Trey Benson had a career day. Florida State’s run game is back.
But it was far from an impressive day as the No. 5 Seminoles were plagued by penalties and looked sluggish coming off a bye in a 39-17 win on Saturday.
“First couple games have been tough,” Benson said. “We’ve just been hearing that the running game hasn’t been working good. This game, we really emphasized the run. In the running back room, we said, ‘We got to get it going today. We’re not taking no for an answer.’ ”
FSU (5-0, 3-0 ACC) scored 22 points in the first quarter, the most in any quarter this season. It was also the most points in a first quarter since FSU’s rout of Duke in December 2020.
Jordan Travis also connected with Johnny Wilson on two touchdown passes (7 and then 18) in the first quarter, his first of the season. But Wilson also left the game after he was sandwiched by two defenders following a third-quarter catch.
The Seminoles have started 5-0 for the first time since 2015. Here are some notes and takeaways from the game:
FSU stays unbeaten but a deeply flawed effort
The Seminoles showed their firepower in the first quarter, yet looked inept in the second quarter as VT had two scoring drives and controlled possession while FSU's offense went stagnant.
To open the third quarter, VT had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
FSU closed very well with a pair of touchdowns and a field goal in the second half. But it didn't need to be this close against one of the ACC's worst teams, right?
And did we mention the penalties? FSU was flagged 12 times for 99 yards.
FSU did a good job of bottling up a mobile quarterback in Kyron Drones, yet it was a 40-yard run that set up a VT touchdown. On fourth-and-22, he picked up 21 yards as VT’s drive stalled out at FSU’s 15-yard line with 8:39 to go and FSU holding a 32-17 lead.
FSU re-energizes the ground game
Virginia Tech’s suspect run defense was shredded often by a Florida State ground game that had struggled to get on track in 2023. But FSU had 16 carries for 100 yards in the first quarter alone, as the Seminoles controlled the time of possession with 11 minutes, 11 seconds.
Trey Benson had a pair of long touchdown runs — from 85 and 62 — as he racked up 200 yards on 11 carries. Benson had just 189 rushing yards in his first four games. It was Benson’s sixth career 100-yard rushing game and first of 2023.
Benson's 200-yard game is the first by an FSU tailback since Dalvin Cook at South Florida and Syracuse in 2016.
FSU came into the game averaging 147.7 rushing yards (80th in the FBS) and Benson pushed the Seminoles over that number with his first touchdown run. It goes without saying this is FSU’s best effort on the ground against a Power 5 defense in 2023.
And despite VT’s ineptitude to stop the run, give FSU credit for going to heavy sets (often two tight ends) and enjoying a successful day running the ball even when offensive tackle Bless Harris was injured.
Still streaking
At one point in the second half, the Doak loudspeakers played "Swag Surfing." That song is largely connected with the Willie Taggart Era and it understandably invokes some bad memories for some fans. Especially when the Taggart Era began with a loss to Virginia Tech.
But while the win overall wasn't impressive it is illustrative of how far the program has come in the rebuild and the success that Mike Norvell is having in Year 4. FSU has scored 30 or more points in 11 straight games. And the defense shut out Virginia Tech in the second half, considering the only touchdown allowed was on special teams.
And FSU has won 11 straight games.
Noteworthy
Jared Verse came into the game with just a half sack against Southern Miss through four games. But Verse tracked down Drones for two sacks on Saturday.
Travis completed 18 of 24 passes for 170 yards and did not throw an interception. He has thrown a touchdown in 17 straight games, the longest streak for a Seminole since Jameis Winston's 27-game streak in 2013-14..
VT’s leading tackler Jalen Stroman was ejected for targeting in the third quarter. Stroman had 10 tackles. He will miss the first half of next week’s game.
Norvell is 9-2 coming off a bye, including wins last year at Louisville and over Georgia Tech.
A crowd of 79,560 watched Saturday's game.
Next week
FSU will play host to Syracuse at noon on Saturday on ABC.
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