Ashton Daniels answered his doubters with a historic performance that powered Florida State to its biggest win of the season.
With belief in Ashton Daniels as the starting QB fading everywhere but the Florida State locker room, Daniels paid back the Seminoles’ belief with a performance that led to a signature victory over Virginia.
"I feel good about Ashton. He's continuing to make progress. Those three interceptions didn't make him lose confidence," Mike Norvell said after the Alabama game. "He wants to be better. The constant push for more, you know you have the right kind of guy."
Florida State welcomed the Cavaliers to Doak Campbell Stadium as a 3.5-point favorite and sent them home with a 38-7 loss, dominating on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. But no performance stood out more than Daniels’.
After the historic performance, Norvell made it clear that Daniels earned what comes with it.
“I thought Ashton played at a high level,” Norvell said. “I think Ashton earned the respect for his performance tonight…He deserved that tonight.”
Daniels set a Florida State single-game record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with four, then added a fifth touchdown to break the program’s single-game record for touchdowns by any player.
The record-setting day produced 464 total yards of offense, with Daniels accounting for 319. In the air, Daniels completed 63 percent of his passes (12-19) for 183 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
On the ground, Daniels added 136 yards on 17 carries and five touchdowns. He was the only Nole to record a touchdown on the day.
The highlight was an 81-yard rushing TD from Florida State's own 19. Daniels split the defense down the middle and outran Virginia defenders for his fourth touchdown of the game.
Before the game, the question was simple: Could Daniels outduel Beau Pribula?
The numbers entering the game favored Pribula. He held an 11-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio while completing 76.7 percent of his passes. Daniels entered with a 6-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 59.8 percent completion rate.
On the ground, both quarterbacks had 40 carries. Pribula had 173 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Daniels had 142 yards and four touchdowns.
Daniels answered the question by outdueling Pribula and leaving no doubt about who the better QB was on the day.
Daniels’ 63 percent completion percentage was 19 percentage points higher. He threw for 21 more yards, rushed for a staggering 198 more yards, averaged 12.1 more yards per carry and scored four more touchdowns.
And he did it with 13 fewer passing attempts and just two more rushing attempts than Pribula.
Florida State had nine rushing plays of at least 10 yards against Virginia, Daniels had four of them for 125 yards.
Daniels deserves his flowers, but Tony White’s defense also deserves plenty of credit.
Like Daniels, the defense entered the game facing questions about whether it could slow a Virginia offense averaging 40.5 points and 447.3 yards per game. Like Daniels, the defense left no doubt about the answer.
The Seminoles made Pribula’s life miserable all afternoon, recording 10 sacks, three more than their season total entering the game. They also added two quarterback hurries, 10 tackles for loss and five pass breakups.
Florida State played its most complete game of the season, and if the Seminoles can build on this performance, they could have a say in who’s playing for the ACC championship. For Norvell, a dominant win over a Virginia team should, for a week, cool some of the heat surrounding his future.
