No. 7 Florida State set program records with eight rushing touchdowns and 498 rushing yards, smashing Kent State in a 66-10 win Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Seminoles (3-0) got off to a roaring start for the second straight game against overmatched competition. They racked up 356 yards over the opening 15 minutes while scoring rushing touchdowns on each of their five possessions that quarter, tying a program record with 35 first-quarter points.
Quarterback Tommy Castellanos and running back Gavin Sawchuk had two of those scores each while Micahi Danzy added another on a 64-yard reverse.
FSU finished with 775 yards of offense, marking the second straight week the Seminoles surpassed 700 yards after previously not having done so since 2000. They averaged a gaudy 9.9 yards per play.
The Golden Flashes (1-3) responded to one of those early scores on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Dru DeShields to DaShawn Martin midway through the first quarter. But that proved to be most of the offense Kent State could manage, finishing with 206 yards and dropping its 25th consecutive game against an FBS opponent.
DeShields completed 9 of 18 passes for 129 yards and one interception. He was replaced in the second half by Nolan Good, who completed 4 of 9 passes for 34 yards and led a fourth-quarter drive which ended with a field goal.
Castellanos was removed from the game in the second quarter for the second straight game, completing 10 of 13 passes for 205 yards with 54 rushing yards. However, he left the game this time with an apparent injury, limping off the field after he was rolled up on late in the first half right before a 42-minute weather delay began.
The only update provided on Castellanos’ status was that it is a lower-body injury.
Danzy was the star of FSU’s firework-laden first quarter, catching a pair of passes for 112 yards and scoring on the reverse. He has rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns this season, scoring on jet sweeps in FSU’s first two games of the season.
With two more rushing touchdowns Saturday, Sawchuk is up to six total touchdowns (five rushing, one receiving) on the year.
Sam Singleton Jr. (twice) and Kam Davis added rushing touchdowns to bring the game tally to eight.
