For the first time in program history, Florida State lost to Duke – the result of a four-turnover game in which the Seminoles pulled away from the first quarter.

The Seminoles are now 22-1 all-time against the Blue Devils after a 23-16 loss Friday night. It was a disaster of a night that overshadowed a decent performance by the defense, with FSU changing the quarterback twice and committing multiple special teams blunders, even on a night when they had their first kickoff return touchdown of the year. The offensive line struggled all night with the lightning-quick nature of Duke’s defense, and the wide receivers had a case of yips with the number of drops they had. The Noles had the ball in Duke territory down by seven after the two-minute warning, but Jeremiah Byers gave up a sack too easily, committed a false start and a sack on fourth down ended their night.

Florida State’s defense played bravely, giving up 17 of 23 points on turnovers. In the first half, Fuller’s unit gave up just 1.9 yards per play, and they didn’t let the Blue Devils into the end zone in the second half. Duke went an abysmal 3/16 on third down, and FSU held them to just 3.7 yards per rush.

Ultimately, the mistakes, especially those by Florida State’s veterans, resulted in the Seminoles’ third straight loss, each more excruciating than the last.

The Seminoles started on the right foot, forcing Duke into a three-and-out to start the day and getting within field goal range on their first two offensive plays from scrimmage. Ryan Fitzgerald gave FSU an early lead and the defense forced a punt on the first three Duke possessions of the game.

Kyle Morlock executed a fake punt to perfection on 4th-and-4 from his own 26-yard line in the first half, sparking FSU’s offense after it had stagnated.

However, things quickly went south from there.

Malik Benson dropped a wide-open pass on third down in Duke territory, ending their drive, and a bad snap resulted in Ryan Fitzgerald’s first miss of the season. On the ensuing offensive drive, FSU got behind the sticks again, and on 3rd and 10, Brock Glenn committed the first of three straight turnovers on three straight plays, but this one did the most damage. The redshirt sophomore threw an out route late to the sideline, and the Blue Devil defender broke the route and ran the interception back for six.

To make matters worse, on the next play, Glenn called his own number to a quarterback keeper and lost the ball due to a peanut hit. The Blue Devils drove the ball into the end zone to take a 14-3 lead on a ten-play 36-yard drive in which the defense allowed three third-down conversions and committed two offside penalties.

In what seemed like a prank, Glenn threw an interception on the third consecutive play, this one directly to the Duke linebacker as he officially capitulated. The Blue Devils took over at the FSU 11-yard line, but a three-and-out kept them within a field goal and a 14-point deficit.

Mike Norvell then made his first quarterback change of the night, bringing in true freshman Luke Kromenhoek. The Georgia native didn’t complete a pass on his first drive, but he led the Seminoles into field goal range to end the half with a drive aided by a penalty with an illegal hands-to-the-face call on Duke. It could have been six instead of three, but Kentron Poiter dropped a potential touchdown for the second of three brutal drops in the first half.

The Seminoles fell 17-6 at the end of the half when a bad drop by Hykeem Williams ended the drive.

Desperate for an explosive play, Sam Singleton ripped off a 95-yard touchdown to start the second half, the second straight year FSU returned a kickoff against Duke. With the lead cut to four, the Blue Devils marched the ball down the field into field goal range and restored their lead to seven.

After two consecutive three-and-outs by the offense, Norvell put Glenn back in the game, and the Memphis native responded with three straight explosive plays to start the drive. However, a delay of play, incompletion and illegal block in the back got the Noles out of the red zone and brought Fitzgerald back out for a successful 48-yard field goal.

When it looked like FSU was gaining momentum again, the pendulum swung back to Duke’s side with an explosive 44-yard run that got them into the red zone before the Seminoles held them to a field goal.

For the second straight possession, Glenn moved FSU into opposing territory with multiple completions for first downs. But of course the Seminoles came back in their own way, and true freshman Kam Davis, who had been confident today, lost the football at the Duke 31-yard line, ending the drive and giving the Blue Devils the ball back. a touchdown with 5:16 to go.

Seminole’s defense recorded a three-and-out after the fourth offensive turnover of the day, and a bad punt gave Florida State the ball back on their own 41-yard line. Once again, two negative plays to start the stage left Glenn behind the sticks in third place.

Duke 23, FSU 16: Game stats

Total yards

FSU: 291

Duke: 180

Pass yards

FSU: 129

Duke: 70

Rush yards

FSU: 162

Duke: 110

Sanctions

FSU: 9-65

Duke: 5-44

1st Downs

FSU: 16

Duke: 10

3rd downs

FSU: 2-14

Duke: 3-17

4th Downs

FSU: 2-3

Duke: 1-1

Total number of plays

FSU: 66

Duke: 59

Avg. Yds/Play

FSU: 4.4

Duke: 3.1

Avg. Yds/Completion

FSU: 10.8

Duke: 5.8

Avg. Yds/Rush

FSU: 4.1

Duke: 3.1

Zak-Adj Rush Yd (Avg.)

FSU: 190 (5.6)

Duke: 110 (3.1)

Red Zone

FSU: 2-2

Duke: 2-2

Time of possession

FSU: 29:15

Duke: 30:45

Turnover (default points off)

FSU: 4 (17)

Duke: 0 (0)

Fumbles-lost

FSU: 2-2

Duke: 0-0

Bags (Def Yds)

FSU: 0 (0)

Duke: 6 (28)

TFL (def. Yds)

FSU: 6 (14)

Duke: 11 (47)