Luke Kromenhoek and defense lead FSU past Charleston Southern for second win

FSU football got its second win of the 2024 season with a dominant 41-7 win over Charleston Southern on Saturday afternoon. It was a slow start for the Noles on offense, going scoreless in the first quarter. However, Ryan Fitzgerald broke the scoreless game with a 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

The FSU special teams recovered a muffed punt to give the offense a short field, and Luke Kromenhoek got his first touchdown on a shovel pass to Amaree Williams to make it 10-0.

The FSU defense continued to get stops and the FSU offense started to find a rhythm behind Luke Kromehoek, who got his first career start. A three-yard touchdown run by Caziah Holmes pushed the lead to 17-0 before halftime.

FSU received the ball first in the second half and struck first on a 71-yard bomb from Kromenhoek to Ja'Khi Douglas to push the lead to 24-0.

FSU went 80 yards on seven plays on its next possession, with Hykeem Williams catching a 10-yard slant for a touchdown.

It was the first time FSU surpassed 30+ points and 300+ total offensive yards this season.

The defense forced a turnover on the next possession with safety Ashlynd Barker intercepting a pass and returning it 57-yards to set up a short field goal for a 34-0 lead.

Luke Kromenhoek exited the game midway through the fourth quarter. He finished 13 of 20 for 209 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 31 rushing yards on eight carries.

Caziah Holmes scored his second rushing touchdown on an 18-yard run late in the fourth quarter to make it 41-0. FSU finished with 413 total yards on offense, and was 6 of 10 on third downs.

The FSU defense held Charleston Southern to 55 total yards in the first half. The Buccaneers had missed two field goals, one from 41-yards and another from 48 earlier. FSU was vying for the first shutout win for FSU since the 2015 season. However, FSU had many backups on the field and Charleston Southern scored with 57 seconds remaining. Charleston Southern pooched a the kickoff and FSU failed to recover the ball and Charleston Southern got another possession with 51 seconds, but the defense got a stop. FSU will host the rival Florida Gators next Saturday.