16 plays, 93 yards, 8:11 minutes left.

At the risk of counting the chicks before they hatch, the North Carolina Tar Heels’ scoring spree late in the second quarter that saw them take a 14-3 lead could officially end FSU’s hopes of a second Victory would have been the season.

While Florida State entered the second quarter with its first lead since beating Cal on Sept. 21, that 3-0 lead quickly faded as UNC had its second straight drive that ended within goal-to-goal distance , conceded. The first, broken on the goal line, seemed to suggest that FSU would be ready to rise to the challenge of avoiding the worst ACC record in school history. Rather, three straight punts and two first downs by the Seminoles were answered by touchdowns by the Tar Heels.

Even considering the lack of production we’ve seen from FSU this season, the offense’s performance in the first half was abysmal, save for a 33-yard catch-and-run by Hykeem Williams. If you take that play out, the Seminoles only rushed for 28 yards – 1.21 per play! – in the first two quarters, while UNC scored 240.

A ray of hope? Ryan Fitzgerald’s 56-yard field goal in the first quarter moved him into a tie with Graham Gano all-time for more than 50 field goals in a single season (five).

Florida State started with the ball after winning the throw, but was unable to establish itself early and will have to prevent North Carolina from scoring again to start the third quarter.

UNC, FSU: Halftime stats

Total yards

UNC: 240

FSU: 61

Yards pass

UNC: 148

FSU: 33

Rush yards

UNC: 92

FSU: 28

Punish

UNC: 3-31

FSU: 1-0

1. Downs

UNC: 11

FSU: 5

3rd Downs

UNC: 8-10

FSU: 1-6

4. Downs

UNC: 0-1

FSU: 0-0

Total games

UNC: 39

FSU: 24

Avg. Yds/Play

UNC: 6.2

FSU: 2.5

Average Yds/Completion

UNC: 5/13

FSU: 33

Avg. Yds/Rush

UNC: 3.7

FSU: 1.5

Sack Adj Rush Yd(Avg.)

UNC: 101 (4.2)

FSU: 67 (4.8)

Red zone

UNC: 2-3

FSU: 0-0

Time of possession

UNC: 19:13

FSU: 10:47

Sales (Def Pts Off)

UNC: 0 (0)

FSU: 0 (0)

Fumbles lost

UNC: 0-0

FSU: 0-0

Sacks (Def Yds)

UNC: 5 (39)

FSU: 1 (9)

TFL (Def Yds)

UNC: 6 (40)

FSU: 2 (11)

Florida State Seminoles vs. North Carolina: How to watch

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Florida State Seminoles vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

Pregame coverage from Tomahawk Nation

Florida State vs. North Carolina: Game Notes

• Florida State returns home for the ACC finals against North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. FSU is the first team in the country to play its entire conference schedule and the only team to face a conference opponent in eight of its first nine games in 2024.
• The Seminoles have won eight straight games in November after posting a perfect 4-0 record in both 2022 and 2023, improving head coach Mike Norvell’s career record to 24-5 (.828) in the final month of the regular season ).
• Florida State is the only team in the ACC and one of two nationally to score a kickoff return touchdown in each of the last three seasons. Samuel Singleton Jr. extended FSU’s streak to three straight with a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown to open the second half at Duke. Last year, Deuce Spann had a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown at home against the Blue Devils, and in 2022, Trey Benson recorded FSU’s first kickoff return touchdown since the 2013 season when he scored the opening kickoff return. Returned a 93-yard touchdown for a score against Boston College.
• The Seminoles rank first in the nation with five blocked kicks this season, thanks to four field goals and a punt block, having blocked a field goal against Cal, one against SMU and two against Clemson, and added a punt block against Duke . Florida State is one of only two teams in the country to have blocked at least one kick in four different games against FBS opponents, and its four-game streak with at least one blocked kick between the SMU and Duke games is the longest in the nation this season. FSU’s 14 blocked kicks under Mike Norvell rank 6th nationally and 2nd among P4 conference programs since the start of the 2020 season.
• With a net punting average of 46.58 yards per punt, Florida State ranks first in the country. Alex Mastromanno’s average of 49.6 yards per punt ranks No. 1 in the country, and Mastromanno also leads the country in punts over 50 yards with 21. He has by far the most 50-yard punts with one or fewer touchbacks this season and is the second closest punter has 15.
• Ryan Fitzgerald is the only kicker in the country to make four field goals of at least 52 yards. He is one of five kickers with four 50-yard field goals in 2024 and the third kicker in FSU history with at least four 50-yard field goals in a single season. He is one of five kickers nationally to still hit perfect field goals this season and have at least nine attempts.

• Florida State held Duke to 70 passing yards and recorded a season-high eight pass breakdowns and 180 yards of total offense. The total number of passing yards is the fewest an ACC team has allowed against a P4 conference opponent this season, and the Seminoles’ total number of pass breakups was the most since registering 10 in the win in the 2023 ACC Championship Game.

• Florida State recorded 7.0 sacks in the win over Cal, the most in a game since 7.0 in the 2023 ACC Championship Game and the most sacks allowed by the Bears in a game since Oct. 19, 2019. the most by an ACC team against an FBS opponent this season and the ninth-highest single-game sacks total nationally in 2024.
• Ten Florida State players have made their first collegiate start in 2024. Linebacker Blake Nichelson has started five games and wide receiver Hykeem Williams has made five straight starts. Defensive back KJ Kirkland has started five of the last six games, and offensive lineman Jaylen Early has also started five games this season. Tight end Landen Thomas has started three straight games. Offensive lineman André Otto made his first start against Clemson and started again at Duke. Linebacker Justin Cryer started his first two careers at Duke and Miami. Wide receiver Jalen Brown started the first two games of the season, while tight ends Brian Courtney and Jackson West made their first career starts against Memphis.

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