Lawrance Toafili earns ACC honors

Florida State Seminoles football freshman running back Lawrance Toafili earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors after an impressive performance in FSU’s first win of the season against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

“We were all just picking each other up and just encouraging each other, and trying to do best,” Toafili said Saturday of a running back room that put up 263 yards on the ground.

From Florida State’s game notes:

Florida State ran for 263 yards on 53 attempts against Jacksonville State, with four different players scoring touchdowns. Notably, none of FSU’s running backs were tackled for a loss against the Gamecocks.

The Noles rushing output was its best since notching 305 against ULM in 2017. The four players scoring a touchdown are the most since FSU also had four at USF in 2016.

In the second half against JSU, FSU averaged 6.8 yards per rush (33 for 225 yards) while holding the Gamecocks to just 10 yards on the ground (1.3 per rush).

Lawrance Toafili’s average of 8.15 yards per carry ranks 11th nationally and leads all Power 5 freshmen.

Toafili, who has a team-high 163 rushing yards this season, led the Noles on the ground vs. JSU, finishing with 99 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown.

Toafili’s 99 yards rushing were the most for a Seminole freshman since Cam Akers had 117 vs. ULM in 2017.

From the ACC release:

ROOKIE – Lawrance Toafili, Florida State, Fr., RB, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Toafili ran for 99 yards on 12 carries (8.2 ypc) with his first career touchdown in Saturday’s 41-24 win over Jacksonville State • Performance included a career-long 24-yard run • Paced a Seminole rushing attack that ran for 263 yards, the most for the program since 305 yards vs. ULM in 2017.