Three takeaways from Florida State football's blowout loss at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky -- If last week was a look at what the future could hold for Florida State, Saturday was a sobering reminder of exactly how far away that future still is.

The Seminoles entered with their first real momentum of the season, looking to build off the win over No. 6 North Carolina.

They left with their tails between their legs as FSU (2-4, 1-4 in ACC) found itself on the wrong end of a lopsided 48-16 loss to Louisville (2-4, 1-4 in ACC) Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 11,465 fans at Cardinal Stadium.

"Not a performance that is reflective of what I expected," Florida State head coach Mike Norvell said after the loss.

"Obviously, we've got a lot of work to do within our program. Have to continue to learn from these lessons, these opportunities."

The Seminoles started hot, putting together a touchdown drive to open the game with a 7-0 lead. However, the Cardinals took advantage of a patchy performance by the FSU defense to end the half on a 31-7 run, taking a 31-14 lead into halftime.

More coverage:Bye week comes at a good time for FSU, QB Jordan Travis

The Cardinals' offense had its way with the FSU defense, racking up 569 yards of offense and averaging 9.3 yards per play. It's the fourth time this season the Seminoles have allowed over 500 yards and the second time in three weeks FSU has allowed over eight yards per play.

The Seminoles moved the ball well, averaging 5.4 yards per play, but were plagued by self-inflicted mistakes. Trailing 38-14 in the third quarter, FSU's defense came up big with a safety. However, a dropped pass on the ensuing drive that was intercepted ruined FSU's last remaining chance at a comeback.

With the loss, FSU is off to its second 2-4 start in the last four seasons. They have a bye week next before playing host to Pittsburgh Nov. 7.

Florida State's defense remains a major problem

Not only was FSU's defense unable to carry over the momentum it gained in stifling UNC for a half, it took a major step back against Louisville.

Louisville's offense -- which hadn't lived up to the hype of the explosive unit it was expected to be entering Saturday -- found a great deal of success against an FSU defense that struggled in all phases.

The Cardinals scored 14 points and had 147 yards of offense on their first five plays, stringing together big play after big play. They finished the first half with 410 yards of offense on 13.2 yards per play and scored as many points as they ran plays (31).

"We just weren't doing our jobs," senior linebacker Emmett Rice said.

"Like eight of the 11 (players on defense) would do their jobs and the big play would happen. If all 11 did their jobs, those big plays wouldn’t happen."

The Seminoles, gashed on the ground and through the air, allowed five plays of 35-plus yards in the first half. They allowed U of L to score on its first five first-half possessions, not forcing a punt until the opening drive of the second half and forcing just two punts overall.

FSU was wholly unable to stop any of the Cardinals' offensive weapons. Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham completed 16 of 24 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Cardinals' running back Javian Hawkins ran for 174 yards and three touchdowns. U of L standout wide receiver Tutu Atwell had three catches for 129 yards.

"That was an explosive offense that we faced and we didn't do much to slow them down today," Norvell said.

In a season largely full of underwhelming performances by the FSU defense, it's quite possible this was the unit's worst.

Travis comes back to Earth

Jordan Travis has taken FSU's offensive efficiency into another tier since his introduction as a starter.

Saturday's game at Louisville, facing his former team, challenged him more than any since he took over.

He continued to make some plays with his legs -- rushing for 47 yards -- but his struggles in the passing game hindered the FSU offense.

Visibly hurting as the game went on, he couldn't stretch the field, completing just 14 of 32 passes (43.8%) for 141 yards and missed much of the top-level athleticism that makes him so hard to bring down.

"Consistency is the biggest thing. We just weren’t consistent. We have to come up and make plays as a team..." FSU quarterback Jordan Travis said.

"We just got to get better. Just have to be more consistent, starting with me."

He threw an interception for the third straight game and could have easily thrown multiple additional picks were it not for drops by the Louisville defense.

Travis was done no favors by his receivers who had a few key drops and none of the remarkable catches that sparked the offense vs. UNC, but he also had his share of misses.

FSU running backs make an impact

While the FSU offense never hit its full stride against the Cardinals, the FSU running backs continued to build on the progress they've made in the last few games.

La'Damian Webb didn't put together his second consecutive 100-yard game, but he ran hard once more, amassing 74 yards and averaging over eight yards per carry.

Jashaun Corbin ran for 61 yards and averaged over six yards per carry while freshman Lawrance Toafili broke a garbage-time run and finished with 76 yards.

In all, FSU's three running backs were responsible for 236 of the offense's 403 yards, picking up the pieces on a day where Travis, FSU's leading rusher this season, averaged just 3.9 yards per carry and struggled to find passing consistency.

SCORING & STATISTICS 

First Quarter

FSU - Jordan Travis 15 Yd Run (Parker Grothaus kick), 7 plays, 65 yards, 2:30

UL - Javian Hawkins 9 Yd Run (James Turner kick), 4 plays, 77 yards, 2:01

UL - Javian Hawkins 70 Yd Run (James Turner kick) 1 play, 70 yards, 0:13

 UL- Ean Pfeifer 13 Yd pass from Malik Cunningham (James Turner kick) 6 plays, 94 yards, 2:19

Second Quarter

UL - Tutu Atwell 58 Yd pass from Malik Cunningham (James Turner kick), 7 plays, 68 yards, 3:31

 FSU - Ontaria Wilson 4 Yd pass from Jordan Travis (Parker Grothaus kick), 15 plays, 76 yards, 6:32

 UL - James Turner 28 Yd Field Goal, 11 plays, 65 yards, 4:31

 Third Quarter

 UL - Javian Hawkins 10 Yd Run (James Turner kick), 9 plays, 78 yards, 2:50

 FSU - Team Safety, 2 plays, -1 yard, 0:13

 Fourth Quarter

UL - James Turner 39 Yd Field Goal, 7 plays, 32 yards, 1:56

UL - Tutu Atwell 2 Yd Run (James Turner Kick), 5 plays, 55 yards, 2:59

Statistics

Passing - FSU: Travis 14-32-1, 141 yards, 1 TD; Purdy 0-9-0

Rushing - FSU: Toafili 6-76; Webb 9-74; Corbin 10-61; Travis 12-47; Purdy 2-8.

Receiving - FSU: McDonald 2-48;  Wilson 5-27; Young 3-27; Webb 2-21; Thompson 1-14; Corbin 1-4

Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.

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