Tomahawk strike at FSU football game in Dublin, Ireland
Florida State Athletics captured this video from the sidelines of Aviva Stadium before FSU played Georgia Tech on August 24, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland.
Contributed video by FSU Athletics
The Florida State football team opened the 2024 season with an unexpected loss to Georgia Tech.
With a 24-21 loss to the Yellow Jackets in Dublin, Ireland, the Seminoles lost the program’s first ACC game since 2022 after previously remaining undefeated in their last 12 conference games.
“They did a good job of extending the drives and obviously making the plays they needed to finish,” Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell said. “I was proud of how our guys prepared. I thought the attitude and approach was good.”
“But when we got into the game, it was the little things, whether it was discipline in calling or discipline in execution overall. I have to get better at helping our guys make the right plays at the right time.”
After an explosive first drive that covered 75 yards in seven plays and ended with a 28-yard touchdown run by Lawrance Toafili and a 2-point conversion, the Seminoles’ offense faltered. Georgia Tech responded with a six-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that completely overran the FSU defense – a pattern that would continue throughout the day.
The Yellow Jackets took a 14-11 lead after a 14-play, 75-yard drive that lasted nearly eight minutes in the second quarter. A 59-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald – the longest field goal of his career – tied the score at halftime.
Georgia Tech went on an 89-yard touchdown drive and the Seminoles responded with an 84-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions by DJ Uiagalelei. Roydell Williams converted the touchdown to tie the game.
The Seminoles’ defense, however, could not stop Haynes King and Jamal Haynes as the duo marched down the field to set up a 44-yard field goal for Aidan Birr.
Here are three takeaways from the Seminoles’ loss to Georgia Tech.
FSU’s running backs can no longer handle the offense after weak passing performance
It seemed like the Seminoles offense was set for an explosive game after they covered 75 yards on the team’s first drive and ran the ball all over Georgia Tech’s defense, capped off with Toafili’s 28-yard touchdown run.
FSU could not repeat its success, however, as the Seminole offense was held down by short passes and runs against Georgia Tech’s ready-to-run defense.
“Offensively, we need to be more explosive,” Norvell said. “I think we missed some opportunities. We need to create the explosive play. They did a good job of trying to fill the box and bring down the safeties. They definitely gave us some challenges and some problems in the running game.”
“At the end of the day, we have to keep ourselves under control and make sure we go out there and play at a high level.”
Uiagelelei completed 12/14 in the first half, throwing mostly short passes and completing half of them on passes over 6 yards in the air. He finished the game 19/27 for 193 passing yards.
“I thought DJ did some good things,” Norvell said. “He did a really great job on that fourth-quarter drive, there were some fourth-down calls and tougher situations and I thought he delivered in that moment. There were a couple of drives in the third quarter where we created some opportunities that we’re going to grow from.”
The Seminoles continued to place a heavy emphasis on the running game in the second half, but Georgia Tech’s defense remained solid, stopping FSU’s running backs at the line on multiple occasions and forcing Uiagalelei to throw further forward, most of which ended in incomplete passes.
A 15-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that included two fourth-down conversions to tie the game was the biggest and only moment of success for the Seminole offense in the second half.
However, it was not enough, as the Seminoles left too many plays on the field after a weak offense.
FSU defense can’t make up for bad start, Yellow Jackets run free
The Seminoles defense could not stop the Yellow Jackets’ run, which allowed 190 rushing yards, with Haynes gaining two yards on the ground.
Georgia Tech’s offensive line destroyed the Seminoles’ defensive front, putting Patrick Payton, Joshua Farmer and Darrell Jackson under pressure.
FSU’s defense was unable to make clean tackles, allowing Georgia Tech players to gain additional yards through broken tackles.
“This offense was the best offense in the league a year ago and they’ve brought everyone back,” Norvell said. “They have a lot of dynamic players that do things that force you to be great in your rushes and obviously to be great in those moments.”
“We need to be better and more united in certain situations. We need to make some of those tackles when we get the chance.”
Haynes was the Yellow Jackets’ leading runner with 75 yards and two touchdowns, while King contributed 54 yards. The quarterback added 154 yards passing and was 11/16.
The Yellow Jackets outgained FSU’s offense by 336 yards to 291 and added 146 passing yards to their 190 yards on the ground.
With the exception of the first scoring drive, the Yellow Jackets took more than six minutes off the clock on each scoring drive, kept the Seminoles defense on the field and overran that unit.
FSU’s defense failed to capitalize on several third-and-long situations, allowing Georgia Tech’s offense to stay on the field.
On the Yellow Jackets’ final touchdown drive, King dropped a handoff on second down that three Seminoles could not recover, giving King and Georgia Tech another chance.
On the ensuing third down, King completed a 15-yard pass for the first down. The next play was a 21-yard run by King that gave the Yellow Jackets a first and goal, which Haynes converted for a point.
On the decisive drive, King again dropped a fumble, putting the Yellow Jackets out of field goal range and making a third-and-long possible. A 12-yard pass from King to Eric Singleton brought Georgia Tech back into field goal range and enabled Birr to make the decisive kick.
Ryan Fitzgerald and special teams can’t save the Seminoles from an upset
Fitzgerald kicked two field goals in the first half, 52 and 59 yards.
“I thought Ryan did a great job of scoring,” Norvell said. “He hit that 59-yarder at halftime, which was awesome.”
His kicks kept the Seminoles in the game in the first half as FSU’s offense lost momentum after its first drive to the finish line.
After the first drive, the Seminoles went two-and-out and scored on the swinging gate play, with Brian Courtney receiving the ball for the 2-point conversion.
Punter Alex Mastromanno showed his ability to drive opponents deep. A punt forced the Yellow Jackets to drive at the 11-yard line after Edwin Joseph brought down the punt returner, seemingly giving FSU some momentum.
Georgia Tech finally scored a point on this drive, covering 89 yards.
The special teams heroics seemed to be one of the few positives for FSU, as the defense couldn’t control Georgia Tech’s dynamic running game and the offense never got going.
Liam Rooney covers Florida State University athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Reach him via email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @__liamrooney
