FSU football: Noles pull off huge upset over No. 5 North Carolina

FSU football got its first signature win with a huge upset over No. 5 North Carolina Saturday night. Here is the fan reactions from Nole fans.

FSU football started the game against UNC about as well as one could hope with the FSU defense getting off the field and not allowing any points.

They didn’t allow any points until UNC’s last possession in the first half. However, the FSU offense answered that touchdown with one of their own to take a 31-7 lead into the half.
Special teams showed up in the first half with two blocked punts, which were huge plays for the Noles.

The FSU offense averaged 10 yards per play in the first half, and the FSU defense held UNC’s offense to 5.35 yards per play.

They also scored a defensive touchdown when defensive end Joshua Kaindoh intercepted a Sam Howell pass and ran it back for a touchdown.

Fan Reaction

It was the best first half I’ve seen from FSU football since I can remember.

The second half began with FSU football receiving the kickoff. La’Damian Webb broke off a huge 50+ yard run, only to see the drive end with a Ryan Fitzgerald missed field goal. The drive was killed with a dumb personal foul call on offensive lineman Dontae Lucas.

UNC proceeded to take their next possession down the field on 10 plays, only to see the FSU defense get a stop on fourth down from their six-yard line.

The Noles offense had a huge effort play by Keyshawn Helton that got overturned and the Noles were forced to punt with UNC getting the ball at mid-field. The Tarheels scored a touchdown and got a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 31-15.

It proved how important getting the fourth-down stop the possession before that was for the Noles. That play became more important when the Tarheels scored on their next possession to cut the lead to 31-21, but the two-point conversion failed.

However, Jordan Travis proceeded to throw a costly interception on the first play of their next possession to end the third quarter. North Carolina began the drive on FSU’s 30-yard line, but FSU’s defense held them to a three and out with North Carolina missing a 44-yard field goal.

FSU took the next possession down the field and took off seven minutes of playing time, largely behind the legs of Jordan Travis, who was injured. Ryan Fitzgerald missed his second field goal attempt to end that drive with 6:40 remaining.

North Carolina took the ensuing drive down the field and scored a touchdown to make it 31-28 with 4:58 remaining.

North Carolina took the ball down with the defense pressuring Sam Howell the entire drive. It was fourth and nine, and the Howell threw a pass that was dropped on fourth and nine to give the Noles the win.