Peach Bowl Notebook: Houston offense wears down Florida State

Well, you didn’t really think that Florida State was just going to roll over and die, and they did not. Maguire was injured early in the first quarter with what seemed to be an ankle injury.

Ward ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, leading Houston past turnover-plagued Florida State 38-24 in the Peach Bowl on Thursday.

Houston finished with a total of five turnovers, Trevon Stewart had two interceptions with a forced fumble and senior corner back William Jackson III also had two interceptions. However, the Seminoles defense stepped up and caused a 3 and out.

What the loss means for Florida State: The Seminoles are set up to have a pretty special 2016 season as well. Both defenses stepped up after the scoring and FSU intercepted a tipped pass, then the teams punted back and forth before Houston scored another touchdown.

With their backs against their own end zone, FSU immediately took a deep shot through the air as Sean McGuire found Travis Rudolph 51 yards down field. Against a Houston defense dependent on invading the backfield and forcing mistakes, FSU was letting defenders into the backfield at will and generously making mistakes with a quarterback who clearly couldn’t step completely into passes and direct the ball where he wanted it to go.

The loss marks FSU’s second consecutive bowl loss and costs the Seminoles’ seniors the chance to win a 50th game over their careers.

Maguire completed 22 of 43 passes for 392 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Maguire was hurt in the first quarter when hit by Adams.

Jimbo Fisher’s time at Florida State has been marked by success the Seminoles haven’t seen in years, and one thing he’s been able to do is beat the teams the Noles are supposed to beat. These squandered opportunities prevented Florida State from breaking out of the early deficit. Florida State averaged 1.2 yards per play more than Houston, but allowed Houston to convert on 11 of 21 third down attempts. Maguire next added his scoring pass to Jesus Wilson. The Cougars, however, answered twice with touchdowns to finish off FSU. Now that may sound like a quality performance for a college football quarterback but consider this: he also threw four interceptions and did not gain any yards on the ground, according to Sports Illustrated.

On Florida State’s next possession, Stewart recovered a fumble by running back Dalvin Cook at the Seminoles’ 23-yard line. On defense they were led by freshman Derwin James who had over a 10 tackles and were in the middle of every play. Their biggest task was to stop duel-threat QB Greg Ward Jr, which they did holding him to 67 rushing yards on 20 attempts, and 238 passing yards, despite the three touchdowns.

Player of the game: Ward was named the game’s MVP, and for good reason.

According to ESPN, FSU, who had won a BCS National Championship with Jameis Winston two seasons ago, had the edge in the contest headed in.