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Grading Florida State football: How do Seminoles grade following big win over No. 17 Duke
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- Grading Florida State football: How do Seminoles grade following big win over No. 17 Duke
The magical run for Florida State football continued Saturday with a 38-20 victory over Duke at Doak Campbell Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 79,560.
The No. 4 Seminoles (7-0, 5-0 ACC) shut out the Blue Devils (5-2, 2-1) in the second half after trailing by a field goal at halftime. FSU grabbed its first lead of the game with 13:03 left in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard rush by quarterback Jordan Travis .
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The Seminoles out-scored Duke 21-0 in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 10 points twice in the first half.
"What a night. So proud of our football team," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "Their response, everything that we do and train for and how we go to work, it's for that moment, for that game, for that stage. They showed up [and] showed incredible heart. They fought back. Great second half.
FSU has now scored 30 or more points in 13 straight games and won as many games in a row, dating back to last season.
Here are our grades for FSU against Duke.
Offense: B
The Duke Blue Devils lead the Florida State Seminoles 20-17 at the half on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.
The offense found a way to score 30 or more points for the 13th straight game. But there were plenty of frustrations for the Seminoles, especially in the first half against a talented Blue Devil defense.
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Travis threw a pick-six on a deflected ball, which Chandler Rivers took in for a score in the second quarter to extend the Duke lead to 17-7.
Travis finished 27-of-36 passing for 268 yards, two touchdowns and an interception - just his second of the season. He also led the team with 10 rushes for 62 yards and a score, including a long of 20.
Rodney Hill led a running back group that was bottled up for most of the game and finished with 90 yards. He had six rushes for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Jaheim Bell led the team with eight receptions for 53 yards, while Lawrance Toafili added four receptions for 40 yards, including a 21-yard screen pass for a score. Fellow running back Caziah Holmes also added a 7-yard TD catch.
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Johnny Wilson finished with five catches for 58 yards but left the game in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury. Keon Coleman was limited to two catches for 54 yards but hauled in an important catch in traffic in the fourth to aid a scoring drive.
Defense: B+
Florida State Seminoles defensive lineman Fabien Lovett (0) celebrates a stop. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Duke Blue Devils 38-20 on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.
If you break this into two halves, the first half deserved a 'D' and the second half was a perfect 'A+.' The Seminoles allowed 144 rushing yards in the first half but limited the Blue Devils to 53 in the second half, with a good chunk of that coming on the final drive to run out the clock.
The Blue Devils had just 92 total yards in the second half and 273 for the game.
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Fabien Lovett played a huge part in the success of the Seminoles, as he recorded his first-career two tackles for loss game. He stuffed a run from Jaquez Moore for a four-yard loss in the fourth quarter after FSU took its first lead of the game and stalled a potential drive for the Blue Devils and forced them into a three-and-out.
The Seminoles did not record a sack but had Duke QB Riley Leonard playing under pressure all game, eventually knocking him from the game, when he re-injured his ankle.
Tatum Bethune added a TFL and Kalen DeLoach and Akeem Dent each had 0.5 tackles for loss.
"I was just really proud of our entire team and just the mindset they brought," Norvell said. "The way they encouraged each other throughout was special. We had big momentum swings, great plays, some disappointing plays that we have to be better at, but as a whole, like I said, that's why we train the way we train."
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Special teams: A-
The Duke Blue Devils lead the Florida State Seminoles 20-17 at the half on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.
The biggest play of the game and momentum changer for the Seminoles came after Duke took a 10-point lead. Deuce Spann - who stepped in for Winston Wright when he left the program to return kicks - took a kick back for a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the lead to three.
It was the first career kickoff return in college for the former quarterback and Illinois transfer.
Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald his his only field goal attempt from 32 yards in the second quarter and was perfect on his five extra point attempts. He is 8 for 8 this season on kicks.
A block in the back and another penalty in the return game are the only reasons this grade is docked at all.
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Coaching: B+
Norvell had a questionable call in the first quarter, deciding to go for it on fourth-and-one from his own 35. The play call was just as questionable, as the Blue Devils saw the run play coming and were able to stuff it.
The play gave the Blue Devils a short field and while the defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out, Duke was in field goal range and was able to extend its lead at the time.
However, Norvell's adjustment in the second half to get Travis more involved in the run game deserves praise. The majority of Travis' rush yards came in the second half and the rush offense had 114 yards in the second half compared to just 38 in the first.
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Defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and his defense were more aggressive in attacking the run in the second half and stopped expecting the injured Leonard to rush the ball. This allowed the defense to take away the run game and hone in on the pass.
The Blue Devils were just 8 for 22 passing for 76 yards for the game, including just 39 in the second half.
"A lot of credit to Duke," Norvell said. "They battled throughout. It's a really good football team, and it's one that -- it was what I expected it to be."
Overall: B+
This wasn't FSU's best game. They struggled at times with the toughness Duke presented on defense and trailed by double figures twice.
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But the team showed toughness and never wavered in front of a loud crowd on homecoming to win their 13th straight game.
The Seminoles are still a work in progress, but the victory over a scrappy Duke team shows they are ready to take on some of the better defensive teams near the top of college football.
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports) .
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football report card: Grading Seminoles after Duke victory
