Short-handed No. 4 Florida State pulls away from Pitt, clinches ACC title game berth
PITTSBURGH — Florida State junior receiver Ja’Khi Douglas will never be confused for Keon Coleman or Johnny Wilson from a stature standpoint.
From a production standpoint? That’s a different story — at least on Saturday.
With Coleman and Wilson sidelined due to injuries, the Seminoles turned to the experienced and speedy — though undersized — Douglas, and he came up huge.
Facing the upset-minded Pitt Panthers in Acrisure Stadium, Douglas hauled in six passes for 115 yards and helped No. 4 Florida State pull away for a 24-7 victory.
The win improved the Seminoles’ record to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the ACC. Pitt falls to 2-7 and 1-4.
Florida State now has clinched a berth in the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2014, no matter what happens next Saturday against rival Miami.
Louisville sits alone in second place with a 5-1 ACC record, but the Cardinals have league games remaining against Virginia and Miami. Every other team in the conference has at least two losses.
Other players contributed big plays for Florida State’s offense on Saturday, but Douglas’ contributions were immeasurable because of how depleted FSU was at receiver. Not only were the Seminoles without their top two wideouts — the 6-foot-7 Wilson and 6-4 Coleman — but speedy backups Deuce Spann and Hykeem Williams also were unavailable.
Douglas, who checks in at 5-9 and 189 pounds, came into Saturday’s game with two receptions for 36 yards on the season after missing Florida State’s first four games due to injury. He tripled that production against the Panthers.
Travis finished with 361 yards through the air on 21-of-35 passing, and Trey Benson ran for 97 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts.
Florida State’s defense gave up over 300 yards of offense, but the Seminoles held Pitt to just one touchdown and forced three turnovers.
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While the game was a slog for most of the first three quarters, Florida State’s offense finally blew things open with two big scores down the stretch.
First, Travis hit tight end Markeston Douglas for a 22-yard touchdown to extend the Seminoles’ lead to 17-7 with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter. That capped off an 11-play, 80-yard drive that consumed more than five minutes off the clock.
Then Benson broke loose for a 55-yard touchdown run on Florida State’s next possession to push the advantage to 24-7.
Florida State actually generated 297 yards of offense in the first half but had just 10 points to show for it. The Seminoles fumbled once, got stopped on fourth down inside the 10-yard line and were forced to punt four times.
The story was somewhat similar for Pitt, as the Panthers scored just seven points in the first half despite racking up 228 yards of offense.
Florida State returns to action this Saturday at home against the rival Miami Hurricanes.
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