Still singin' the blues: FSU loses at home to Memphis, falls to 0-3
The bye week didn’t help either.
Despite having nearly two weeks to prepare, the Florida State football team dug itself another huge hole on Saturday and lost at home to Memphis, 20-12.
The Seminoles staged a brief rally in the second half, scoring a touchdown and a field goal to cut the Tigers’ lead to eight points at 20-12, but they came up empty on their final two drives.
Florida State is now 0-3 on the season and has lost all three games as substantial favorites.
This might have been the most embarrassing one yet for Florida State head coach Mike Norvell. He left the Tigers after the 2019 season to take the FSU job and now lost to the Tigers in his new stadium.
Memphis, which is now 3-0 on the year, received a $1.3 million guarantee for playing the game.
While Florida State’s defense has struggled mightily early this season, it was the offense and special teams that did FSU in on Saturday.
The Seminoles gained just 67 yards of offense in the first two quarters, and they also turned the ball over twice — once on a Roydell Williams fumble on their first series and another on an interception by quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Florida State also fumbled a punt return, which set up Memphis’ final points of the first half.
Another special-teams miscue — a targeting penalty on redshirt freshman Edwin Joseph while Memphis was trying to return a punt — gave the Tigers decent field position when they should have been backed up inside their 15-yard line.
Florida State’s offense showed some life in the second half, putting together two long scoring drives — one for 75 yards and the other for 71 — but it was too little, too late.
Uiagalelei finished the game with 201 yards on 16-of-30 passing. Senior receiver Malik Benson had his best game as a Seminole, catching five passes for 99 yards.
The Seminoles’ running game was once again non-existent, finishing with 37 yards on 24 carries.
Florida State will continue its home stand next Saturday against visiting California.
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