FSU football: Noles suffer first loss of season against Wake Forest

FSU football started the game against Wake Forest as well as you could have wanted Saturday afternoon.

The offense went down the field with ease to score a touchdown on their possession, and the FSU defense forced a punt to put the Noles in a prime position to take control of the game early.

However, the offense sputtered with three punts, a Jordan Travis fumble, and a missed field goal in their next five possessions.

The potent Wake Forest offense took advantage of those opportunities and scored touchdowns on their next two possessions to take a 21-7 lead into halftime. Wake Forest received the 2nd half kick in what proved to be a pivotal possession.

They went on a seven-play 75-yard touchdown drive to push the lead to 28-7. However, the FSU offense finally showed some life and answered with a touchdown of their own. FSU went for two instead of kicking the extra point and missed to cut the lead to 28-13.

The FSU defense showed new life after that, forcing Wake Forest to punt on their next two possessions. FSU wasted an offensive possession when Mycah Pittman returned a punt 34 yards to the Wake Forest 33-yard line.

Penalties and poor execution forced FSU to lose 10 yards on the possession and punt. The FSU offense finally answered with another touchdown, and a two-point conversion was good to trim the lead to 28-21 after Wake Forest’s second consecutive punt.

The next offensive possession for Wake Forest featured a crucial third down play where FSU defensive back Greedy Vance had an opportunity for a game-changing interception but instead allowed the Wake Forest receiver to take the ball away to convert the third down.

Wake Forest went on to kick a field goal to stretch the lead to 31-21 in what would eventually be the final score. A lot of folks blamed the defense during the game, but it was the FSU offense that dropped the ball Saturday afternoon.

They wasted several opportunities in the game, and the turnover largely proved to be one of the biggest differences in the game. The FSU defense’s biggest issue was getting off of the field on third downs.

Wake Forest converted 10 of 18, but FSU was in position on at least four of those but didn’t play a play. Wake Forest averaged 4.9 yards per play, which is well below their season average. FSU’s offense averaged 6.23 yards per play, but the team had 11 penalties for 96 yards.

The Noles will travel to NC State next week for a chance to redeem themselves in primetime.