Florida State running back Treshaun Ward not in game after first-half injury, trip to locker room

While Florida State is managing just fine so far without Treshaun Ward against NC State, the Seminoles would surely like him back. And beyond Saturday night, he’s a critical part of their running game.

Ward went in to the locker room for an injury in the first half, according to ACC Network’s Kelsey Riggs. When he left the game, he had five carries for 51 yards.

With Ward out, Florida State has leaned on Lawrance Toafili and Trey Benson out of the backfield, complemented with a decent dose of quarterback Jordan Travis running.

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Ward was Florida State’s leading rush by far coming in to Saturday. He entered with 67 carries for 437 yards. Toafili and Benson have 73 combined carries for 433 yards.

Mike Norvell was pleased with the Florida State defense in the first half

Florida State has dealt with a number of defensive injuries this season, including a few on the defensive line to Jared Verse and Fabian Lovett.

With Verse leaving the game against NC State on Saturday evening for a period after going down — he did return — and Lovett traveling but not appearing to play, along with Robert Cooper getting hurt, head coach Mike Norvell was impressed with the way his team leaned on its depth.

“We’ve gotten in to our depth but it’s something we’ve had to deal with all year. Next man up, next man ready and guys are competing hard. We just gotta play 30 more minutes,” Norvell said at halftime.