Tide stifles Florida State
Stingy defense, special teams lead way in win
ATLANTA — The Alabama defense turned in a dominating performance, the Florida State special teams endured a terrible outing, and one of the most anticipated opening games in college football history went to the topranked Crimson Tide.
Damien Harris ran for a touchdown and blocked a punt, and Jalen Hurts chipped in with a scoring pass on a night that basically required the sophomore quarterback to make no major mistakes, leading Alabama to a 24-7 beatdown of No. 3 Florida State Saturday at Atlanta’s new $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
This one was all about that dynamic Alabama defense.
And those not-too-special teams for the Seminoles.
Alabama picked off two passes by Deondre Francois in the second half, snuffing out any hopes of a Florida State comeback. Throw in a blocked punt, a blocked field goal and a fumble recovery on a kickoff return, and there was really no path to victory for the Seminoles in the first matchup between two teams in the top three of The Associated Press preseason rankings.
The Crimson Tide led, 10-7, at halftime, catching a huge break in the closing seconds when the officials didn’t call a pass interference penalty on Tony Brown while defending Francois’ pass into the end zone for Nyqwan Murray.
When Florida State attempted a 37-yard field goal on the next play, Minkah Fitzpatrick made the block on the final play of the half.
Appearing deflated, Florida State never got anything going over the final two quarters. Levi Wallace and Mack Wilson both had interceptions, and Francois’ night ended with him being helped off the field — putting no weight on his left knee — after being sacked from behind by blitzing safety Ronnie Harrison.
It was a potentially crushing blow in a game that already went bad enough for the Seminoles.
With the Crimson Tide still clinging to that three-point lead, the game was essentially decided by a seven-play sequence toward the end of the third quarter. Backed up in his own territory, Logan Tyler’s punt was smothered by Harris, racing in from the left side, and Dylan Moses fell on it at the Florida State 6. That resulted in an Alabama field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, Keith Gavin fumbled during the return on a hit by Moses. Keith Holcombe recovered at the 11, and Harris ran in for a touchdown on the next play.