Florida State football lived up to its preseason hype and then some in Week 1
The Seminoles defeated No. 5 LSU 45-24 in a second-half runaway at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The victory catapulted FSU from No. 8 in the preseason polls to No. 4 and No. 5 in the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches polls, respectively.
Now FSU (1-0) turns its attention to Southern Mississippi (1-0) in its lone home game in the month of September. Kickoff is 8:30 p.m. on the ACC Network (Comcast channel 1325 HD), though Spectrum customers will have to stream to watch.
Heisman Trophy hopeful Jordan Travis completed 23 of 31 passes for 342 yards and five total TDs for FSU last week, while Keon Coleman made a strong first impression with nine receptions, 122 yards and three scores.
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12:15 p.m. | FSU scores most points since 2017 in victory over Southern Miss
There was no hangover effect for No. 4 Florida State football following a major victory over LSU last week.
The Seminoles easily handled Southen Miss in a 66-13 blowout victory Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.
FSU has scored 30-plus points in three straight halves now and the 66 points were the most since scoring 77 points against Delaware State in 2017.
The Seminoles take on Boston College next week on the road to open ACC play.
Eleven different receivers caught passes for the Seminoles. All four scholarship QBs got in the game, including Brock Glenn making his FSU debut.
Vandrevius Jacobs made his first career catch and TD.
Final stats:
Jordan Travis: 14-of-29 passing, 175 yards and 2 touchdowns
Tate Rodemaker: 3 for 3, 73 yards, 2 TDs
Trey Benson: 9 rushes for 79 yards and ties a career-high with 3 touchdowns
Caziah Holmes: 4 rushes for 63 yards, TD
Keon Coleman: 3 catches for 45 yards and a TD; Fourth score in two games with FSU
Markeston Douglas: 1 reception, 42 yards, TD
11:56 p.m. | Caziah Holmes piles on as FSU leads 66-10
Caziah Holmes continued the trend of firsts in their careers for the Seminoles tonight with a 40-yard touchdown run. It was the first FSU touchdown for Holmes, who played on the scout team in 2022 and two seasons with Penn State prior to that.
Prior to that on the drive, freshman QB Brock Glenn entered for the first time in his career. His first play from scrimmage was a 34-yard scramble.
He is the third FSU QB to see the field today, following Jordan Travis and Tate Rodemaker.
The 66 points for FSU is the most since scoring 77 points against Delaware State in 2017.
11:50 p.m. | Brock Glenn enters as FSU leads 59-10
Vandrevius Jacobs scored his first career TD on a pass from Tate Rodemaker. It was also his first career catch. Earlier in the drive Destyn Hill had an 18-yard reception, marking his first catch of his career.
Brock Glenn is on as the FSU QB following two touchdown drives for FSU.
The freshman is in for his first game action of likely four games this season to preserve his redshirt.
11:15 p.m. | Tate Rodmaker scores on first play for FSU; lead 52-3
It took just one play for backup QB Tate Rodemaker to score his first TD of the season. He hit tight end Markeston Douglas on a short pass and Douglas took the ball in for a 42-yard TD.
The Seminoles have scored 21 quick points in less than five minutes in the second half after scoring 31 points in back-to-back halves (second half vs. LSU; first half vs. USM.).
11:05 p.m. | Jarrian Jones intercepts ball for touchdown to extend lead to 45-3
Florida State’s defense continues to suffocate the Southern Miss offense. This time Jarrian Jones picked off a ball and returned it for a 30-yard touchdown.
It’s the first takeaway of the game for the Seminoles and the third of the season. It’s their first non-offensive TD of the game.
The Golden Eagles are have more penalty yards of 80, compared to just 72 yards of offense.
10:58 p.m. | Seminoles extend lead to 38-3 on run by Trey Benson
Following a three-and-out to open the second half forced by the FSU defense, Trey Benson took a run for 42 yards to score the opening points of the second half.
Benson is now at nine rushes for 79 yards and tied a career-high with three touchdowns. Benson also had three touchdowns against Florida last year.
The Seminoles might go to the bench here soon with a 35-point lead in the third quarter.
10:30 p.m. | Florida State extends lead to 31-3 at halftime
FSU football kept the pedal to the metal against Southern Miss to end the first half and pushed its lead to 31-3 on a 35-yard kick by Ryan Fitzgerald.
Kyle Morlock had the biggest play of the drive, taking a catch and run for 29 yards into the red zone. It was his longest play as a Seminole after having two catches for 10 yards last week.
At halftime, Jordan Travis is 15-of-29 passing for 175 yards and two scores. Lawrence Toafili leads FSU with four rushes for 41 yards and Keon Coleman leads the receivers with three catches for 48 yards and a TD.
Expect Travis to have one more drive in the second half before making way for Tate Rodemaker.
10:16 p.m. | FSU extends lead to 28-3 on Keon Coleman’s highlight plays
Keon Coleman scored his fourth touchdown in two games on a six-yard pass from Jordan Travis to push the FSU lead to 28-3.
Coleman made the highlight reels one play earlier, catching a ball from Travis on third and long and then hurdling a defender to get down to the USM 6.
An 11-yard pass from Travis to Winston Wright on 2nd and 25 set up the two Coleman plays.
FSU was also helped by a pair of USM penalties on the drive.
The Golden Eagles have been called for 11 penalties for 68 yards in the first half. The Seminoles have been called for three penalties for 45 yards.
10:00 p.m. | FSU extends lead behind big plays from Williamson, Toafili and Spann
Trey Benson finished off a seven-play, 69-yard drive for the Seminoles with a three-yard TD run.
Darion Williamson, Lawrence Toafili and Deuce Spann came up with big plays on the drive to setup the scoring.
Williamson caught a 12-yard pass from Jordan Travis on third and long to start the drive. Toafili made a couple of defenders miss and evaded a couple of tackles on a 34-yard gain.
On the next play, Spann took a jet sweep for 15 yards to the USM 6.
9:50 p.m. | Southern Miss gets on the board with a field goal
Southern Miss connected on a 30-yard field goal from Andrew Stein to get on the board.
A roughing of the passer on third and 14 from the USM 25 gave the Golden Eagles new life on their drive. Following a false start, Billy Wiles hit Tiaquelin Mims for a 33-yard gain on a busted coverage.
Akeem Dent went down with an injury and looked to be grabbing his knee after the play.
Frank Gore Jr. added a 15-yard run to the the Golden Eagles to the FSU 11.
A false start, the eighth penalty against USM on first down from the 11 doomed the drive.
9:35 p.m. | FSU leads 14-0 after first quarter
After FSU recovered an onside kick, the Seminoles turned the ball over on downs on 4th and four from the Southern Miss 30.
The biggest play on the drive was a DPI called on the Golden Eagles on a throw from Jordan Travis to Johnny Wilson. It was initially ruled a catch by Wilson but the replay review showed he was out of bounds before catching the ball.
The Golden Eagles faced third and 14 at the end of the first quarter.
9:22 p.m. | Jordan Travis converts two fourth downs on FSU scoring drive
The Seminoles bounced back on their third drive due to a pair of fourth-down conversions from Jordan Travis.
The scoring drive ended with a Trey Benson run for an 18-yard TD on fourth and 1. It was the third fourth down conversion of the drive.
First Travis hit Lawrance Toafili on a catch and ran for nine yards to get a first down after Travis scrambled and kept backing up until he found an open receiver on fourth and five from the USM 48.
After three incompletions, Travis was again pressured on fourth down and he was able to evade the pass rush, change fields and gain 11 for another first down.
The Seminoles kicked an onside kick on the kickoff and it was recovered by Shyheim Brown.
9:09 P.M. | Seminoles defense forces turnover on downs
A promising drive by Southern Miss was cut short when Mims Tiaquelin was tackled short of a first down on 4th-and-3 by cornerback Jarrian Jones.
The Golden Eagles got the ball to the FSU 47 after Billy Wiles hit Jakarius Caston caught a 10-yard pass and a pass interference on Jarrian Jones.
On first down after the PI, Kalen DeLoach got into the backfield to hit Wiles and force an incompletion. FSU benefited from a generous call on an intentional grounding, forcing the Golden Eagles into a 3rd and 20.
After a Tyquan Henderson for a 17-yard catch from Wiles, USM had a chance on fourth and went for it.
8:57 p.m. | FSU, Southern Miss trade 3-and-out drives
After the Florida State defense forced a three-and-out on the first Southern Miss drive, the Golden Eagles forced the Seminoles to go three-and-out on their second drive.
Rodney Hill had a good run on first down but Jordan Travis was forced to scramble and was sacked for a 2-yard loss on second down. A third down pass to Johnny Wilson was incomplete.
On the Golden Eagles’ three-and-out, Billy Wiles went 0-for-3 on the first drive and a false start forced them into a third-and-15.
USM will start its second drive on its own 20 following a touchback from Alex Mastromanno.
8:50 p.m. | FSU, Jordan Travis strike first
Florida State marched down 76 yards to open the scoring on its first drive.
Jordan Travis hit Darrion Williamson for a 10-yard TD pass for the score. It’s Williamson’s first TD of the season and the fifth passing TD for Travis.
It was Williamson’s first touchdown of his career.
The Seminoles had a couple of explosive plays with a 20-yard screen pass to running back Trey Benson and a 23-yard pass to Deuce Spann into the red zone.
The Golden Eagles had a pair of offsides on the drive to help out the FSU drive.
8:40 p.m. | FSU to receive first after Southern Miss defers
Fabien Lovett, Trey Benson, Johnny Wilson and Tatum Bethune are the captains for today’s game.
Southern Miss calls tails and wins the toss. The Golden Eagles defer and FSU will receive first.
Winston Wright takes the opening kickoff and returns it to the FSU’s 25.
8:18 p.m. | Florida State starting lineup against Southern Miss
The starters for Florida State against Southern Miss.
Starting quarterback Jordan Travis got the loudest cheer, introduced last. Keon Coleman also got a loud ovation.
