Team 1   2   3   4   Final No. 13/14 FSU 28 10 7 10 55 USF 14 0 7 14 35

FSU Stat USF  31 1st Downs  17 82 Total Plays 55  647 Total Yards 450  169 Passing Yards 160 478 Rushing Yards 290  4-50 Penalties 8-68  40:19 Possession 19:41   1 Turnovers 2

USF Comp./Att. Yards TD/Int Long Quinton Flowers 5/14 160  1/2 84 FSU Comp./Att. Yards TD/Int Long Deondre Francois 11/19 169  1/0  39 USF Carries Yards TD Long Quinton Flowers 18 159 0  48 FSU Carries Yards TD Long Dalvin Cook 28 267 2 75  USF Catches Yards TD Long Rodney Adams 1 84  1  84 FSU Catches Yards TD Long Dalvin Cook 4 62 0  27    USF Tackles Sacks TFL Misc. Devin Abraham  10 - - 8 solo tackles FSU Tackles Sacks TFL Misc. N. Andrews 6 - - 1 INT

TAMPA, SEPT. 24, 2016 – USF jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first five minutes but couldn't keep pace with No. 13/14 Florida State in a sometimes-wild 55-35 loss Saturday before a crowd of 61,665 at Raymond James Stadium.

The fourth meeting between the programs got off to an explosive start with four combined touchdowns in the first five minutes of action and 42 first-quarter points. The teams combined for 90 points and 1,097 total yards.

USF (3-1) extended its program record with the eighth straight game of scoring at least 35 points. The Gulf Coast Offense surpassed the 200-yard rushing mark for the ninth consecutive game with 290 yards and totaled 450 yards.

Quarterback Quinton Flowers (Miami) posted the third 100-yard rushing game of his career with 159 yards on 18 carries. Flowers started the day with the longest pass of his career, an 84-yard strike to Rodney Adams (St. Petersburg) on the first offensive play of the game that put USF ahead just 1:17 into the action.

D'Ernest Johnson (Immokalee) set a new career high with three touchdown runs and finished with 82 yards on eight attempts. Marlon Mack (Sarasota) gained 42 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown but exited the game early after being poked in the eye. Mack now needs 95 yards to pass Andre Hall (2,731) as USF's all-time leading rusher.

USF got Ray Jay rocking on its first play from scrimmage, when Adams caught a deep pass and went the distance for an 84-yard touchdown. The fourth-longest TD pass in USF history also marked the longest play FSU has given up since 2005. Adams has scored 17 touchdowns in USF's past 13 games.

FSU responded on its first play with a 75-yard touchdown run by Dalvin Cook, but the Bulls answered right back. Mack's 1-yard touchdown run helped spot USF a 14-7 lead just 3 minutes, 11 seconds into the action.

Cook answered with a 13-yard touchdown run to cap a 76 yard drive on FSU's next possession and the Seminoles took the lead on the following possession after going 50 yards in two minutes, 32 seconds. 

Florida State took a 38-14 lead to the locker room following two more touchdowns and a field goal. USF had a chance to slice the margin driving to the FSU 18 but ran out of time as the half expired.

Junior end Mike Love (Clearwater) led the defense with a career-high two sacks. Junior safety Devin Abraham (Tarpon Springs) finished with a career-high 10 tackles, while junior linebacker Auggie Sanchez (St. Petersburg) forced and recovered a fumble in addition to 2.0 tackles for loss and seven total tackles.

Quotable:

“The preseason is over with and the real season starts now. It's all conference games from here on out and our goal is to win this conference. They're all right in front of us.” – Willie Taggart.

Key Stat:

478 – The number of rushing yards FSU totaled on the day. Dalvin Cook led the way with 267 yards and two touchdowns on 28 attempts.

3 – The number of rushing touchdowns totaled by D'Ernest Johnson. It marked a career high for the junior back from Immokalee. Johnson has scored at least one touchdown in all four games this season.

Notables:

- Saturday marked USF's sixth-largest home crowd with a total of 61,665 at Raymond James Stadium.

- USF extended its program record with the eighth straight game of scoring at least 35 points.

- For the ninth straight game — and 12th in the past 13 games — USF surpassed the 200-yard rushing mark with 290 vs. FSU. USF is 12-4 under head coach Willie Taggart when surpassing the 200-yard rushing mark (and 5-20 when held below 200 yards rushing).

- It was USF's first defeat at Raymond James Stadium since a 24-17 loss against Memphis on Oct. 2, 2015, ending a six-game home winning streak.

- The 84-yard first-play touchdown pass from QB Quinton Flowers to WR Rodney Adams was the longest play surrendered by Florida State's defense since 2005.

- USF has scored 184 points in its first four games, tying for the most in a season's first four games in USF's 20-year program history. USF also had 184 yards in the first four games of the 2011 season, when the Bulls began 4-0.

- USF had 450 total yards, making it eight straight games for the Bulls to gain 442 yards or greater.

- WR Rodney Adams has scored 17 touchdowns (11 receiving, 5 rushing, 1 kickoff return) in USF's past 13 games.

Up Next:

USF opens conference play on the road at Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. USF's second road game of the season will be televised nationally on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

USF's next home game is Saturday, Oct. 8 against East Carolina (time TBA). Season, three-game flex plan, single game and group tickets are available by visiting USFBullsTix.com or calling 1-800-GoBulls.

The USF Football program is in its 20^th season overall and 17^th at the FBS level. The Bulls have made seven bowl appearances, including every season between 2005-10, and have four bowl game victories. USF has produced 14 All-America selections, 25 NFL Draft picks and reached the No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press Poll in 2007.

Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.