FSU football let one big play become a full-blown disaster vs Louisville

Stood in the shadow of his own endzone and down 14-0 in the second quarter, Louisville's Isaac Brown took a handoff, jolted left, and zipped past Florida State's defense down the sideline at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium for a 97-yard touchdown run.

The play altered the course of the game and sparked a remarkable Louisville turnaround, which resulted in a 44-20 blowout of the Seminoles on Friday, Oct. 9. The loss extended the program's winless streak away from Doak Campbell Stadium to at least 1,057 days.

After Brown's lengthy touchdown run, Louisville recorded 382 rushing yards and rattled off 35 unanswered points and outscored FSU, 44-6. The Cardinals star back recorded 235 rushing yards and had 313 all-purpose yards after he took the opening kickoff of the second half back 71 yards.

"Isaac was a great player tonight. He's a great player; he really took over the game with the kickoff return and then the big runs that he had," a visibly frustrated FSU head coach Mike Norvell told reporters post-game. "But we can't help great players by not doing and being where we need to be."

Louisville reached the 401 rushing yard mark and finished the game with 397 yards after quarterback Lincoln Kienholz knelt three times in victory formation. It saved the Seminoles (3-3, 1-2 ACC) from officially tying for the most rushing yards allowed in a single game, which remains the 401 allowed against Georgia Tech in 2009, but it in no way lessened the embarrassment.

Of the 397 yards, the most allowed under Norvell and second most in program history, 209 came on three scoring plays: Brown's runs of 97 (a Louisville record) and 68 yards, and a 44-yard score from Braxton Jennings. While the Seminoles' defense has been inconsistent this season, its run defense had been a strength in prior games and had mostly limited explosive plays.

Mike Norvell sounds off after FSU's poor defensive game

Entering the game, FSU allowed an average of 119.2 rushing yards per game, ranked 44th in the country, and was fresh off a dominant display against Virginia, where the defense allowed 37 yards . Despite that, the Cardinals tormented the unit, and it left Norvell befuddled.

"It sucked...," Norvell remarked about his defense while thumping a press conference table. "We gave like 20 freaking yards of rushing a week ago, and this week it was 400 yards.

"It's not because, 'Oh hey, we just forgot to coach this week.' You got to go and be able to execute in the moment. You got to be able to take what you do during the course of the week, yeah, short week and all the things, but that's what we coach and work to play for."

Norvell's blunt characterization of the performance is accurate, and the primary culprit of his frustration was Brown.

With fellow Louisville backfield star Keyjuan Brown out with an injury, Issac Brown had 17 carries and averaged 13.8 per attempt. His two rushing scores of 68+ yards make him one of five active players in FBS to have done that in a single game, according to Opta Stats.

And he breathed life into a Louisville team that looked outmatched in the first quarter.

FSU quickly jumped out to a 14-0 lead, with Ashton Daniels setting a program record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with his 10th of the season. Micahi Danzy added a spectacular one-handed grab for the second score, but fate changed on a fourth-and-goal early in the second quarter.

Daniels screen pass to wide receiver Jasen Lopez was blown up and resulted in a turnover on downs. On the next play from scrimmage, Kienholz handed the ball off to Brown, who blazed past the defense for the 97-yard score.

The touchdown led to Louisville's rout of FSU. It also meant the Seminoles surrendered a double-digit lead and ultimately lost by double digits for the second time this season. The other? The 50-36 loss to Alabama.

"What we saw tonight was not good enough," Norvell said. "It was not good enough coaching, not good enough playing. Not good enough."

Norvell and the Seminoles next head to Miami for a rivalry showdown on Saturday, Oct. 17, before a bye week.

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney .