Florida State falls flat in loss to Wake Forest

The Florida State Seminoles lost to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on a rainy Saturday evening by a score of, 22-20.

Wake Forest took an early lead when its first possession resulted in a field goal and the Seminoles lost Hamsah Nasrildeen thanks to targeting. Florida State turned the ball over on downs and the Deacs’ added another field goal on their second possession. The Seminoles were forced to a quick three-and-out and Wake Forest started off the second quarter by adding another field goal. It was nice to see Florida State’s defense consistently force Wake Forest to settle for field goals in the red zone. The Seminoles responded by feeding RB Cam Akers and scored on a quick 6-play, 75 yard drive that ended with Akers in the end zone. The Seminoles finished the first half ahead of Wake Forest, 14-12 after Blackman connected with Akers in the end zone again for a 19-yard touchdown reception.

Neither team added any points in the third quarter, and Cam Akers failed to increase Florida State’s lead when he fumbled in the red zone. Wake Forest took the lead in the beginning of the fourth with its first touchdown putting them ahead, 19-14. Wide Receiver Tamorrion Terry had a rough start to the night, but when it mattered most he came in clutch by catching a 36-yard pass to put the Seminoles back on top of the Deacs’, 20-19. Terry only had 19 yards total before the touchdown reception after dropping a handful of catches throughout the night. The Seminoles went for two attempting to give them a 3-point lead, but after some scrambling from D.J. Matthews, Florida State failed to convert.

The failed conversion would come back to haunt them as Wake Forest settled for another field goal pushing them ahead, 22-20. The Seminoles went with Ricky Aguayo for a 50-yard field goal attempt and iced their own kicker wasting a timeout in the process. Aguayo missed the attempt (I’m sorry, but no surprise here) and with a little over two minutes left on the clock, the missed field goal ultimately sealed the Seminoles’ fate. Florida State’s defense did put the ball back into its offense’s hands one more time, but James Blackman fumbled not once, but twice as the clock expired.

The one bright spot on offense? Cam Akers. Besides the fumble, the Mississippi native had a heck of a night finishing with 199 yards on 34 touches for two touchdowns.