FSU climbs in ranking after beating UF

Nov 27, 2022 - 6:48 PM

Florida State Seminoles football finished up the 2022 regular season on a high note on Friday, taking down the Florida Gators (6-6, 3-5 SEC) in a high-scoring thriller inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

It’s the first time since 2016 that FSU won the state and the team’s best regular season and conference record (9-3, 5-3 ACC) since that year as well.

Ahead of conference championship weekend, the USA Today Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 moved Florida State to No. 14 in the country. The Seminoles are the third-highest-ranked three-loss team behind LSU (No. 13), Utah (No. 12) and Kansas State (No. 10)

The newest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings drop on Tuesday.

FSU was ranked No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, AP Top 25 and the College Football Playoff rankings last week.

AP Top 25

1. Georgia Bulldogs
2. Michigan Wolverines
3. TCU Horned Frogs
4. USC Trojans
5. Ohio State Buckeyes
6. Alabama Crimson Tide
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Penn State Nittany Lions
9. Washington Huskies
10. Clemson Tigers
11. LSU Tigers
12. Utah Utes
13. Kansas State Wildcats
14. Florida State Seminoles
15. Oregon Ducks
16. Oregon State Beavers
17. UCLA Bruins
18. Tulane Green Wave
19. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
20. South Carolina Gamecocks
21. Texas Longhorns
22. UCF Knights
23. UTSA Roadrunners
24. North Carolina Tar Heels
25. Mississippi State Bulldogs

USA Today Coaches Poll

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. TCU
4. USC
5. Ohio State
6. Alabama
7. Penn State
8. Tennessee
9. Washington
10. Kansas State
11. Clemson
12. Utah
13. LSU
14. Florida State
15. Oregon
16. Oregon State
17. UCLA
18. Tulane
19. Notre Dame
20. South Carolina
21. Texas
22. North Carolina
23. UCF
24. UTSA
25. Mississippi State

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Team notes, via FSU Sports Info

• No. 16 Florida State beat Florida 45-38 to win its 15th state championship all-time and first since 2016. In the past 30 seasons, dating back to 1993, Florida State has swept the other two “Big 3” Florida schools in the same season 11 times, while Miami has four state sweeps and Florida has two.
• FSU’s win evens the all-time series with Florida in Tallahassee, 14-14-1.
• Florida State improved to 2-0 against the SEC this season (W vs. LSU). The Seminoles are responsible for two of the SEC’s seven non-conference losses this season and are the first team with two non-conference wins over the SEC in the same season since Clemson defeated Texas A&M and South Carolina in 2019.
• Mike Norvell is now 20-5 (.800) in the month of November as head coach, including a perfect 4-0 this year.
• The Noles extended their winning streak to five games, the team’s longest since ending 2016 with five straight wins.
• The Noles 45 points were FSU’s most in the series since 1992 (and tied for 2nd most); and 497 yards of total offense are FSU’s most in the series since racking up 519 in the 31-31 tie in 1994.
• FSU has scored at least 38 points in five straight games, FSU’s longest streak since 11 straight games to start the 2013 season.
• For the sixth straigh game, quarterback Jordan Travis accounted for at least three touchdowns and one or fewer turnovers. That is the longest stretch in FSU history and is the longest active streak in the country.
• Travis finished the game with 270 passing yards on just 13 completions with one touchdown and added 83 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
• Travis now ranks 9th in school history with 24 rushing touchdowns and is tied for 10th with 43 passing touchdowns, the only player in the Top 10 of both. On FSU’s singleseason lists, Travis ranks 10th in total offense with 3,163 yards; 14th with 22 touchdown passes and 2,796 passing yards; and 19th with 199 completions.
• FSU rushed for 227 yards, the Noles seventh straight game crossing the 200-yard barrier. That is the longest streak in the country this season, and the longest for FSU since 1987 (also seven straight).
• Running back Trey Benson ran 20 times for 111 yards, with a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He is the first Seminole since 2020 with three rushing touchdowns in a game and now leads FSU with nine this season. Benson is 17th in single-season rushing yards with 965 and 18th in single-season touchdown runs. Benson also led FSU with 51 receiving yards on two catches, with a career-long of 34 yards. Benson’s catches were on back-to-back plays in the second quarter.
• Benson has five 100-yard games this season, the most for a Seminole since Cam Akers had six in 2019.
• For the second straight week, the Seminoles had two players score multiple touchdowns on the ground. Before last week, FSU had not had two players with multiple rushing touchdowns in a game since 2017.
• Florida State entered Friday leading the country with 80 plays of 20 or more yards and added eight more against the Gators, including Travis’ 29-yard touchdown run. Benson had FSU’s longest run of the game (45 yards), while Travis and Malik McClain connected on a 44-yard pass, the longest reception for the Seminoles and McClain’s longest of the season.
• FSU outscored the Gators 17-0 in the third quarter and held Florida to (-2) yards and three three-and-outs on their first three possessions of the second half.
• Jarrian Jones grabbed his second career interception to start the second quarter. FSU has at least one takeaway in four straight games and seven total in that span.
• Linebacker Tatum Bethune led the Seminoles with 11 tackles, his 10th career double-digit game and third this year.
• Safety Jammie Robinson finished with 10 tackles, including nine in the first half. In his last two games against the Gators, Robinson has 28 tackles. Robinson has 12 career double-digit tackle games - most on the team - and has 306 for his career.
• Florida State has scored on 17 of its 24 first drives in a half this season after a Ryan Fitzgerald field goal to start the second half — Fitzgerald’s field goal was from 46 yards, his second-longest of the season
• Derrick McLendon and Shyheim Brown combined on FSU’s lone sack, and McLendon is now third on the team with 3.5 this season — Brown made the second start of his career and tied his career-high with seven tackles
• Kentron Poitier caught a six-yard touchdown, his fourth of the season and one behind Johnny Wilson for the team receiving lead.