19 takeaways from Florida State’s loss at North Carolina – Sports Illustrated

Here are 19 notes around various points in the game.

• Senior kicker Ryan Fitzgerald made a 56-yard field goal to improve to 10-for-10 on the season. With the kick, Fitzgerald… ..became the only player in FSU history with three 54+ yard field goals in his career (59 vs. Georgia Tech and 54 vs. Memphis, both in 2024) …tied for Second longest field goal in Doak Campbell Stadium history and longest since Dustin Hopkins’ 56-yarder vs. Duke in 2012 ..jumped to 7th on FSU’s career field goal list (55, tied with Ricky Aguayo)…tied FSU single-season record for 50-yard field goals (5, with Graham Gano in 2008 and Hopkins in 2012)…tied for 3rd on all-time list FSU for career 50-yard field goals (6), trailing only Derek Schmidt (7 , 1984-87) and Hopkins (9, 2009-12).

• Senior kicker Alex Mastromanno entered Saturday leading the nation with 21 punts of 50 or more yards and added three more against North Carolina (57, 51 and 50 yards). He also had a 38-yard punt in the second quarter that was downed at the 7-yard line.

• Ja’Khi Douglas caught a 28-yard touchdown in the second half, his third of the season and eighth of his career, both team bests.

• Freshman Lawayne McCoy capped the Douglas touchdown drive with a two-point rush, his first career points and FSU’s second successful two-point conversion this year (Brian Courtney’s rush vs. Georgia Tech).

• Douglas’ touchdown was on 4th and 3; FSU entered Saturday tied for the national lead with 17 conversions at No. 4.

• Malik Benson caught a 50-yard pass, the second-longest of his career and tied for FSU’s second-longest of the season. It was quarterback Brock Glenn’s longest completion of the season and the second-longest of his career.

• Sophomore Haikeem Williams caught a 35-yard pass to set up an FSU field goal in the first quarter. Williams’ catch was his longest of the season and the second-longest of his career.

• Freshman Elijah Moore made his third appearance and earned his first career catch.

• Safety Shaheim Brown led Florida State with nine tackles. His sixth match of the day gave him 150 for his career; he leads FSU with 61 this season.

• Linebacker Omar Graham Jr. stopped North Carolina on a 4th down at the goal line in the first quarter. Graham finished with six rebounds.

• Darrell Jackson Jr. had the only FSU sack of the game, a 9-yard loss before halftime. He has 3.0 sacks over the past two games.

• Florida State had 5.0 TFL against the Tar Heels and has at least 5.0 TFL in eight straight games, the Noles’ longest eight-game streak in 2021-22.

• Cornerback Azareye’h Thomas tied a career high with six tackles. Defensive end Daniel Lyons set a career high with five tackles, while defensive end Grady Kelly tied a career high with five tackles.

• Junior Jacob Rizzi made his second straight start and first at center. Florida State has had eight different starting offensive line combinations through the first nine games, the most in the nation.

• Saturday was the 900th game in Florida State history.

• Linebacker Sean Murphy made his Florida State debut in the fourth quarter. He is the 27th player to make his Seminole debut this season.

• The flyover on Saturday before the game was conducted by HSM-46 from Naval Air Station Jacksonville and included two MH-60 Seahawks. As part of Military Appreciation Day, offensive lineman Darius Washington led the team on the field carrying the American flag, defensive lineman Malakai Mentzer carried the POW/MIA flag and kicker Ryan Fitzgerald carried the Florida state flag.

• On offense, quarterback Brock Glenn, running back Lawrence Toafili, tight end Landon Thomas, wide receiver Malik Benson, wide receiver Ja’Kee Douglas, wide receiver Haikeem Williams, left tackle Darius Washington, left guard Andre Otto, center Maurice Smith, right guard Jaylen Early and right tackle Jeremiah Byers were the starters.

• On defense, linebacker Patrick Payton, linebacker Joshua Farmer, linebacker Darrell Jackson, linebacker Marvin Jones Jr., linebacker Blake Nickelson, linebacker Omar Graham Jr., cornerback Azarei Thomas, cornerback Fentrell Cypress II, nickel cornerback Kevin Knowles II, free safety Shyheim Brown and Buck safety KJ Kirkland were the starters.

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