How FSU football grades out after beating Pitt, clinching spot in ACC Championship
Survive and advance.
Florida State football did what needed to be done down two of its receivers in a 24-7 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Penn.
The No. 4 Seminole (9-0, 7-0 ACC) have now won 15 straight games and clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game for the first time since the 2014 season. Pittsburgh (2-7, 1-3) will not be able to reach the six-win mark to be bowl eligible.
The 9-0 start is the best since the 2014 season for FSU.
FSU's streak of scoring at least 30 points was halted at 14 games without the services of receivers Johnny Wilson, Keon Coleman, Deuce Spann and Hykeem Williams all missing the contest due to an assortment of injuries.
"Really proud of our team for coming on the road and having to face some adversity throughout the course of the week," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said postgame.
"We had some guys who were unavailable tonight. It really took all three phases. We did a lot of good things. There were some plays and moments that we'd like to have back. But I was just really pleased with the response of our team."
The Seminoles play rival Miami at Doak Campbell Stadium next Saturday. A time is yet to be announced but it will be broadcast on ABC.
Here are our grades for FSU against Pittsburgh.
Offense: B
The game started inauspiciously for the Seminoles, with running back Lawrance Toafili fumbling the ball on the fourth play from scrimmage. FSU gained nearly 300 yards of offense in the first half, yet never found its footing in the first half.
With four receivers down, including two key starts, Ja’Khi Douglas stepped up with a career game for the Seminoles. He finished with career highs with six receptions for 115 yards. His previous best was a 90-yard performance against rival Miami in 2021.
Douglas entered the game with two catches for 36 yards on the season. He missed the first five games due to an injury.
Jordan Travis continued his ascension in the Heisman Trophy talks with a strong performance despite being own two key receivers. He threw for a season-best 360 yards to go along with passing and rushing touchdowns.
Tight end Markeston Douglas caught three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown.
“I trust my guys,” Travis told ESPN after the game. “I really had to focus on trusting my guys. At the end of the day, these guys work so hard every single day. I am proud of every single receiver we have on this field. They stepped up to play different positions.
“At the end of the day, you can’t throw the ball downfield without the offensive line.”
Despite being bottled up for most of the game, Trey Benson finished with 12 rushes for 97 yards, including a 55-yard TD run in the third quarter to push the lead to 24-17.
Defense: A-
Fentrell Cypress II had a touchdown-saving play when stripped Konata Mumpfield of the ball following an 82-yard reception. Cypress punched the ball out at the 1-yard line and was able to dive on the ball for a touchback.
Freshman Conrad Hussey had his first career interception in the fourth quarter to help the Seminoles keep the Panthers off the board.
The Seminoles have now shut out opponents in four out of their previous five games.
Hussey also forced a fumble, allowing Shyheim Brown to recover a fumble in the fourth quarter to ice the victory for the Seminoles.
"The defense made big plays, created takeaways," Norvell said. "[They] were very impactful throughout the game Unbelievable on third downs, they did not convert a third down. Held them under 100 yards rushing."
Pitt had 209 yards alone in the second quarter, including 165 passing yards in the second. Of those 82 came on the big play where Cypress made his big game-changing play.
Kalen DeLoach, Ashlynd Barker and Braden Fiske each had sacks for the Seminoles.
The Panthers finished with 333 total yards. They were limited to just 89 rushing yards on 24 carries. The yardage is a season-low and the first time the Seminoles held an opponent under 100 rushing yards this season.
Special teams: B+
Ryan Fitzgerald connected on a 32-yard kick after missing a 29-yard field goal last week. He is now 11-for-12 on the season and has continued his growth from last season.
Punter Alex Mastramanno punted six times for 265 yards. His 44.2 average per boot was below his average of 46.7 for the season. He had a punt of 59 yards from the FSU 41 which went out of the endzone for a touchback with an opportunity to pin the Panthers deep in the first quarter.
"To see [Fitzgerald] bounce back, he was able to hit a field goal," Norvell said. "All three phases did a good job. Alex was able to flip the field for us when we had to punt."
Ja'Khi Douglas nearly muffed a punt and gave the Panthers valuable field position. But he was able to land on the ball and kept the ball. It was his first game as the primary punt returner with Coleman out of the game.
Coaching: B+
Faith in Douglas from the coaching staff has paid off. Head coach Mike Norvell and his staff have shown continued faith in the receiver despite drops in games and during practices.
The faith paid off as Douglas played the best game of his career with the Seminoles playing down four receivers on the two-deep depth chart.
The coaches get knocked off for some decisions in the first half and second half. The Seminoles never made a strong adjustment to the ‘B’ gap pressure from the Panthers, struggling to establish a run game.
There was also a curious decision for Norvell to go for it on fourth-and-two from deep in the red zone. The decision to go for it was fine, but the Travis keeper was a questionable play call, as Travis lost a yard and the team turned the ball over on downs.
Norvell did a good job with the playcalling. Screen passes in the first half allowed the Seminoles to get the ball moving in the first half when nothing else was working. In the second half, the team was able to break off bigger plays with the Panthers expecting more screens.
The screens were a nice extension of the run game.
Overall: A-
The Seminoles probably did not play as clean of a game as they wanted. But they pulled off the road victory despite being without Wilson and Coleman.
The important thing is the Seminoles responded from an early 7-0 deficit and held the Panthers at bay in the second half to pull off the major victory.
FSU has Miami next week and will look to reach 10 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2013-14 and reach double-digit victories for the 26th time in program history.
"I am proud of the work our team put in," Norvell said. "One thing I mentioned to the team, we took care of business today. We guaranteed ourselves another opportunity to be together. That game clinched a spot in the ACC Championship game, really proud of our team for that. There's a lot of work that goes into it."
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 Pittsburgh victory
