 10+ yards on a fourth down play where Anthony Richardson was ineligible to be on the field due to him having his helmet taken off during the previous play.

On the next drive, It was Florida State’s time to go three and out, as they ended up with negative yards on that drive. Etienne used his legs to for a TD that tied this game with 7 minutes left.

The rushing attack for Florida State responded behind Treshuan Ward, Benson and Travis. They ended up with a TD, making it a 7-point lead with 4 minutes to go. Things started to look even worse after a holding penalty on the second made it third down and eighteen. They wouldn’t get any yards on third or fourth, as they threw two incompletions.

The game should be over but Florida got a first down with a bad call on Jacques McClellan from the official for pass interference. While McClellan gave a little bit of contact, it wasn’t enough contact to warrant a pass interference call. Florida used this break to their advantage, as they went down the field. They got to the Florida State 21 before a false start penalty made third down, third and twelve. They couldn’t get any more yards in this game, as Florida St forced two incompletions.

The Seminoles did get away with a facemask on Anthony Richardson on fourth, but as the announcer pointed out, Florida Football got a huge break earlier in the drive when the game should have been over; so it’s fair if Florida St got away with a missed call on them.

Florida State defeats Florida Football in offensive showcase

Florida State won the game, 45-38. Quickly before getting into Florida Football, I wanted to quickly touch on Florida State. I have really enjoyed watching the Jordan Travis show this season. Yes, Florida State’s only good in-conference win was against a solid Louisville team. They only lost to the big dogs of the ACC (Clemson, NC State, and Wake Forest).

Still, those things don’t make a 9-3 season very fun. The Seminoles are going to go to be in a solid bowl game. This team wasn’t bowl-eligible in the last two seasons, so this season is a massive improvement. Mike Norvell probably saved his job from being on the hot seat this season.

As I have said in previously, the Gators have had a very weird year. Very quickly, they beat Utah in week 1, lost to Kentucky in week 2, almost lost to the worst program in the country a week later (USF), and then only lost by one possession against the Volunteers. That was just September.

After dominating Eastern Washington, they barely beat Missouri. The week after, they lost to LSU behind a horrible defense performance where the Tigers ended up with over 500 total scrimmage yards. It seemed like they would be dominated by Georiga until the Bulldogs allowed them to hang around for a fake comeback.

The next two weeks, the offense would be non-stop as they went for two straight victories over Texas A&M and South Carolina. The offense seemed to be rolling until it stopped in the red zone against Vandy in the first half. While other issues, including having a muffed punt led to the loss, this was one of the issues that led to the loss.

While I have been saying for the last couple of weeks, this was a very weird year for Florida Football. Just a straight-up rollercoaster ride. At times, it seemed like 8 wins were possible, and instead, the Gators are going to end up barely being bowl eligible and heading to a Las Vegas/Liberty-type bowl.