It's been a pretty tense first half in Tallahassee and FSU trails 14-3 to the Miami Hurricanes after 30 minutes. It's been a mixed bag for the Seminoles on both sides of the ball. The offense has gained 192 yards and put together a nice opening drive, but has shot itself in the foot with turnovers and bad penalties.
Defensively, the Seminoles have given up just one big play and otherwise kept Miami from getting rolling in the run game. That being said, the Hurricanes are playing a patient game and Carson Beck has been very good, going 9-of-11 for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
FSU ran 40 offensive plays in the first half…see if Miami’s defense slows down later in the game https://t.co/HCIPzrmutc
— Kelvin Hunt (@khchopchat) October 5, 2025
FSU gets points on the opening drive
FSU took the opening kickoff and put together a solid drive that ended in a short field goal. The Seminoles came out on offense with Ousmane Kromah starting at running back. The true freshman got the first three touches of the game, two runs for eight yards total and a 28-yard catch that put the ball on the plus side of the field. A 15-yard run from Tommy Castellanos gave FSU a first-down at the Miami 24. The Seminoles continued with the ground game with Gavin Sawchuk and had a 1st-and-goal at the 9. But the drive stalled out here and Jake Weinberg kicked the 23-yard field goal.
Lot of contact by Miami’s Xavier Lucas on FSU WR Duce Robinson in the end zone without turning to look for the ball
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 5, 2025
This no call forces Florida State to settle for a FG pic.twitter.com/DsL8TxhzBE
Too many mistakes on offense for the Seminoles
The offensive staff made a questionable call by going for a 4th and 8 at the Miami 41. They called a timeout to draw something up and Castellanos threw a pass in the deep middle that was picked off by Bryce Fitzgerald and returned to the Seminole 44. The next play, the Hurricanes went to the bag of tricks with a flea flicker and a 44-yard touchdown to Malachi Toney.
CARSON BECK 44-YARD FLEA FLICKER TO 17-YEAR-OLD MALACHI TONEY 🪄 pic.twitter.com/u4MbEGzmOA
— ESPN (@espn) October 5, 2025
That was one of two turnovers for the Seminoles in the first half. Kromah lost a fumble around midfield but the FSU defense held strong after another Toney touchdown was called back due to an illegal motion.
On the next FSU drive, Duce Robinson lost a fumble deep in Seminole territory, but Randy Pittman fought off a few Hurricane defenders to recover the ball.
Two injured players to keep an eye on
Two injury updates for FSU:
— Brendan Sonnone (@BSonnone) October 5, 2025
CB Quindarrius Jones is out for the game. Looks like a left shoulder injury. Seems upset.
RT Micah Pettus just went to the locker room, not sure with what.
Quindarrius Jones is a backup cornerback and a regular rotational piece. With Ashlynd Barker already down, Jones is a player that could line up at corner or safety.
Micah Pettus is the starting right tackle and one of FSU's bigger investments out of the transfer portal. He was a freshman All-American at Ole Miss in 2022 and had over 30 starts under his belt. Pettus has had some issues with injuries in the past. It's a huge deal if he's not able to return.