FSU 26, NC State 17

Box Score / Photos

         TOP   Plays   Yds   Yds/Play
FSU     38:16    80    392     4.9
NCSU    21:44    47    338     7.2

There was one Florida State possession where it seemed like they were treading water on their side of the field for like twenty minutes. Penalty. Convert third-and-long. Penalty. Convert third-and-long. In that case, and all night long, we just could not get the defense off the field. The offense was reasonably effective but just couldn't sustain the sort of long drives we needed.

O'Brien's decision to go for a fourth-and-long at our own 30 late in the game was the right one under the circumstances; better to keep it in our hands rather than punt and hope that a tired defense can get its first three-and-out since the first quarter.

Conversely, the decision to punt from Florida State's 33 yard line was a terrible one. There may be a few rare situations where punting from inside your opponent's 40 is acceptable, but that instance last night was not one of them.