Florida State went to the West Coast for a game against Stanford, where they needed to look impressive after losing three consecutive games. However, you couldn’t tell it as the terrible Stanford offense mounted several successful drives against a lethargic FSU defense.
The FSU offense was arguably worse, going three-and-out on its first offensive possession and missing a 57-yard field goal on its second possession. The fact that they had to attempt a field goal from that distance against a bad Stanford team just to try to get on the board is an indictment of the whole program.
FSU had several costly penalties, including an offside to give them a new set of downs after Stanford missed a field goal. They immediately converted the penalty into a touchdown. The same guy who committed the penalty allowed the touchdown.
FSU went three and out on its next two possessions, and Stanford kicked a field goal to take a 13-3 lead with 2:53 remaining in the half. FSU finally put together a touchdown scoring drive to end the half with a 13-10 deficit.
FSU fans have already seen enough, even if FSU comes back to win this game. This team continues to make costly penalties and the defense continues to look lost in coverage. Stanford has one of the worst offenses in college football and they moved the ball fairly easily against the FSU defense.
Stanford lost their starting quarterback when a FSU defender blitzed and sacked him for a huge loss. Stanford brought in a redshirt freshman who will attempt to lead Stanford to a victory that would probably get Mike Norvell fired.