Memphis Tigers keep Florida State Seminoles winless

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Seth Henigan threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns — the 40th straight game he has tossed a scoring pass — as Memphis beat Florida State 20-12 on Saturday.

Henigan connected with Greg Desrosiers Jr. and Anthony Landphere on touchdown passes as Memphis (3-0) jumped to a 20-3 lead in the third quarter. The Tigers scored touchdowns on drives of 65 and 75 yards, finishing 7 of 17 on third downs and 2 of 3 on fourth downs.

“Winning is hard, and I never want to minimize a win,” Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said. “But this is monumental. Let’s call it what it is. To go on the road, regardless of the record, they were preseason No. 10 in the country.

“It’s huge for our program. This is a game that’s going to be remembered for a long time.”

Memphis players, coaches and fans won’t soon forget it. And the Tigers take home quite the bonus: a $1.3 million guarantee as well as a résumé-building victory on the road over a Power 4 team.

Memphis dominated on defense and made plenty of timely plays on offense.

“Our defense is much improved from last year,” Henigan said. “They’re playing extremely well right now. … I’m proud of our guys. I thought they played hard. We had that intensity coming out, that edge about ourselves, that Memphis toughness.”

DJ Uiagalelei completed 16 of 30 passes for 201 yards and an interception, struggling to move the Seminoles (0-3) until a pair of scoring drives in the third quarter.

Florida State moved to the Memphis 39 and then spiked the ball to set up a final play with two seconds left. But Uiagalelei’s Hail Mary was swatted down at the goal line by Memphis’ Julian Barnett.

Memphis’ defense pressured Uiagalelei throughout the day, recording four sacks. Linebacker Chandler Martin had eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.

Florida State couldn’t run the ball, averaging 1.5 yards per carry. And the Seminoles were constantly facing third-and-long situations, where they converted on only 2-of-12 opportunities although they were 3 of 3 on fourth-down conversions.

“Extremely disappointed the way we played at times,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “The things that we work and emphasize throughout the course of the week, you know, preseason, offseason, things that are critically important to being successful are not showing up as consistent as we need them to be.

“Obviously, offensively, very disappointing performance. Never able to really get much going. Second half we were able to move the ball but had a couple explosive plays up still had too many negatives.”

Ryan Fitzgerald made a 54-yard field goal attempt, his third kick from 50 or more yards in three games, for the Seminoles.