Seminoles Down Virginia Tech in Home Finale
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State football team concluded its home schedule with a 34-14 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium.
The win is the 600th in program history, as FSU achieves the mark in its 79th season with a 600-295-17 (.667) all-time record.
The Seminoles (5-5, 2-5 ACC) totaled 431 yards of offense and committed just one penalty with no turnovers while holding the Hokies (3-7, 2-4 ACC) to 363 yards as the visitors turned the ball over twice and committed eight penalties.
Quarterback Tommy Castellanos accounted for three touchdowns, two rushing and one passing. His second rushing touchdown was his eighth on the year, the most in a single season in program history. Castellanos tied and then passed Jordan Travis, who had seven in four consecutive years from 2020-23.
On Saturday night, Castellanos was 12-for-24 passing for 189 yards and added 45 yards rushing on seven attempts. He eclipsed 6,000 passing yards in his career when he reached 183 on the night.
Wide receiver Duce Robinson caught six passes for 134 yards with a touchdown, all game highs. It is Robinson’s ACC-leading fifth 100-yard game of the season and the most for a Seminole since Rashad Greene achieved that feat in eight games in 2014. It also was Robinson’s fifth 120-yard game of 2025, second-most nationally and tying Greene for the most by an FSU player in the past 20 years.
Robinson gives Florida State a 100-yard receiver for the fifth consecutive game, the team’s longest stretch since another five-game streak from 2013-14.
Defensively, the Seminoles had 57 total tackles, led by linebacker Elijah Herring’s seven. He and defensive back Earl Little Jr. tied for game highs with four solo tackles. Defensive back Jerry Wilson had an interception and linebacker Blake Nichelson recovered a fumble in the victory. Wilson and Nichelson each had one of the team’s four tackles-for-loss.
Neither team punted in the contest.
Both teams missed field goals in the first quarter before the Seminoles took a 3-0 lead early in the second. On a scoring drive that started late in the opening quarter at FSU’s 36, kicker Jake Weinberg’s 26-yard field goal with 10:56 left in the second quarter broke the scoreless game. The 16-play drive included three third-down conversions.
On its next drive, Virginia Tech scored the game’s first touchdown to take a 7-3 lead with 5:25 remaining in the first half. The 10-play drive took 5:31 and ended up being the only time the visitors held the lead.
The Seminoles quickly answered with a touchdown of their own to regain a 10-7 advantage just over two minutes later. A 50-yard pass from Castellanos to Robinson for the score with 3:11 left in the second quarter capped the five-play drive.
VT got to Florida State’s 41 in the final moments of the first half, but a hail mary into the endzone as time expired was incomplete to preserve FSU’s 10-7 lead at the half.
Florida State opened the second half with a 13-play, 63-yard touchdown drive to extend the lead to 17-7. Castellanos ran it in from one yard out for the score with 9:33 remaining in the third quarter. The drive was aided by a pair of penalties, one on third down to extend the drive and the second on fourth down that turned a field goal on 4th-and-5 into 4th-and-1. A four-yard rush then set up 1st-and-goal from the one and Castellanos’ touchdown.
The Hokies got to the FSU 33 on their next drive before fumbling the ball on third down, and the Seminoles proceeded to convert that turnover into seven points and a 24-7 advantage with 54 seconds left on the clock in the third quarter. Tight end Randy Pittman Jr. ran it in for a yard to cap the 67-yard drive that took 4:19. Four of the nine plays were for at least 12 yards, including back-to-back passes from Castellanos for 17 and 16 yards, respectively, one play after a 12-yard rush from the FSU quarterback.
Virginia Tech found the end zone for the second time early in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard completion with 11:20 left. That cut the Florida State lead to 10, at 24-14.
FSU again responded on its next drive with a touchdown to extend the advantage back to 17 points, 31-14. The 61-yard drive in seven plays took 3:41 and ended with Castellanos running it in from 15 yards. The drive started with an 18-yard connection from Castellanos to Robinson to get into VT territory.
A turnover on downs gave the Seminoles the ball back at the Tech 33, and a Weinberg field goal made it 34-14 with 4:12 left in regulation.
The Hokies turned it over again on downs, with a tackle for a loss of three yards on 4th-and-1 inside FSU territory ending the visitor’s drive. Florida State ran out the clock to seal the 34-14 win.
