FSU vs. Wake Forest: Halftime thoughts and observations

That was the half that No. 4 Florida State Seminoles football needed.

FSU got off to a hot start on offense and, after a few stalled-out drives, found a groove and closed the half out strong with 351 total yards and 34 points.

The Seminoles’ defense was nearly perfect — outside of one drive, they pitched a shutout and have currently held Wake Forest to just 1.4 yards per play and 7 points.

The offense opened the game with four straight targets to Keon Coleman, with three of the Seminoles receivers missing the game it was the Keon Coleman show.

He finished the half with 60 yards, 5 receptions and 2 touchdowns, adding another one handed catch to his highlight reel.

The most encouraging thing about the first few drives from the ‘Noles offense was Jordan Travis using his legs on scrambles and designed runs. He ran in for the first touchdown of the game and created plays through the air by escaping pressure.

On defense, the Seminoles were looking like they were going to pitch a shutout against Wake, up until two bad plays led their offense to their only touchdown of the half.

The two bad plays — a 19-yard completion (Wake’s only of the day) and a 51-yard Justice Ellison run — went for a combined 70 yards.

Before that drive, Wake had 21 offensive yards on 13 plays and their quarterback Mitch Griffs started the game 0-4 through the air.

This defense has been getting better and better — outside of the one bad stretch of plays, they are continuing to trend the right way (4 sacks, 8 tackles for loss already).

Then just over midway through the second quarter, the offensive kicked into overdrive and put away Wake before the half was over.

The offense followed up the Demon Deacon’s first points of the game with a great return from Deuce Spann and a 3-play 57-yard touchdown drive that ended in a Keon Coleman touchdown.

After an ugly three-and-out with multiple penalties, Mike Norvell called a screen for Trey Benson and he took it to the house for 80 yards.

Then on the next drive, a crucial 38-yard chunk gain from Jaheim Bell set up Keon Coleman for a one-handed touchdown catch that looked easy for Coleman.

After two straight punts, the Seminoles offense ended the half with a touchdown or field goal on five of their last six drives.

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Halftime Stats: Florida State 34, Wake Forest 7

Total Yards:

Florida State: 351

Wake Forest: 75

Pass Yards:

Florida State: 273

Wake Forest: 19

Rush Yards:

Florida State: 78

Wake Forest: 56

Penalties:

Florida State: 3-40

Wake Forest: 4-29

1st Downs:

Florida State: 13

Wake Forest: 4

3rd Downs:

Florida State: 4-8

Wake Forest: 1-8

4th Downs:

Florida State: 0-0

Wake Forest: 0-0

Total Plays:

Florida State: 38

Wake Forest: 31

Avg Yds/Play:

Florida State: 9.2

Wake Forest: 2.4

Avg Yds/Completion:

Florida State: 19.5

Wake Forest: 19.0

Avg Yds/Rush:

Florida State: 5.2

Wake Forest: 2.4

Sack-Adj Rush Yd(Avg):

Florida State: 78 (5.2)

Wake Forest: 77 (4.1)

Red Zone:

Florida State: 3-3

Wake Forest: 1-1

Time of Possession:

Florida State: 15:42

Wake Forest: 14:18

Turnovers (Def Pts Off):

Florida State: 0 (0)

Wake Forest: 0 (0)

Fumbles-Lost:

Florida State: 1-0

Wake Forest: 0-0

Sacks (Def Yds):

Florida State: 4 (21)

Wake Forest: 0 (0)

TFL (Def Yds):

Florida State: 8 (27)

Wake Forest: 2 (5)