Hokies Fall To Florida State In Tallahassee 39-17 (10-6-23)

By: Joey Raymond

All Photos Courtesy: Virginia Tech Athletics

Tallahassee, FL–In the first meeting of these two squads since 2018, both teams are looking to continue the momentum of their last games. The Hokies and Seminoles each look to stay unbeaten in conference play when they meet inside Doak Campbell Stadium. Both coaches came into this game with a tremendous amount of respect for each other. I went into pretty deep detail in my preview article as to what it would take to win this game for both teams. If the Hokies can somehow manage to upset the fifth ranked Seminoles, it would truly shock the college football world. 

First Quarter Recap: 

​Florida State starts with the ball first after receiving the opening kickoff. Jordan Travis and company’s first drive is a good one, going 8 plays, 75 yards, into the endzone on a pretty pass from Jordan Travis. Then the Seminoles are aggressive going for two on a fake field goal, converting a 2 point conversion. Florida State takes a 8-0 lead. Drones and the Hokies will get a chance to respond next, getting the ball at the 21 yard line. They go three and out quickly, as the Seminole defense comes up big. The Seminoles struck quickly on this drive. Toafili, gets handed the ball and runs 28 yards into the end zone, surfing on top of tacklers to get to the promised land. In total Florida State went 7 plays for 66 yards. The Hokies next drive against the ferocious defense goes badly, very quickly. The Hokies go three and out again, having to punt it back against an offense that is on fire right now. Florida State keeps up the high powered offense again, finding their way into the end zone on a beautiful pass to Wilson. The Seminoles go 7 plays, 45 yards, and extend their lead to 22-0. This first quarter has been all Florida State. Virginia Tech will try to get anything going on offense and will be stopped immediately once again. Forcing the Hokies on another three and out. The Hokies would punt, and the first quarter would come to an end shortly after. 

Second Quarter Recap: 

​Florida State gets the ball back again and if the Hokies can’t get a stop, I don’t believe the Hokies will have a chance to win this one. The Hokies have to show some sign of life in this game or they will get steamrolled. Florida State would go three and out, as the Hokies get that much needed stop. They’ll need to get the offense going on this drive. The Hokies do get their first, first down of the game. The next play however, Kyron Drones throws an interception, but it gets negated by a roughing the passer penalty. Drones would get a 40 yard run on a scramble a couple plays later, getting the Hokies into the red zone. Unfortunately for the Hokies the red zone is as close as they’d get, having to kick a field goal, bringing the score to 22-3. Florida State will go again on offense, this time going nowhere, as the Hokies get another big stop, forcing another punt. Malachi Thomas takes the ball on the first play for the Hokies and gets a first down. The Hokies have to go for it on fourth down three times before getting into the red zone on a 12 yard run from Drones. The Hokies would then get into the end zone on a run from Tuten, bringing the score to 22-10. Something to remember is that the Hokies get the ball back to start the second half. Florida State gets the ball with 46 seconds left on the clock. The Hokies get a sack to start the drive, and the Seminoles would let the clock run out, ending the half. 

Third Quarter Recap: 

​The Hokies do start with the ball to start this third quarter. Bayshul Tuten takes the reception off the kick and takes it 99 yards to the house, bringing the score to 22-17, the Seminoles still in the lead. The silence in the stadium is deafening. Florida State would get the ball and try to respond. They do, bringing life back into the stadium, as Benson goes 62 yards on the ground, bringing the score to 29-17. The Hokies turn to respond after the back to back touchdowns. They can’t move the ball past the 35 though, having to punt it away. The Seminoles turn to try on offense. The Seminoles move down the field quickly, and get a targeting call on Virginia Tech’s Stroman. This moves the ball 15 yards and Stroman is out of the rest of this game. Florida State is now knocking on the door of the red zone on the 22 yard line. Shortly after, the Seminoles break through the red zone and then get stopped. The Hokies would force a field goal, which Florida State did make, bringing the score to 32-17. The Hokies need to get a good drive here to continue to stay in this game. The Hokies can’t get anything going though, having to punt it away once again. Florida State gets the ball back with just over two minutes left in the quarter. They would make some good plays, working from the 9 yard line to the 24 in the two minutes they have in the quarter. They do get to fourth down, which would lead to a punt in the fourth quarter. 

Fourth Quarter Recap: 

​Florida State punts it back to the Hokies to start the fourth quarter. The Hokies are hanging on by a thread in this game. They need to get momentum back on their side if they want to have a chance to win this game. The Hokies drive all the way from one 25 yard line to the opposite, before Florida State gets the Hokies to fourth down. The Hokies have to go for it, and the Hokies shoot themselves in the foot once again. They get a holding call and make it a fourth and 22. Drones then takes the ball himself, driving for 21 yards, which obviously isn’t enough. Florida State would take over on downs. On the first play of the drive, the Seminoles hand the ball to Benson who runs for 85 yards, into the endzone. This really breaks the back of the Hokies, bringing the score to 39-17. The Hokies would move the ball a bit, but are forced to punt it away once again, The Florida State defense is really showing why they’re ranked fifth in the country at this point in the game. Florida State’s offense would go 5 plays, and 18 yards before having to punt and give it back to the Hokies. The Hokies hand it to Chance Black on the third play of the drive, who fumbles the ball, giving it back to Florida State. The Seminoles would then kneel the ball 3 times and run the clock out, ending the game. Florida State takes the win with a final score of 39-17. 

Final Thoughts and What’s Next: 

​Florida State truly showed in this game why they are the fifth ranked team in the country. And likely, they’ll move up in the rankings as Texas lost, likely moving them out of the top five, and Florida State up from five. Virginia Tech did show some promise in this game, getting several big runs and had some promise on big plays, they just couldn’t capitalize. At the end of the day that only counts in dreams though as the Hokies snag another loss on the year. Florida State will move to 5-0 on the year, as Virginia Tech moves to 2-4. Florida State will stay home next week, welcoming Syracuse into Doak Campbell. The Hokies will head back to Blacksburg licking their wounds, and will prepare for Wake Forest. That game will be at 3:30 inside Lane Stadium.