Florida State is on the road the next two weeks to conclude the regular season, with the penultimate game a matchup at NC State on Friday, November 21, in the ACC finale. Kick off is at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The win is the 600th in program history, as FSU achieves the mark in its 79th season with a 600-295-17 (.667) all-time record.
The Seminoles (5-5, 2-5 ACC) totaled 431 yards of offense and committed just one penalty with no turnovers while holding the Hokies (3-7, 2-4 ACC) to 363 yards as the visitors turned the ball over twice and committed eight penalties.
Quarterback Tommy Castellanos accounted for three touchdowns, two rushing and one passing. His second rushing touchdown was his eighth on the year, the most in a single season in program history. Castellanos tied and then passed Jordan Travis, who had seven in four consecutive years from 2020-23.
On Saturday night, Castellanos was 12-for-24 passing for 189 yards and added 45 yards rushing on seven attempts. He eclipsed 6,000 passing yards in his career when he reached 183 on the night.
Wide receiver Duce Robinson caught six passes for 134 yards with a touchdown, all game highs. It is Robinson’s ACC-leading fifth 100-yard game of the season and the most for a Seminole since Rashad Greene achieved that feat in eight games in 2014. It also was Robinson’s fifth 120-yard game of 2025, second-most nationally and tying Greene for the most by an FSU player in the past 20 years.
Robinson gives Florida State a 100-yard receiver for the fifth consecutive game, the team’s longest stretch since another five-game streak from 2013-14.
Defensively, the Seminoles had 57 total tackles, led by linebacker Elijah Herring’s seven. He and defensive back Earl Little Jr. tied for game highs with four solo tackles. Defensive back Jerry Wilson had an interception and linebacker Blake Nichelson recovered a fumble in the victory. Wilson and Nichelson each had one of the team’s four tackles-for-loss.
Neither team punted in the contest.
Both teams missed field goals in the first quarter before the Seminoles took a 3-0 lead early in the second. On a scoring drive that started late in the opening quarter at FSU’s 36, kicker Jake Weinberg’s 26-yard field goal with 10:56 left in the second quarter broke the scoreless game. The 16-play drive included three third-down conversions.
On its next drive, Virginia Tech scored the game’s first touchdown to take a 7-3 lead with 5:25 remaining in the first half. The 10-play drive took 5:31 and ended up being the only time the visitors held the lead.
The Seminoles quickly answered with a touchdown of their own to regain a 10-7 advantage just over two minutes later. A 50-yard pass from Castellanos to Robinson for the score with 3:11 left in the second quarter capped the five-play drive.
VT got to Florida State’s 41 in the final moments of the first half, but a hail mary into the endzone as time expired was incomplete to preserve FSU’s 10-7 lead at the half.
Florida State opened the second half with a 13-play, 63-yard touchdown drive to extend the lead to 17-7. Castellanos ran it in from one yard out for the score with 9:33 remaining in the third quarter. The drive was aided by a pair of penalties, one on third down to extend the drive and the second on fourth down that turned a field goal on 4th-and-5 into 4th-and-1. A four-yard rush then set up 1st-and-goal from the one and Castellanos’ touchdown.
The Hokies got to the FSU 33 on their next drive before fumbling the ball on third down, and the Seminoles proceeded to convert that turnover into seven points and a 24-7 advantage with 54 seconds left on the clock in the third quarter. Tight end Randy Pittman Jr. ran it in for a yard to cap the 67-yard drive that took 4:19. Four of the nine plays were for at least 12 yards, including back-to-back passes from Castellanos for 17 and 16 yards, respectively, one play after a 12-yard rush from the FSU quarterback.
Virginia Tech found the end zone for the second time early in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard completion with 11:20 left. That cut the Florida State lead to 10, at 24-14.
FSU again responded on its next drive with a touchdown to extend the advantage back to 17 points, 31-14. The 61-yard drive in seven plays took 3:41 and ended with Castellanos running it in from 15 yards. The drive started with an 18-yard connection from Castellanos to Robinson to get into VT territory.
A turnover on downs gave the Seminoles the ball back at the Tech 33, and a Weinberg field goal made it 34-14 with 4:12 left in regulation.
The Hokies turned it over again on downs, with a tackle for a loss of three yards on 4th-and-1 inside FSU territory ending the visitor’s drive. Florida State ran out the clock to seal the 34-14 win.
Florida State is on the road the next two weeks to conclude the regular season, with the penultimate game a matchup at NC State on Friday, November 21, in the ACC finale. Kick off is at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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