With heavy hearts after Jordan Travis injury, No. 4 FSU pulls away for 58-13 win
It was supposed to be a night of celebrations. Instead, the No. 4 Florida State football team had to find a way to recover from a scene that was exactly the opposite.
Star quarterback Jordan Travis, who returned for his senior season with the goal of leading the Seminoles to a national championship, was knocked out in the first quarter Saturday night with what appeared to be a gruesome leg injury.
The injury was so devastating that running back Trey Benson and other Seminoles had to be consoled as they watched medical personnel tend to the injured quarterback. Then, after Travis was carted off the field, the rest of the team had to deal with trailing upset-minded North Alabama by 13 points.
It took a little while, but Florida State eventually did just that, scoring 58 consecutive points to roll to a 58-13 victory. The win improves the Seminoles’ record to 11-0 with one game remaining; they have now won 17 straight games dating back to last season.
Florida State finally got on the board in the second quarter when Ryan Fitzgerald connected on a 23-yard field goal to make it 13-3. Then with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker running the offense, the Seminoles scored three straight touchdowns to take a 24-13 lead into halftime.
Benson and Caziah Holmes scored on a pair of short touchdown runs, and Lawrance Toafili rumbled in from 17 yards out to put Florida State ahead by 11.
Florida State then added another touchdown on a 26-yard screen pass from Rodemaker to Holmes and a 24-yard TD strike from Rodemaker to Keon Coleman to make it 38-13 late in the third quarter. Running back CJ Campbell also broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown run to push the FSU lead to 32 points.
Rodemaker, who was replaced in the fourth quarter by freshman Brock Glenn, finished the night with 213 yards and two touchdowns on 13-of-23 passing. Glenn added a late score on an 11-yard run. Then freshman DB Quindarrius Jones scored on a 50-yard blocked field goal on the final play of the game.
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Florida State’s defense struggled early, as North Alabama broke out a long line of trick plays that seemed to keep the Seminoles off-balance. But Adam Fuller’s group found its footing midway through the first half and ended up delivering a slew of big plays.
Defensive back Jarrian Jones forced a fumble, intercepted a pass and was credited with three tackles for a loss and a sack. Defensive tackle Braden Fiske and Patrick Payton each also recorded two tackles for loss, and Payton deflected two passes.
Travis’ injury cast a pall over the sell-out crowd that was in attendance partly to celebrate a reunion of the 2013 national championship team and the retirement of Jameis Winston’s jersey. Those events still took place, but the celebrations obviously were slightly muted.
FSU officials had not released an update on Travis’ injury by the end of Saturday’s game, but based on what it looked like on television replays, the Seminoles likely will be without him the rest of the season.
Next up for Florida State is a road trip to Gainesville to face the rival Florida Gators on Saturday.
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Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.
