FSU offering free tickets to Florida residents

No. 23 Florida State Seminoles football is taking on the No. 22 Wake Forest Demon Deacons this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. inside Doak Campbell Stadium. It’s just the second time in series history that both teams enter into the matchup ranked — the first of three straight ranked matchups (No. 10 NC State, No. 5 Clemson) that the Seminoles will face.

The game was briefly in question at the beginning of the week due to Hurricane Ian, but models and projections helped reassure the ACC and Florida State that holding the game was not only viable, but safe to do so.

On Thursday, athletic director Michael Alford issued a statement re-emphasizing that the game is good to go as scheduled, on top of announcing that all Florida residents will be able to claim up to four free tickets to the content.

“Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with all those impacted by Hurricane Ian. We have conducted another operational briefing today and have been in regular communication with the Atlantic Coast Conference and Wake Forest’s administration. As of now, there is no change in plans to host Saturday’s football game with the existing 3:30 p.m. kickoff time.

We are making tickets available to Saturday’s football game to Floridians displaced by Hurricane Ian. Floridians can claim up to four tickets courtesy of Florida State Athletics by showing their state of Florida ID at the Dick Howser Ticket Office (baseball stadium) on Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m.”

Florida State vs. Wake Forest Game Notes

• No. 23 Florida State hosts No. 22 Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon as the teams will meet as ranked opponents for only the second time in series history.
• The Seminoles are 9-3 in their last 12 games, including a 6-2 mark in their last eight ACC contests.
• FSU is 4-0 to start the season and 2-0 in the ACC, both for the first time since 2015, and is the second program in ACC history to start a season 4-0 one year after starting at least 0-4. Virginia began 1983 4-0 after an 0-5 start in 1982.
• Florida State is one of two programs nationally with three wins over P5 opponents in 2022.
• The Seminoles are the only undefeated team in the state of Florida. This is the 10th season since 1993 FSU has been the last undefeated team in the state, the most among all Florida schools.
• FSU leads the ACC in total offense, rushing offense and passing yards per completion. Its average of 15.4 yards per completion is 7th in the country, while its 226.8 rushing yards per game ranks 13th and its 503.8 yards of total offense per game ranks 15th nationally.
• The Seminoles are allowing an average of 1.25 sacks per game, 2nd-lowest in the ACC, and have not allowed a sack in two of their four games this season. Florida State has 14 games without allowing a sack in the last 10 years, including two each in 2021 and 2022, and four games into a season are the fewest needed to reach multiple games without allowing a sack in that span.
• Florida State’s defense ranks 1st in the ACC and 16th in the country in passing defense, holding opponents to an average of 165.8 yards per game through the air. FSU also ranks 3rd in the ACC and 28th nationally allowing an average of 310.5 yards of total offense per game and 3rd in the ACC with a 3rd-down conversion percentage allowed of 31.2 and with four fumble recoveries.
• The Seminoles are 2nd in the ACC in kickoff returns, kickoff return defense and blocked kicks. FSU’s average of 30.8 yards per kickoff return, highlighted by Trey Benson’s 93-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff vs. Boston College, is 7th in the country, as is FSU’s two blocked kicks. The average of 14.8 yards allowed per kickoff return is 13th-best nationally. Both of FSU’s blocks came in the 24-23 win vs. LSU, which was the third game with multiple blocks under head coach Mike Norvell.
• Florida State has scored on seven of its eight first drives of a half this season, with six touchdowns on those seven scoring drives. FSU scored touchdowns on its first drive of both halves against Duquesne, at Louisville and against Boston College and also made a field goal to open the second half against LSU.