Mike Norvell addresses Johnny Wilson injury, big performance

The Florida State Seminoles and head coach Mike Norvell were able to pull away from the Virginia Tech Hokies in the fourth quarter on Saturday for a 39-17 win. But there were a number of points throughout the game where the Seminoles felt uneasy about their lead.

FSU also came away with the win, despite losing star wideout Johnny Wilson to an injury in the third quarter. He left the game, headed to the locker room, and did not return. Following the win, Norvell updated the status of Wilson’s injury and he talked about his big performance.

Following the game, he said everyone will have to wait and see on Wilson’s status.

“No. We’ll see. Obviously, he wasn’t able to come back. We’ll see what that looks like as we move forward to this week. But, man, what a great start to the game. Johnny’s been really good for us this year,” Norvell said in his postgame press conference.

Wilson hauled in four catches for 54 receiving yards, including two touchdown catches, before exiting early in the third quarter.

“Coming into the game, I think he had 300 yards receiving. Hadn’t been in the end zone yet. Being able to see him do that was big, but made a couple really good plays,” Norvell continued.

The FSU head coach was also impressed with the performance of Destyn Hill and his signal-caller, Jordan Travis. “It was good to see Destyn catch a really big ball there that we needed. We had couple missed opportunities. Things we need to continue to get better at. I thought Jordan [Travis] did a really good job of operating. Even in some of the times when he might have gotten a little pressure, he stayed patient,” Norvell continued.

“Didn’t try to force things. I think that’s a great response from him, which helped push our offense.”

As a team, Florida State pounded the rock with authority and that really helped them to control the game. Even if Virginia Tech did cut the lead to within five points (22-17), after Bhayshul Tuten had a 99-yard kickoff return early in the third quarter.

FSU running back Trey Benson essentially put the game out of reach when he ripped off an 85-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to put the Seminoles up for good, 39-17.

He finished the day with a career-best performance of 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries. Benson became the first running back for Florida State to run for 200 yards in a game since Dalvin Cook did it in 2016.