Mocs lead briefly but fall 52-13 at Florida State

Florida State's Kermit Whitfield comes down with a 33-yard reception at the 1-yard line against Chattanooga's Trevor Wright during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Tallahassee, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015.  (AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser)
Florida State's Kermit Whitfield comes down with a 33-yard reception at the 1-yard line against Chattanooga's Trevor Wright during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Tallahassee, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser)

For a brief time Saturday, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team experienced the joy of leading a top-20 Football Bowl Subdivision team, Florida State.

But then Dalvin Cook happened. And Sean Maguire happened. And Kermit Whitfield happened.

UTC's Mocs recovered a fumble on the game's opening kickoff and turned that into a field goal and a 3-0 lead at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. They trailed only 7-6 early in the second quarter only to watch the Seminoles run off 45 consecutive points in an eventual 52-13 victory.

"For the first half, I thought we battled," UTC coach Russ Huesman said on the postgame radio broadcast. "Against a (Power 5) program, you've got to play a perfect game to have a chance, and that's hard to do against a really good team. I was proud of the team's effort: They made plays. The young guys came in and did some good things.

"It is what it is. Now we have to regroup and get ready for the playoffs."

The Football Championship Subdivision eighth-ranked Mocs (8-3) return home and will find out their FCS playoff fate this morning when the FCS playoff selection show airs at 11 on ESPNU. UTC will have a watch party at the University Center on campus, and the public is invited.

Florida State (9-2) finished with 428 yards of total offense. Maguire had 152 yards passing with two touchdowns. Cook, who is in line for numerous postseason awards, had 104 yards and a pair of scores, and Whitfield finished with 91 yards and two scores on five pass receptions.

"The difference was keeping up with their size and speed, but I thought we did a good job," UTC junior defensive end Keionta Davis said. "We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, which hurt us, but besides that I felt like we did a really good job keeping up with those guys."

UTC rushed for 186 yards, the third-most allowed by Florida State this season. Only Georgia Tech (261) and Clemson (215) had more. Seven Mocs ran the ball.

"We did a really good job and had really good intensity coming out of the game," Davis said. "We played hard in the game and I'm proud of my teammates for that. The offense played really well and the defense was able to get the stops when we got them."

UTC quarterback Jacob Huesman had 94 yards passing and added 21 rushing, giving him 1,018 yards on the ground this season - a new career high. Running back Derrick Craine had a team-high 36 yards on the ground. They became the 35th pair of teammates to go over the 1,000-yard mark in the same season in FCS history, and it was the second consecutive season for Mocs teammates as Huesman and Keon Williams accomplished the feat in 2014.

Huesman scored with 13:11 to play in the third quarter, which gives him 100 total touchdowns (59 passing, 41 rushing) in his college career.

James Stovall and C.J. Board each totaled 29 yards on three catches.

Sema'je Kendall had a team-high seven tackles for the Mocs. D.J. Prather was credited with his first career sack, while Nakevion Leslie and Dee Virgin had tackles for loss and Davis and Isaiah Mack combined for another.

The Mocs' Dale Warren recovered a Whitfield fumble on the opening kickoff on the FSU 47-yard line, and the Mocs drove 35 yards before having to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Henrique Ribeiro 5:21 into the game. UTC then forced a three-and-out, but then the Seminoles started to settle in with scores on their next eight possessions.

Seven of those were of the touchdown variety, but the Mocs were able to put a feather in their cap with a stand that featured two stops from the 1-yard line and another from the 2 and ended in a Roberto Aguayo 18-yard field goal.

"It was pretty cool for the guys to bow up and not quit on that goal-line stand," Coach Huesman said.

Scores on each of their second-quarter possessions helped the Seminoles build a 24-6 lead at the break, and then UTC had turnovers on its first two second-half possessions that quickly were turned into touchdowns.

"I thought our offense moved the ball really well," Coach Huesman said. "I thought the scheme was good. Defensively we got a couple of stops, but we had way too many penalties. When you get good athletes in space, a lot of times bad things happen, but the kids tackled, fought and got them to the ground.

"I'm proud of our guys. They gave great effort."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.

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