The good vibes of Florida State’s season-opening upset of Alabama and 3-0 start are gone.
The Seminoles (3-3, 0-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) will look to snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday night when they travel to Northern California to meet Stanford.
Florida State’s latest setback came last weekend at home vs. Pitt as a 10 1/2-point favorite.
“We had a lot of missed opportunities in that game,” Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said.
With the 34-31 defeat, Florida State has lost eight straight ACC games and is 1-10 in conference play since the start of last season.
Stanford (2-4, 1-2) will look to extend that streak on Saturday night in an unusual ACC game that will be a first-time matchup for these programs.
Since beating Boston College on Sept. 13, the Cardinal have lost their last two ACC games, at Virginia and at SMU, by a combined score of 82-30.
Saturday’s 34-10 loss at the Mustangs, though, was closer than the final score indicated. Three plays after the Cardinal had a touchdown nullified with 6:52 remaining due to a penalty, Ben Gulbranson had a pass intercepted and returned 96 yards for a touchdown.
It was an untimely moment for Gulbranson’s first interception since Sept. 6. After he threw no touchdown passes and three interceptions in Stanford’s first two games, he had six scoring strikes without a pick before this misstep.
“I didn’t get on the plane thinking, ‘Wow, that team’s a lot better than us,'” Stanford interim coach Frank Reich said. “… There’s still a lot that needs to happen, but if we can somehow get a touchdown there and get it to a one-score game, I’m feeling like momentum is on our side and this thing is about to get interesting.”
Florida State’s defense added two interceptions vs. Pitt to bring its season tally to eight, second most in the ACC. However, the Seminoles also allowed a season-high 321 passing yards against the Panthers.
After a strong start, Florida State has allowed eight TD passes in its last three games. The Seminoles’ defense ranks 13th (out of 17) in the ACC with 11 passing TDs allowed and is tied for 11th in yards per pass attempt allowed (7.4).
–Field Level Media
