Florida State stood toe-to-toe with Alabama on Saturday night in Atlanta and for a while, traded blows with the Crimson Tide. In the end however, second half miscues simply proved to be too much for the Seminoles to overcome in a 24-7 loss.
Against a team with the pedigree of the Crimson Tide, any school hoping to pull off the win has to be crisp. They can’t make mistakes and they must maximize opportunities. Florida State failed to do both of those things on Saturday night and as a result, the Seminoles are 0-1 for the first time during the Jimbo Fisher era.
The first disappointment came on the opening drive for FSU. Facing a 3rd-and-2 on Alabama’s 32-yard-line, FSU had two plays to get two yards. After quarterback Deondre Francois misfired on a throw to Nyqwan Murray that could have been caught, the redshirt sophomore signal-caller went down for a 6-yard loss on a fourth down sack.
In the second quarter, FSU failed to take advantage of starting with the ball at Alabama’s 31-yard-line after talented punter J.K. Scott booted the ball just nine yards. In three plays, the Seminoles lost five yards and were ultimately forced to punt.
The biggest turning point however came on Florida State’s final possession of the first half. On a throw from Francois to the end zone for Murray, the junior wide receiver was interfered with, but no flag was thrown. On the next play, FSU kicker Ricky Aguayo had his 37-yard field goal blocked and Alabama went to the half with the lead, 10-7.
In the second half, things went from bad to worse for Florida State and the biggest culprit was special teams. With less than two minutes to play in the third quarter, FSU’s Logan Tyler had his punt blocked, which gave the Crimson Tide the ball at the FSU 6-yard-line. The Seminoles stood tall defensively, holding Alabama to a field goal, but Keith Gavin fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Florida State 11-yard-line.
It took Damien Harris just one play to find the end zone from there and Alabama was able to convert on the 2-point conversion as quarterback Jalen Hurts found Calvin Ridley to make it 21-7. Each of Francois’ next two passes for the Seminoles were intercepted. Although neither led to points for Alabama, the miscues kept FSU pinned deep.
Andy Pappanastos’ third field goal of the night with 6:25 to play put the game away for Alabama. On the next drive however, FSU was dealt perhaps its biggest blow as Francois went down with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
For Florida State on Saturday night, the Seminoles showed that they were fully capable of playing with the nation’s best. The defense held Alabama to just 269 yards — 96 passing — and a dismal 3-for-16 on third down. The offense reached Alabama territory four times in the first half and came away with just seven points. Special teams on the other hand, was downright atrocious.
None of this is to short-change Alabama one bit. Alabama has been the class of college football over the last decade and teams like the Crimson Tide rarely self-destruct. Alabama was clearly the better team on Saturday night, but the Seminoles made too many mistakes to truly give themselves a chance.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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