Given Florida State’s poor offense this season, pulling off an upset against the Florida Gators was always going to be a tall order.

Throw in two fumbles (three if we include the one recovered by FSU)? And that’s an uphill battle that any true freshman starting the lineup for the second time will have difficulty overcoming, let alone a historically terrible Florida State team.

Florida State’s second turnover, scored by Lawrance Toafili as the running back struggled for extra yards on a promising drive, seemed to be the death knell for any potential upsets. Taking over the Florida State 21, the Gators ran for 50 yards and appeared poised to add more points to their 7-0 lead (gained by Kromehoek’s fumble).

Then Florida State’s defense stepped up significantly for the first time this season to prevent further bleeding as Azarey’ah Thomas intercepted a pass for the first time since 2022. The Seminoles only gained 11 yards on the ensuing drive and still faced a two-touchdown deficit entering the final half of the game, but perhaps due to the fact that this lack of response had already been seen in nine different games this season, This moment was particularly significant.

Aside from those turnovers, there wasn’t much excitement in Tallahassee in the two quarters of the game. Both teams struggled early on offense, with Florida’s first touchdown drive being the result of the aforementioned initial fumble, but just before halftime the Gators managed to drive 80 yards and score another touchdown to tie the score To reach 14:0.

Luke Kromenhoek has shown his ability to produce on the ground — he has 40 yards after adjusting for sacks — but hasn’t managed to produce much in the air as Florida State’s offensive line has struggled , dealing with Florida’s pass rush. After two quarters of play, he is 6 for 11 for 36 yards, while FSU’s defenders have only managed 43 yards.

Florida, which won the first coin toss and reset, will start the ball on offense.

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FSU vs. Florida: Halftime Stats

Total yards

UF: 192

FSU: 79

Yards pass

UF: 100

FSU: 36

Rush yards

UF: 92

FSU: 43

Punish

UF: 3-25

FSU: 0-0

1. Downs

UF: 10

FSU: 6

3rd Downs

UF: 2-6

FSU: 3-7

4. Downs

UF: 0-0

FSU: 0-0

Total games

UF: 33

FSU: 32

Avg. Yds/Play

UF: 5.8

FSU: 2.5

Average Yds/Completion

UF: 11.1

FSU: 6.0

Avg. Yds/Rush

UF: 5.1

FSU: 2.0

Sack Adj Rush Yd(Avg.)

UF: 92 (5.1)

FSU: 73 (4.6)

Red zone

UF: 2-2

FSU: 0-0

Time of possession

UF: 13:43

FSU: 16:17

Sales (Def Pts Off)

UF: 1 (0)

FSU: 2 (7)

Fumbles lost

UF: 0-0

FSU: 3-2

Sacks (Def Yds)

UF: 5 (29)

FSU: 0 (0)

TFL (Def Yds)

UF: 8 (35)

FSU: 2 (5)