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First Impressions: FSU cruises to 38-3 win over Syracuse

Florida State improved to 7-3 with a convincing 38-3 win over Syracuse on Saturday night on the road. The Seminoles are now 5-3 in the ACC, are done with conference play and can finish no worse than tied for second in the Atlantic Division.

For the third straight game FSU has dominated a conference foe as it raced to a 24-3 halftime lead behind a stifling defense, the legs of Trey Benson and the arm of Jordan Travis. With its win over Syracuse, FSU guaranteed itself that will finish the season with a winning regular season record, its first since 2016 and first overall winning season since 2017.

The story of the night, and for the second game in a row, was the FSU defense, which completely shut down the Syracuse offense. The Seminoles held the Orange to just 160 total offensive yards. They allowed Syracuse running back Sean Tucker just 52 yards on 15 carries.

The Seminoles also took the air out of the Orange passing attack. Quarterback Garrett Shrader threw for just 65 yards on 6 of 16 passing. Tucker and wide receiver Oronde Gadsden, who accounted for 50 percent of the team's catches combined coming into the game, were held to one catch a piece for a combined 28 yards. FSU's defense forced six three-and-outs in the game and held Syracuse to four or fewer plays on 10 of 12 possessions.

FSU's offense was balanced and did just about whatever it wanted. For the fifth game in a row the Seminoles totaled more than 200 yards on the ground. Trey Benson ran for 163 yards on 18 carries. FSU ran the ball 40 times with eight different players getting carries for 230 yards.

Quarterback Jordan Travis was close to perfect in the game, completing 21 of 23 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Twelve different players caught passes from FSU passers in the game.

Osceola Football Analyst Mark Salva and Pat Burnham offer their initial reaction to FSU's dominating win over Syracuse with the Osceola's week 10 edition of First Impressions.

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