College football analysts and various talking heads said that this was the game Florida State would lose. It had all the factors that could lead to a huge upset: Thursday night; primetime; on the road; top 25 opponent.
FSU had played a number of down to the final minute nail-biters thus far this season so analysts figured that it was only a matter of time before the genie escaped the bottle. The Seminoles, who are clearly not as good as the national championship team from a season ago, were ripe for the taking.
And that’s how the game began. By the middle of the second quarter, the Louisville Cardinals jumped out to a 21-0 lead. FSU quarterback Jameis Winston threw two first-half interceptions that set up Louisville touchdowns and the entire crowd of 55,514 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, a stadium record incidentally, was already making plans to rush the field after game.
But there was one problem: The Seminoles had the Cardinals exactly where they wanted them.
In case anyone had forgotten, FSU trailed Auburn 21-3 in the national championship game last season before roaring back to win 34-31. And earlier this season, the Seminoles trailed North Carolina State on the road 24-7 before coming back to win 56-41.
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And on Thursday night, it was deja vu all over again. FSU scored in the closing seconds of the first half to cut the margin to 21-7. And in the second half the Seminoles (8-0, 5-0 ACC) outscored Lousiville 35-10 to walk away with their 24th straight victory, 42-31.
It wasn’t as if Louisville (6-3, 4-3 ACC) didn’t have their chances. On FSU’s drive at the end of the first half, running back Karlos Williams fumbled the ball near the goal line but fullback Nick O’Leary fell on the ball in the end zone to give the Seminoles their first points of the game.
On the opening drive of the second half with Louisville up 21-7, Winston threw his third interception of the game but safety Gerod Holliman fumbled the ball back to FSU during the return on a great strip by Winston himself.
The Cardinals eventually went up 24-7 but the lead was eventually cut to 24-21. FSU kicker Roberto Aguayo, who had made 23 straight field goals, missed a 41-yard attempt. This came after a FSU touchdown was nullified due to a holding call.
With 13 minutes remaining in the game and the score still 24-21 in favor of the Cardinals, the Seminoles had the ball near midfield when Winston threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell easily into the hands of Holliman who had open field ahead of him. One problem though… he dropped it.
On the very next play, Winston stepped up out of the pocket and hit Ermon Lane for a 47 yard touchdown pass on a play where Louisville apparently forgot how to tackle to give the Seminoles their first lead of the night at 28-24.
And at the end of the game with Louisville trailing 35-31, the Cardinals were facing a 4th-and-2 at their own 38 when quarterback Will Gardner threw a perfect floating pass to Chales Standberry who, you guessed it, dropped the ball.
Overall, Winston was 25-for-48 for 401 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. His touchdown passes were 68 yards to Travis Rudolph, 47 yards to Lane and 35 yards to Freddie Stevenson to help seal the victory with 2:11 remaining in the game.
“We’ve been there before,” Winston said after the game. “Being down is nothing when you’ve got heart and you persevere. Personally, we play better when we’re down, honestly.”
“That was another heck of a football game. Fun to watch, wasn’t it?” said Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher.
FSU running back Dalvin Cook added two long touchdown runs in the second half of 40 and 38 yards as the Seminoles ran up 574 yards of total offense against the Cardinals.
“I had to do something,” Winston said on forcing Holliman to fumble the ball back to FSU after his interception at the beginning of the third quarter . “I’ve got to make some type of play. When I’m throwing picks I’ve got to try and get me some turnovers myself.”
“It’s a tough loss that hurts a lot,” said Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino. “We got ahead of them and had opportunities. You’ve got to give Florida State credit when they were able to make plays when the pressure was on.”