No. 5 Florida State rallied from an early 12-point deficit to beat rival Florida 24-15 on the road and cap an undefeated regular season. In a battle of backup quarterbacks filling in for injured stars, the Seminoles came up with just enough offense to keep their College Football Playoff aspirations on track entering next week’s ACC Championship Game showdown against No. 10 Louisville.
Yards were hard to come by for FSU as it adjusted to life without longtime starter Jordan Travis, who was lost for the season in last week’s win over North Alabama. But touchdown drives of 90 and 75 yards bookending halftime helped support the Seminoles, who began to flex defensively in the second half.
Florida State sealed the victory late with a 26-yard scoring run from Trey Benson, who accounted for all three of the Seminoles’ touchdowns on the ground. The game-clinching drive was aided by a targeting penalty on Florida’s Jaydon Hill that temporarily knocked FSU quarterback Tate Rodemaker out of the game.
Defensively, the ‘Noles forced three consecutive three-and-outs during the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, and then put an exclamation point on the win with a late interception of Florida quarterback Max Brown by Kalen DeLoach.
- Florida State has won 18 straight games and two of the last three against the Gators
- The Seminoles have won 20 in a row against unranked foes, dating back to a 2021 loss against Florida
- Florida, which has lost five straight games (three vs. top-10 teams), will miss a bowl for the first time since 2017
CBS Sports was with you throughout the game providing live updates, highlights and analysis. Keep it locked here as we will provide takeaways below shortly.
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