Florida State’s worst season in 50 years, mercifully, has come to an end.

The Seminoles’ defense put up a fight from start to finish but FSU’s offense was inept from the start — fumbling eight times — as Florida took a 31-11 win on Saturday night. Florida recovered five fumbles, including Lawayne McCoy’s muffed punt.

Lawrance Toafili scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on his final carry, with 3:18 left in the game. Toafili had 43 rushing yards.

FSU (2-10) last dropped 10 games in 1974, going 1-10. The 1973 team went 0-11 in an injury-filled season.

"Extremely disappointed in today," FSU coach Mike Norvell said. "Made too many mistakes throughout the course of the game. Turned the ball over five times. Too many negative plays. …

"It’s a disappointing ending to an awful season. That’s the best way I can put it."

Norvell went on to say, "This is getting fixed. It's going to be an immediate, fast fix."

Florida (7-5) capitalized on a pair of short fields that set up the Gators inside the red zone. Florida grabbed a touchdown with the gift of possession at the Seminoles’ 14 in the first quarter, and a muffed McCoy punt return gifted UF the ball at FSU’s 12 and resulted in a field goal.

AZ Thomas had his second career interception, halting one Florida drive in the end zone. Joshua Farmer had 1.5 sacks.

FSU’s offense moved the ball at times well between the 20s but struggled to finish. Kam Davis fumbled at UF’s 7-yard line in the third quarter, while Lawrance Toafili fumbled at UF’s 29 in the second quarter.

Kromenhoek completed 15 of 28 passes for 140 yards, mostly completing short throws and a few intermediate passes over the middle. He scrambled a few times, including a 15-yard pickup.

But he was also sacked eight times, including twice by linebacker Jaden Robinson. And he fumbled a few times, too.

We’ve said it, on repeat, for the last month or more: The issues up front with this offensive line doesn’t allow for us to evaluate the quarterbacks much. Kromenhoek wasn’t accurate for much of the night but he took hit after hit and tried to put together drives.

Kromenhoek settled down in the second half, connecting with Amaree Williams and Landen Thomas on a pair of 20-yard receptions. Ja'Khi Douglas also had four receptions for 33 yards, while Toafili added three catches for 39 yards.

It's not nearly enough to sell most fans that Kromenhoek is the starter in 2025, but it should be enough to show that he's doing what he can with the snaps that he has earned to finish off 2024.

FSU had just one 300-yard game on offense, coming last week with a 415-yard effort against FCS Charleston Southern. But the Seminoles weren’t able to hit the 300-yard mark against an FBS program, finishing with 239 yards against Florida.

The Seminoles came close to the mark, but had a season-best 293 offensive yards vs. Boston College as well as 291 yards against both Duke and Georgia Tech.

One issue has been injuries and struggles up front on the offensive line. FSU used nine starting OL combinations, although the Seminoles used the same lineups against Notre Dame, Charleston Southern and UF.

Mike Norvell and Gus Malzahn have their work cut out for them. Malzahn will be FSU's offensive coordinator in 2025, a story that was reported by ESPN and confirmed by the Osceola pregame.

A group of 20 seniors were honored pregame, including a few walk-ons: WR Ja'Khi Douglas, WR Kentron Poitier, DB Kevin Knowles II, RB Lawrance Toafili, WR Malik Benson, LB DJ Lundy, DE Sione Lolohea, LB Cam Riley, DB Davonte Brown, DB Fentrell Cypress II, P Alex Mastromanno, OT Robert Scott Jr., C Maurice Smith, LB Emile Aime, OT Jeremiah Byers, OL Ben Ostaszewski, OL Keiondre Jones, OT Darius Washington, TE Kyle Morlock, K Ryan Fitzgerald.

Four Seminoles with at least one year of eligibility were honored: DT Joshua Farmer, DT Darrell Jackson Jr., TE Jackson West and DE Byron Turner Jr.

Four Seminoles classified as seniors or redshirt seniors were not announced pregame on Senior Day: RB Roydell Williams, RB Caziah Holmes, WR Darion Williamson and QB DJ Uiagalelei.

Mastromanno averaged 48 yards on four punts, including a 56-yarder that flipped the field in the FSU defense’s benefit. He played his 59th game at FSU, breaking a program record.

Fitzgerald made a 39-yard field-goal attempt. He finished the year 13 of 13 on field-goal attempts.

Both FSU specialists are among the three finalists for national awards that will be presented in Atlanta on Dec. 12.

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