No. 4 Florida State looks to continue dominance, welcomes Southern Miss

By
Justin Smith
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FSU and Miami were battling to see who could stay the most irrelevant, and disappoint their fan base more. Has Bill Belichick’s touch been lost? Accept or Disagree If the second half of Sunday night’s 45-24 rout of then-No. Florida State looked the part of a potential national champion, ripping off 31 consecutive points to turn a close game into a blowout that had Tigers coach Brian Kelly questioning everything about his program.

Now the task for the fourth-ranked Seminoles, beginning with Saturday night’s home opener against Southern Miss in Tallahassee, Fla., is to maintain that form consistently.

“I told them before (Sunday) that they are built for a time like this,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. This stage, we have two of the top 10 teams across the country. The Seminoles (0-1) scored six consecutive possessions following a slow start. They got 342 yards from Jordan Travis and four touchdowns, a career high. That noise one might have heard throughout the second half, other than the school’s war chant, was the hype machine cranking up Travis’ Heisman Trophy campaign.

Throwing to receivers like Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson will do nothing but help Travis’ chances of hoisting some hardware in December. Coleman caught nine passes, resulting in 122 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Wilson had seven catches for 104 yards. This was the first time in five years that two Florida State wide receivers exceeded 100 yards. It would not be surprising if the two did it again. “It was just a matter of time,” Travis said. … There’s a lot of fun to be had playing football and winning games. The Seminoles’ defense allowed no second-half points until a 75-yard touchdown pass in the final two minutes. The defense didn’t permit any second-half points until a 75-yard touchdown pass in the final two minutes.

Meanwhile, Southern Miss also opened the season 1-0, cruising to a 40-14 win last weekend against FCS foe Alcorn State in Hattiesburg, Miss. New starting quarterback Billy Wiles, a Clemson transfer, completed 21 of 28 passes for 267 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

The third starting quarterback in as many years for the Golden Eagles, Wiles has certainly impressed third-year coach Will Hall.

“I thought Billy came out sharp. Hall stated, “I thought Billy played really, really good.” We’re better quarterbacks than we were before. He is a great player who gives it his all. Gore scored a touchdown last week on just six carries. Gore scored a touchdown last week on just six carries.

Florida State leads the all-time series between the teams 14-8 and took a 42-13 win on Dec. 27, 2017, in the teams’ last meeting at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.

–Field Level Media