The Daily Nole

FSU-North Carolina: Game Balls

Photo courtesy of Jeff Romance/FSU athletics

In a matter of 23 football seconds, Doak Campbell Stadium went from jubilation to defeat as Nick Weiler kicked a 54-yard field goal to lift North Carolina past No. 12 Florida State 37-35 as time expired on Saturday.

The Seminoles rallied from 21-0 down to take a 35-34 lead on a Deondre Francois touchdown run with just seconds remaining, but a long completion and an unnecessary pass interference call gave the Tar Heels a long field goal attempt and an eventual victory. Though the Seminoles fell to 3-2 on the season and 0-2 in ACC play, there were some good individual efforts.

The staff of editor Mike Ferguson, lead writer Clint Eiland, recruiting analyst Jay Brading and contributor T.J. Pittinger hand out their game balls:

Offense

Unanimous Game Ball: Dalvin Cook, RB
The Seminoles may have lost on Saturday, but junior running back Dalvin Cook was certainly not the reason. Cook finished the day with 246 yards of total offense. Cook rushed 29 times for 140 yards and three touchdowns and also caught six passes for 106 yards.

Defense

Mike: Matthew Thomas, LB
Junior Matthew Thomas seemed to be reacting more and thinking less, finishing with a team-high eight total tackles, including one for loss and a forced fumble late in the first half that allowed FSU to stay in the game. He also batted a pass away at the line of scrimmage.

Clint, Jay: DeMarcus Walker, DE
Senior defensive end DeMarcus Walker continues to lead a lackluster defense for Florida State. On Saturday, Walker finished with six total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble of North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Unfortunately for the Seminoles, they were unable to come up with the loose ball.

T.J.: Derrick Nnadi, DT
Despite not practicing much during the week with an injury, junior defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi teamed with Demarcus Christmas for a big sack of Trubisky in the fourth quarter. It however, wasn’t enough.

Special Teams

Mike: Wally Aime, DT
Wally Aime blocked an extra point with under three minutes to play to keep the North Carolina lead at six and give the Seminoles a chance to win the game in regulation. FSU took the lead with 23 seconds remaining, but could not hold on.

Clint: Logan Tyler, P
Logan Tyler’s only official punt of the day pinned North Carolina deep in its own territory. Tyler also had five of his six kickoffs go for touchbacks and drew a roughing the kicker call on a second punt that gave FSU a first down and allowed it to reach the end zone.

Jay: Jesus Wilson, PR
Jesus Wilson fair caught North Carolina’s only punt of the day. That says a lot about what sort of day it was for the FSU special teams.

T.J.: Stephen Gabbard, LS
Not much went right on special teams for Florida State on Saturday, but it wasn’t the fault of the long snapper. Stephen Gabbard, a junior, did a good job of putting the ball where it needed to be.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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