FSU football: Defense dominates Louisville to win ACC Championship

No. 4 FSU football completed its mission of winning the ACC for the first time since 2014. FSU started its third-string quarterback, Brock Glenn, and defeated the No. 14 Louisville Cardinals 16-6.

The FSU defense played at an elite level and held a top-25 offense to 188 total yards. Louisville was 3 of 18 on third down and only had 111 passing yards.

Brock Glenn had some rough times, as the game looks like it was moving too fast for the freshman QB. He finished the game 8 of 21 for 55 yards. However, Mike Norvell found some success with the wildcat formation and Lawrance Toafili.

Toafili had 118 rushing yards on 10 carries, and scored the only touchdown in the game in the third quarter. Toafili was crowned MVP of the game. FSU had several opportunities to blow the game open, but couldn’t take advantage withe young quarterback.

His receivers did him no favors with several drops. It wasn’t pretty, but the Noles found a way to beat a top 15 team in Louisville.

FSU finished with 219 total offensive yards. The story of the game was the defense. Braden Fiske set the tone early with a massive tackle for a loss on Louisville’s first offensive possession. Jared Verse, Patrick Payton, Fiske, Fabien Lovett, and Joshua Farmer wrecked the Louisville offensive line all night.

The FSU linebackers were outstanding, and Tatum Bethune may have made the play of the game, intercepting Jack Plummer in the end zone after Louisville blocked an Alex Mastramanno punt. The FSU secondary put the clamps on the Louisville receivers, as Plummer only completed 14 passes for 3.1 yards per attempt.

They also broke up several passes. I know a lot of talk about FSU not making the College Football Playoff, but that’s nonsense. FSU will be in the College Football Playoff. The only question is what seed.