Trey Benson scored a 3-point TD as No. 5 Florida State beat Florida

It wasn’t pretty, but No. 5 Florida State got through its first test without Jordan Travis.

The Seminoles overcame an early 12-0 deficit to pull out a 24-15 win at Florida to move to 12-0 and deny the Gators a bowl berth. The win puts FSU in the ACC Championship game over Louisville away from an undefeated season and a potential chance to play in the College Football Playoff.

Travis watched Saturday’s win from the coaches’ box after suffering a season-ending left leg injury against North Alabama in Week 12. His replacement, Tate Rodemaker, briefly had to leave Saturday’s game with 3:51 left in the game after a late injury. Florida Jaydon Hill.

Hill and Bryce Thornton converged late on Roadmaker as he slid wide of the lead on third-and-long. Hill made contact with Rodemaker’s head and the back of his head hit the turf.

Rodemaker was immediately attended to by the FSU coaching staff and entered the medical tent under his own power. He was replaced by Brock Glenn for two plays before returning to the game and handing it off to Trey Benson as Benson broke the game open with his third touchdown of the game.

Benson scored from 26 yards out with less than three minutes left to give FSU a two-score lead. Had Hill not been penalized for targeting Rodemaker, Florida State would have given the ball back to the Gators and the field goal would have given Florida a one-point lead.

Instead, Florida finished the season 5-7 and will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2017. Florida State, meanwhile, is enjoying its first undefeated regular season since 2014.

Florida jumped out to an early two-TD lead after sacking Rodemaker in the end zone for a safety in the second quarter. But the game turned around before halftime after Florida defensive lineman Jamari Lyons was ejected for spitting on NFL offensive lineman Keondre Jones. A 15-yard free kick on the penalty kick helped FSU move down the field for Benson’s first score of the game before halftime.

The Seminoles then took their first lead of the game early in the second half when Benson scored for the second time. He finished the game with 19 carries for 95 yards.

The running game was FSU’s most efficient offense. Rodemaker was just 12 of 25 passing for 134 yards.

But Florida was also starting an inexperienced backup quarterback. Max Brown made his first career start after Graham Mertz suffered a shoulder injury in Week 12 against Missouri. Brown looked superior as he threw for just 86 yards and threw an interception on his final pass of the game.

Assuming the committee keeps ranking undefeated teams ahead of one-loss teams as it has all season, it’s reasonable to expect Florida State to return to No. 4 on Tuesday and ahead of Ohio State after Washington jumped in the rankings. Since a week. If Florida State is in the top four on Tuesday, the Seminoles’ path to the playoff should simply require a win over the Cardinals.