TALLAHASSEE — Jordan Reed’s fumble on Florida’s last possession of the first quarter was a forerunner of bad things to happen to the Gators in the second quarter.
Chris Rainey lost the ball after catching a swing pass from John Brantley on a third-and-3 play at the Florida 14. Greg Rainey had not put the ball away and when he tried to juke Florida State’s Greg Reid, he lost concentration and just gave up the ball. Xavier Rhodes, who made the recovery on Reed’s fumble, fell on Rainey’s mistake and the ‘Noles were in the red zone at the Florida 17.
It didn’t take the Seminoles long to find the Gators’ end zone. Ponder handed to Chris Thompson, who gained 8 yards to the Florida 9. Then Ponder handed to Lonnie Pryor, who ate up the final 9 yards as FSU began its 21-point second-quarter explosion. Hopkins kick was good and FSU regained the lead 10-7 with 12:06 left in the second quarter.
Debose had a 28-yard return on the kickoff, but a holding call against Stephen Alli put the ball back at the Florida 19. Reed rushed for 12 yards on the first play, but the Gators, who had penalty problems as well in the first half, were called for a false start, setting up a second-and-15 at the Florida 26. Reed got 10 of those yards back, leaving Brantley a third-and-5 play. His pass to Frankie Hammond Jr. was on the mark but FSU cornerback Mike Harris hit the Florida receiver squarely in the back to break up the pass, bringing in Henry to punt the ball away at the Florida 36.
Except head coach Urban Meyer, who has seen all eight of his previous fake-punt calls in six seasons at Florida succeed, had Henry fake a rugby kick and try to run for the first down. With two linemen in front of him, Henry slowed to make a cut and was tackled by Florida State freshman safety Justin Bright a yard short of the chains moving.
FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher didn’t give the Gators a chance to breathe and regroup when he sent his offense in for its first play at the Florida 40. Behind great protection from his senior-laden offensive line, Christian Ponder had plenty of time to wait as Rodney Smith put a double move on Florida cornerback Moses Jenkins. Ponder hit Smith in stride after he separated himself and he ran into the end zone untouched to complete the 40-yard scoring play with 10:45 left in the first half. Hopkins’ PAT made it 17-7 and the Doak Campbell Stadium crowd was delirious.
After Florida did nothing with its next possession, Henry’s 49-yard punt gave the Seminoles a first-and-10 at their own 27. Florida State kept the ball for 12 plays and 6:01 of the clock as the Florida defense at times looked lost as Fisher mixed his play calls. Three times on third down, Ponder converted with passes, the last time on third-and-9 at the Florida 15. Again with all sorts of time to survey the field, Ponder ended the drive with a 15-yard scoring pass to Taiwan Easterling and, after Hopkins successful PAT, the Seminoles led 24-7 with 2:47 left in the first half.
After Hopkins kicked the football through the end zone, the Gators got the ball at the 20 and behind the running of Reed and Rainey drove downfield. Reed had runs of 11, 16 and 2 while Rainey picked up 31 yards on his two carries, and now it was the Seminoles’ defense that was confused. Florida State took a timeout to regroup and Florida sent in Brantley, who tried to thread a pass into a receiver. But Harris intercepted to end the Florida threat with 0:55 remaining, and Ponder took two knees to send his teammates deliriously into their locker room up 24-7.
At the half, Florida State had a 204-187 edge in total offense, with Ponder accounting for 153 of the yards on 11-of-17 passing. He also had another 18 yards rushing to lead FSU’s 51-yard rushing effort. Florida, meanwhile, had just 32 yards passing (Brantley was 3-of-7 for 29 yards, Reed 1-of-3 for 3). Reed and Rainey led the rushing attack that produced 155 yards on 21 carries with 63 (on 9 carries) and 57 (on 7) yards respectively. The Gators, however, also had three lost turnovers and were penalized 61 yards on 8 penalties. FSU had no turnovers and only 39 yards in penalties.