Florida State Vs Louisville Final Score: Jameis Winston, Seminoles Avoid Upset By Cardinals, 42-31

Florida State was on upset alert against ACC foe Louisville in Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville but Jameis Winston and a trio of highly-touted true freshmen led the defending champions to a thrilling comeback

The defending national champions in college football were on the ropes after a dismal first half by Florida State and Jameis Winston against the Louisville Cardinals, but a 35-10 run in the second half resulted in the Seminoles remaining undefeated in the 42-31 win.

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Louisville tried to get the home crowd at Papa John’s on their feet early as quarterback Will Gardner connected with DeVante Parker on the first play from scrimmage for 71 yards to the Florida State four yard line, but the Seminoles defense kept them off the scoreboard after Bobby Petrino bypassed the chip shot field goal from the two and forced an incomplete pass from Gardner to Gerald Christian.

That would be the best sequence of events for the defending champions until the closing seconds of the first half as Louisville controlled the opening half as they were sensing the upset.

Both teams traded punts to close out the first quarter with neither team able to get on the scoreboard, but that changed when Louisville started feeding Michael Dyer the ball and let him run against the Florida State defense.

Dyer, coming off a 24-carry, 173 yard performance last game, led the Cardinals on an a seven-play, 80-yard drive with him a 17-yard run to end the first quarter and a 20-yard run to begin the second as he ran four times for 44 yards, including the four-yard touchdown to put Louisville up 7-0 with 12:13 remaining in the half.

One the ensuing possession the Louisville defense flexed their muscles when James Burgess intercepted a pass from Jameis Winston after he was pressured in the pocket by the blitz and five plays later Dyer found the end zone for the second time in the quarter from 12 yards out to cap a five-play, 52-yard drive that took 2:25 to take a 14-0 lead.

Winston threw his second interception in as many pass attempts on the first play after the kickoff when Gerod Holliman picked off his ninth pass of the season as he continues to set out to break the single-season record of 14 interceptions on the year. Hollimon is five shy of tying the mark set by Washington’s Al Worley in 1968.

Louisville capitalized on another turnover by Winston six plays later when Gardner connected with Christian from 11 yards out to take a 21-0 lead over the stunned Seminoles.

However, Florida State managed a late scoring drive to close the first half and get a semblance of momentum heading to the break with Winston completing 3-of-4 passes for 68 yards and after a Karlos Williams run got them to the one yard line, Williams took the hanfoff, fumbled on the goal line and was recovered by tight end Nick O’Leary as Florida State avoided the first half shutout.

This was the fourth time Florida State has trailed at the half.

Winston threw his third interception in seven pass attempts on the first play from scrimmage to start the second half as Holliman got him for the second time in the game to bring his season total to 10, but Winston forced him to fumble and was recovered by Florida State receiver Travis Rudolph at the FSU 40.

After Williams ran nine yards on first down he ran for no gain on three successive runs, including on fourth down as the Seminoles turned it over on downs. Following a 31-yard reception by Parker, Louisville was in position to extend their led but had to settle for a 33-yard field goal from John Wallace to make it a three possession game at 24-7.

Showing signs of life in the passing game for the first time with the exception of the two-minute drill at the end of the half, Winston connected with Travis Rudolph three plays later for a 68-yard touchdown, the second longest pass of Winston’s career to cut the deficit to 24-13 as the Seminoles try to mount a comeback.

Florida State’s defense forced their first punt since the first quarter after a four-play drive by Louisville and after three passes to true freshman running back Dalvin Cook for 34 yards and a six-yard pass to O’Leary, it was Cook who ran through the Cardinal defense for a 40-yard touchdown as he showed off his speed en route to the end zone as the Seminoles made it a 24-21 game with 6:17 remaining in the quarter and injecting life to this offense.

Following a second straight Louisville possession ending in a punt, the Florida State offense drove to the Louisville 14 where O’Leary caught what would have been the go-ahead touchdown, but it was negated by a holding penalty Seminoles senor right tackle Bobby Hart as Florida State had to settle for a field goal try from Robert Aguayo who pushed it wide right from 41 yards to keep the score at 24-21.

The reigning Lou Groza winner had only missed one try in his college career before this miss.

With Florida State’s defense playing inspired ball in the second half after making halftime adjustments and slowing down Dyer and Parker, Louisville was forced to punt for the third straight possession, the Seminoles fully seized momentum in this game and it was a third five-star freshman to find the end zone.

Winston fit the pass in to Ermon Lane after two Louisville defenders collided and Lane raced to the end zone for the 47-yard score to take their first lead of the game at 28-24 with 12:48 remaining in the game.

The lead didn’t last very long, however, as the Cardinals got a 51-yard reception from Parker on the first play on the ensuing possession and Dyer found some running room with four carries for 21 yards, including the go-ahead one-yard touchdown to retake the 31-28 lead with 9:20 remaining.

Winston was sacked on third-and-six and the Louisville 32 to take the Seminoles out of field goal range and forced a punt and the Seminoles forced a punt of their own to set the stage for some last-minute drama with the defending champions in danger of seeing their 23-game winning streak snapped.

That’s when Cook took found an alley and took the handoff to the house for his second touchdown on the night as his 38-yard touchdown gave Florida State a 35-31 lead with 3:46 remaining.

Another Louisville punt put the ball in the hands of Florida State with a chance to seal the deal with one first down and on third-and-six, Winston hits fullback Freddie Stevenson on a play action pass for a 35-yard touchdown for a 42-31 lead and avoid the upset and extend the Seminoles win streak to 24 games as Winston improved to 21-0 as a starter.

Florida State improves to 8-0 with the win as they were able to overcome a career-high three interceptions from Winston who threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-48 passing.

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Florida State was on upset alert against ACC foe Louisville in Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville but Jameis Winston and a trio of highly-touted true freshmen led the defending champions to a thrilling comeback

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