Destyn Hill was announced as a start.
Darius Washington is starting in place of Maurice Smith.
QB – Jordan Travis
RB – Trey Benson
RB – Lawrance Toafili
WR – Johnny Wilson
WR – Destyn Hill
WR – Keon Coleman
TE – Jaheim Bell
TE – Kyle Morlock
LT – Bless Harris
LG – Casey Roddick
C – Darius Washington
RG – D’Mitri Emmanuel
RT – Jeremiah Byers
DE – Jared Verse
DE – Patrick Payton
DT – Braden Fiske
DT – Joshua Farmer
LB – Tatum Bethune
LB – Kalen DeLoach
N – Jarrian Jones
CB – Fentrell Cypress II
Buck – Shyheim Brown
FS – Akeem Dent Sr.
CB – Renardo Green
LS – James Rosenberry
K – Ryan Fitzgerald
P – Alex Mastromanno
8:08 p.m. | Maurice Smith in a boot, street clothes
Center Maurice Smith is also in street clothes and is sporting a boot.
Darius Washington, who plays all over for the Seminoles, was observed snapping the ball to Jordan Travis. He could start in place of Smith today.
8:00 p.m. | Ja’Khi Douglas, Kentron Poitier out for Seminoles
Receivers Kentron Poitier and Ja’Khi Douglas are both in street clothes and are out for tonight’s contest.
Douglas is in a sling and head coach Mike Norvell had ruled him out for the opener against LSU and said he’d likely miss a couple of weeks.
Poitier has been nursing an undisclosed injury for much of fall camp, coming off a strong spring camp and Spring Showcase showing.
Douglas was listed on the two-deep depth chart for this week, while Poitier was listed as the backup to Wilson. Freshman Hykeem Williams could play a larger role early and play more often in an expected blowout.
7:44 p.m. | Keon Coleman emerges with Apple Watch on, again
Jordan Travis and the other QBs have taken the field for warmups to loud applause from the fans. The rest of the stadium is still filling out but the student section is filling out the quickest.
Keon Coleman has emerged with the return specialists and just like last week, he has his Apple Watch on.
Coleman and fellow receiver Johnny Wilson both wore watches last week against LSU.
7:39 p.m. | Florida State-Southern Miss kickoff pushed back to 8:40 p.m.
The Seminoles and Golden Eagles kickoff has been pushed back from 8:35 p.m. to 8:40 p.m., according to FSU Sports Information.
7:29 p.m. | FSU specialists take the field for warmup; Replays for LSU win on board
Specialists have taken the field to warm up ahead of the contest here at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. for the No. 4 Seminoles in their home opener against Southern Miss.
FSU has won seven straight games going back to last season.
Highlights from last week’s 45-24 victory over LSU is playing on the jumbotron. The student section, which sold out Tuesday is quickly filling out.
What to know about Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 40-14 victory over Alcorn State in Week 1. Billy Wiles made his first career start last week and completed 21 of 28 passes with 267 yards and three touchdowns.
FSU and USM last faced off in 2017 in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, with the Seminoles coming out victorious (42-13) under interim head coach Odell Haggins. They have faced off 23 times.
The coaching staff also hold familiarity with one another as USM head coach Will Hall served as associate head coach/tight ends coach for Norvell at Memphis in 2018.
Hall was complimentary of Norvell’s FSU team.
“They’re probably the best team I’ve ever coached against. I played ‘Bama in ’21, we did, and they played for the national title,” Hall said in his Tuesday press conference. “And I think this team is a little better than that.”
When is the FSU football game today?
- When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, September 9
- Where: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Where can I watch FSU vs. Southern Miss on TV, streaming?
- TV: ACC Network (Channel 612 on DirecTV, Channel 402 on Dish). If you are a Spectrum customer, you may be blacked out from watching the game on TV.
- Live stream:ESPN+ ($9.99 per month), WatchESPN (cable subscription needed) and the ESPN app, fuboTV (7-day free trial), YouTube TV (2-week free trial), Hulu + Live TV (7-day free trial)
Jorge Sedano and Orlando Franklin will call the game from the booth with Marilyn Payne reporting from the sideline.
Where can I find FSU football on the radio?
FSU football schedule 2023
| Date | Opponent |
| Sunday, Sept. 3 | vs. LSU (in Orlando): W 45-24 |
| Saturday, Sept. 9 | vs. Southern Miss |
| Saturday, Sept. 16 | at Boston College* |
| Saturday, Sept. 23 | at Clemson* |
| Saturday, Sept. 30 | BYE |
| Saturday, Oct. 7 | vs. Virginia Tech* |
| Saturday, Oct. 14 | vs. Syracuse* |
| Saturday, Oct. 21 | vs. Duke* |
| Saturday, Oct. 28 | at Wake Forest* |
| Saturday, Nov. 4 | at Pitt* |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 | vs. Miami* |
| Saturday, Nov. 18 | vs. North Alabama |
| Saturday, Nov. 25 | at Florida |
| Saturday, Dec. 2 | ACC Championship Game |
| * ACC game |