Florida State’s top defensive performers in Friday night’s 16-10 win at Pittsburgh started with the players who made the biggest momentum swings: Rylan Kennedy, Caleb LaVallee and a front seven that repeatedly got the Seminoles off the field.
FSU improved to 5-5 with the November 13 road win at Acrisure Stadium, and the defense was central to it. Florida State held Pitt to 10 points, finished with seven tackles for loss and two sacks, and forced a turnover that helped produce seven Seminoles points.
Game-changing plays up front
Kennedy delivered one of the night’s most notable defensive moments with his first career interception. The turnover came after Deamontae Diggs got his hand on a pass, turning pressure at the line into a takeaway.
Diggs also made his mark as a Pittsburgh-area native playing close to home. He finished with three tackles, including 2.0 tackles for loss, and added the pass breakup that set up Kennedy’s interception.
LaVallee came through with perhaps the biggest stop of the fourth quarter. He sacked Pitt quarterback Corey Dailey on fourth-and-3 with 8:49 left, ending a Panthers drive and helping Florida State protect a late lead. LaVallee finished with six tackles, a season high, and recorded his second sack of the year.
The Seminoles also got a shared sack from Mandrell Desir and Darryll Desir in the first quarter, another sign that the defensive line consistently affected the game even when Pitt managed to move the ball in stretches.
Steady tackling across the defense
Florida State’s defensive production was spread across the lineup. Chris Jones led the team with seven tackles and moved past 250 for his career. Ashlynd Barker and CJ Richard Jr. added six tackles each, while Omar Graham Jr. finished with five.
That balance mattered in a game that never became comfortable. Pitt scored a touchdown late in the second quarter to take a 7-6 halftime lead, but Florida State allowed only a third-quarter field goal the rest of the way.
The secondary also contributed with six pass breakups. Charles Lester III had a career-high two, while Nehemiah Chandler added another to continue a productive season in coverage.
Why it mattered for FSU
Under interim leadership, Florida State has leaned on defense, field position and timely situational football, and this game followed that script again. The Seminoles stopped Pitt on three of four fourth-down attempts, including the late LaVallee sack, and closed out a second straight road win.
Reaction around the program after the game centered on that finishing ability. Fans on social media pointed to the late defensive stand as the play that sealed another close result for a team that has kept its postseason hopes alive at 5-5.
Florida State now heads into the final stretch needing one more win for bowl eligibility, with a defense that just turned in one of its cleanest closing efforts of the season.
The Seminoles’ next game will show whether this group can carry that formula one step further.
