The Florida State Seminoles offense ended Saturday's matchup against the Miami Hurricanes in a suspenseful, nail-biting, and insert any phrase referring to the edge of your seat fashion. Although the game ultimately ended in which will now be referred to as “The Van Spike” with two seconds left on the clock, the offense led a drive that will be remembered for ages to seal a come from behind victory 31-28.
Let's talk about that final offensive effort by Jordan Travis and Co. that lit Doak Campbell stadium on fire.
Following a big touchdown by Miami running back Jaylen Knighton to give the Hurricanes an eight-point lead 28-20, Travis was able to bring the Seminole offense down into scoring range to kick a field goal.
Now, this is where some people were left scratching their heads. Why wouldn’t you go for it, score the touchdown, and tie the game with a two-point conversion? The only thought I could have was the one that he eventually explained in his post-game interview which can be seen here and if you don't have time to watch it or you just want to read some of the quotes check out Brett’s article here:
Back to the winning drive.
The drive started out from the FSU 20 and a sailing pass from Travis to ATH Ja’Khi Doughlas went for 59-yards into Miami territory. A short run by Jashaun Corbin and a couple of incompletions to Douglas paired with a false start on the offense had the ‘Noles staring down the end of the game at 4th and 14. Travis was able to find wide receiver Andrew Parchment on a 24-yard pass which put the offense at Miami’s 1-yard line. The big boys got lined up and pummeled a path for Travis to get into the end-zone not once, but twice ultimately sealing the deal.
First-quarter
- FSU was able to put up 14 points in the first quarter and found a lot of success attacking the edge of Miami’s defense. Both Travis and Corbin had rushing touchdowns.
- Total yards: 97 - 56 rushing and 41 passing
- Average yards per play: 6.5, UM 1.6
- Third downs: 0-2
Second-quarter
- FSU was able to put up six points and mostly found success in the passing game and nearly doubled Miami’s total yards.
- Total yards: 162 - 59 rushing and 103
- Average yards per play: 7.7, UM 6.3
- Third down conversions: 1-4
Third-quarter
- The third quarter is where the offense started to sputter out and the numbers started to trend in the wrong direction.
- Total Yards: 33 - 15 rushing and 18 passing
- Average yards per play: 2.2, UM 6.1
- Third down conversions: 1-4
Fourth-quarter
- Total Yards: 142 - 30 rushing, 112 passing
- Average yards per play: 6.2, UM 7.5
- Third down conversions: 1-5
End of game
- Total yards: 434 - 160 rushing, 274 passing
- Average yards per play: 5.9, UM 5.1
- Third down conversions: 3-15
- Leading rusher: Jashaun Corbin 68 yards and one touchdown.
- Leading receiver: Ja’Khi Douglas 90 yards and no touchdowns.
- Offensive MVP: Jordan Travis, 18-26 for 274 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Passer rating 157.8