Florida State Seminoles vs BYU Cougars Football Recap

Coming into the game, many Florida State fans had questions about their team. Was this the team that was hyped to do great things under new head coach Jimbo Fisher? Or was this destined to be just another disappointing year in FSU football history? All questions were answered on Saturday when the Seminoles soundly defeated the BYU Cougars 34–10 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

After the FSU-Oklahoma game last weekend, which showed very serious weaknesses on both sides of the ball for the Noles, the opening few minutes against BYU were very important in enabling FSU observers to assess how well the players adjusted to the coaches' changes. The Seminoles offense started off slowly, going three-and-out on its first possession. However, the Seminole defense showed great improvement when it came on the field, including an impressive Greg Reid tackle, a Xavier Rhodes sack, and another three-and-out by the Cougar offense.
 
Much like last year's game between the two teams, FSU quarterback Christian Ponder showed great athleticism as a scrambler, racking up 50 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on the day, beginning with a 15-yard scramble on the Noles' second possession of the day. 
The first score of the game came at the end of the first quarter, as Seminole kicker Dustin Hopkins kicked a 26-yard field goal to put the Noles on top, 3–0. Both offenses looked sluggish early, but the defenses shined, an encouragement to Seminole fans after the poor showing against Oklahoma.

The second quarter saw both teams score, but the period also showed that the Noles' defense is susceptible to the no-huddle offense. BYU employed that attack; borrowing from the OU playbook, the Cougars picked up steam by hurrying the FSU defense, which looked out of place at times. Two scoring drives turned a game dominated by FSU into a close affair on the scoreboard. At the end of the first half, the Seminoles held a small lead, 13–10.

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