FSU vs. Duke: Thoughts, notes, stats at halftime

After a bye, FSU hoped to iron out the mistakes that plagued them in the first half of the season. Nothing changed in the first half of the Duke game.

Three turnovers, including a pick-6, another quarterback change and numerous penalties, left the Noles behind by double digits at the break.

On the first drive of the game, Florida State's defense forced a Dukes three-and-out with two impressive run stuffs and a tackle in front of the sticks. The positive momentum continued for FSU as the Duke punter made his kick and the Seminoles took the lead at midfield.

A 12-yard run by Lawrance Toafili and a 27-yard screen pass on the first two plays put the ball in the red zone on the first drive. A script to Hykeem Williams on third down forced the Seminoles to go three-and-out, and Ryan Fitzgerald scored on the 23-yard attempt.

Florida State's defense continued its strong start as the Dukes' next two possessions resulted in punts, including a three-pointer. Patrick Surtain's unit came into the game with four pass breakups on its first three drives, two of which came from Fentrell Cypress.

Brock Glenn and Co. appeared to go for a three-pointer on their second straight drive before Mike Norvell pulled off some trickery in the form of a fake punt. Kyle Morlock grabbed a direct snap on 4th&4 from his own 26 yard line and rushed 31 yards as the head coach rolled the dice, giving his team a spark.

Unfortunately, his gamble didn't pay off. On 3rd-and-14, Malik Benson dropped a wide-open slant pass, forcing Fitzgerald into a long field goal. The attempt never got off the ground as a high snap never allowed for a clean attempt and the Blue Devils blocked the field goal.

The Seminole defense left the field, but then the offense collapsed.

After two runs without a gain, the offense faced a 3rd-and-10 deep in its own territory. Glenn dropped back to pass, but late threw an out route to the sideline, allowing the Duke defender to skip the route. The Blue Devils cut the deficit to six as the turnover problem grew worse.

On the next play from scrimmage, Glenn called his own number and ran a quarterback keeper. Unfortunately, a peanut hit caused the ball to go loose for the second time in as many plays. The Blue Devils paid for their mistake with a 10-play, 36-yard touchdown drive in 4:43. The FSU defense allowed three third-down conversions, a fourth-down rush for a touchdown and called two offsides penalties for failing to respond to the second consecutive sudden change.

In what seemed like a satire, Glenn threw an interception on first down after the Duke touchdown, his third straight turnover in as many plays, when he “started seeing ghosts,” as the broadcast said. This time the defense forced a three-pointer, holding Manny Diaz's team to three but giving them a 17-3 lead.

Needing a change, Norvell brought in freshman Luke Kromenhoek for his first collegiate appearance. Kromenhoek became FSU's third starting quarterback in seven games, a statistic that sums up this season's disastrous offense.

The Georgia native rushed four plays for 17 yards on his first drive and didn't score a completion.

After a three-pointer from Duke and a partially blocked punt, FSU took over at its own 45. On the bright side, the running game started to show signs of life, with Kam Davis picking up a first down on three straight running plays. However, the good mood ended when Kentron Poiter sank a touchdown two plays later after a perfectly thrown deep ball from Kromenhoek. The freshman began sprinting down the field, thinking he had thrown his first touchdown, but then stopped when he saw the ball roll out. An illegal hands-to-the-face penalty against Duke kept the drive alive on third down, and four plays later Fitzgerald split the uprights on his second FG of the day, this one from 53 yards.

Kromenhoek had a chance to put the Seminoles within field goal range with 38 seconds left in the half, but a drop by Hykeem Williams stalled the drive.

Florida State receives the ball and begins the second half trailing 17-6.

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Duke 17, FSU 6: Halftime stats

Total yards

Duke: 62

FSU: 150

Yards pass

Duke: 32

FSU: 49

Rush yards

Duke: 30

FSU: 101

Punish

Duke: 3-25

FSU: 4-20

1. Downs

Duke: 4

FSU: 8

3rd Downs

Duke: 2-10

FSU: 2-9

4. Downs

Duke: 1-1

FSU: 1-1

Total games

Duke: 32

FSU: 38

Avg. Yds/Play

Duke: 1.9

FSU: 3.0

Average Yds/Completion

Duke: 6.4

FSU: 9.8

Avg. Yds/Rush

Duke: 1.6

FSU: 4.4

Sack Adj Rush Yd(Avg.)

Duke: 30 (1.6)

FSU: 117 (5.9)

Red zone

Duke: 2-2

FSU: 1-1

Time of possession

Duke: 14:38

FSU: 15:22

Sales (Def Pts Off)

Duke: 0 (0)

FSU: 3 (17)

Fumbles lost

Duke: 0-0

FSU: 1-1

Sacks (Def Yds)

Duke: 3 (16)

FSU: 0 (0)

TFL (Def Yds)

Duke: 5 (21)

FSU: 3 (5)