Trey Benson ran for three touchdowns and Jordan Travis passed for two Saturday night as No. 4 Florida State followed up its impressive Week 1 rout of LSU with a 66-13 nonconference blowout of Southern Mississippi in Tallahassee, Fla.
Backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker also tossed two scoring strikes for the Seminoles, who established a 31-3 halftime lead and never looked back. Florida State rolled up 554 total yards and punted only twice.
Travis connected on 15 of 29 passes for 175 yards, all in the first half. Benson finished with 79 yards on just nine carries as the Seminoles spread the wealth. They used nine rushers and completed passes to 11 receivers.
Billy Wiles endured a rough night for the Golden Eagles (1-1), completing only 11 of 34 passes for 154 yards. His one interception was returned 30 yards for a touchdown by Jarrian Jones in the third quarter. That upped Florida State’s advantage to 45-3.
The Seminoles wasted little time putting their stamp on this one. On their first drive, they went 76 yards on eight plays, Travis finding Darion Williamson for a 10-yard score just over 3 1/2 minutes into the game. Benson added a 19-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Andrew Stein got Southern Miss on the board with a 30-yard field goal at the 11:28 mark of the second quarter, but that momentum was short-lived.
Benson tacked on a 3-yard scoring jaunt, followed by Travis’ 6-yard touchdown toss to Keon Coleman and a 35-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald as time expired for a 31-3 halftime lead.
It only got worse in the third quarter as Benson added a 42-yard score, followed by Jones’ pick-six. Rodemaker connected with Markeston Douglas on a 42-yard touchdown pass at the 10:26 mark to make it 52-3.
Rodrigues Clark supplied the Golden Eagles’ only touchdown on a 12-yard run with 4:41 left in the period.
Florida State added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 40-yard run by Caziah Holmes with 11 minutes remaining.
—Field Level Media
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