Florida State defeated No. 15 Louisville 16–6, thanks in large part to their defense.
Florida State defeated No. 15 Louisville 16–6, thanks in large part to their defense.
In the ACC title game, Florida State’s defense made every effort to demonstrate that the unbeaten Seminoles were worthy of their place in the College Football Playoff. Yet, the infraction caused the committee to hesitate.
No. 3 quarterback Brock Glenn got the start for FSU as the No. 4 Seminoles defeated No. 15 Louisville 16–6 at Charlotte on Saturday night. Due to injuries to standout quarterback Jordan Travis’s left leg that ended his season in Week 12 and backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker’s head injury sustained in the regular season finale versus Florida, the true freshman was selected.
Glenn appeared to be a genuine freshman making his first appearance on the field. He failed to establish a connection with his receivers and had many throws that were interceptable or should have been intercepted. When Florida State switched to a wildcat formation and split Glenn out wide, they had their most effective offensive play. Midway through the third quarter, Louisville knotted the score at 3-3. FSU promptly scored its sole touchdown of the game when Lawrance Toafili broke a 73-yard run to set himself up for a short score.
There has never been a Power Five club that is not in the postseason. Even though Florida State defeated Louisville in the ACC Championship Game via a rock battle to maintain their undefeated record, the team appeared very lackluster when playing with a true freshman quarterback as their third option. Jordan Travis, a star signal caller, is out for the season.
Jack Plummer, the quarterback for Louisville, had a nightmare game as the Seminoles (13-0) just needed 14 of his 35 passes for 105 yards. FSU defensive lineman Braden Fiske and Jared Verse were wreaking havoc up front, and Louisville coach Jeff Brohm did everything in his power to get his team’s offense back on track. Plummer was sacked seven times by the Seminoles.
For the Florida State offensive, very little also worked. Only Toafili’s 73-yard run stood out. In his debut start, Glenn was outmatched as Louisville (10-3) showed no fear of the passing game and sacked him four times. Glenn completed the game with 55 yards on 8 of 21 passes.
The quarterfinal possibility
Let us prepare for Sunday. With healthy starting quarterbacks, Michigan and Washington both have 13-0 records and are in the postseason. If the Huskies and Wolverines aren’t the top two seeds, it will come as a surprise.
From then, things will truly start to become interesting. If you think that Florida State is the third team in and would (probably) play Washington in a playoff semifinal, then there are five teams fighting for the final two slots, or four teams fighting for one position.
Ohio State is presumably also off the table for discussion. The only team in the top eight that skipped conference championship weekend was the Ohio State Buckeyes (11-2). Ohio State just did not get the breaks they needed to win on Saturday.