Saturday was Senior Night in the final home game for the FSU Seminoles and in front of a packed and very loud crowd, the Noles won their second conference game of the season defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies 34-14.
Emotions were high as the team welcomed linebacker Ethan Pritchard on his return to Doak Campbell Stadium following his near-fatal gunshot wound on August 31st. Head Coach Mike Norvell spoke about Pritchard following the game, “You feel his spirit just around, anybody that’s around him. And he’s just a great teammate, a great friend and somebody I love deeply, just for all that he stands for.”
After a slow start in the first quarter, FSU’s offense came alive with 10 second quarter points, a successful second half opening drive, and 24 second half points. The Noles played their most disciplined game of the season with only one penalty for 5 yards. And the defense forced two turnovers and stopped the Hokies twice on fourth down.
FSU was led by quarterback Tommy Castellanos who threw for 189 yards, ran for 45 yards, and was responsible for three touchdowns, two rushing and one through the air to wide receiver Duce Robinson. Robinson ended the game with six catches for 134 yards and is closing in on a 1,000-yard season, which would be the first for an FSU receiver since 2019.
FSU outgained Virginia Tech 431 to 363 total yards and ten Nole runners accounted for the team’s 237 rushing yards. Freshman Ousmane Kromah and redshirt sophomore Samuel Singleton, Jr. led FSU’s rushing attack.
The game saw the Nole defense bend but never really break as they held Tech to 14 total points. Hokie quarterback Kyron Drones ran the ball 18 times, and while he had success, and VT rushed for a total of 238 yards the Nole defense held Tech to one score in each half of the game.
Saturday’s game included one rare statistic as neither team punted the ball.And while this is the third time this season that FSU didn’t punt the ball, a “punt-less” game is a statistical oddity.
2025 has been a season of ups and downs for FSU, and now ten games into the year the team finds itself with five wins and five losses and a chance to end with a winning record and bowl eligibility with two games remaining in the season.
FSU travels to Raleigh for a Friday night contest against the 5-5 North Carolina State Wolfpack.
