Florida State began the 2024 college football season as the No. 10-ranked team in the country. The Seminoles quickly dropped to 0-3 after three-straight ugly losses to begin the season.
Absolutely nobody showed up to watch the game on Saturday and those who did quickly covered their heads with paper bags.
Memphis, which was paid $1.3 million to play the game, opened as 6.5-point underdogs to the home team. However, the spread quickly became irrelevant when the Tigers took a 13-3 lead into the locker room at halftime that they never game back.
Florida State dropped to 0-3 with an eight-point loss.
Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei finished the first half with five completions on six attempts for seven yards. He finished 16-of-29 for 201 yards with an interception, without a touchdown, and proved once again why his NIL deal with The Battle’s End collective was a giant waste of money.
— wow that was crazy (@CowardlyDoggo) September 14, 2024
Lawrance Toafili was the Seminoles’ leading rusher with 30 yards on four carries. Kam Davis, Roydell Williams and Caziah Holmes combined for 23 yards rushing — total.
Fortunately, very few Florida State fans were in attendance to witness the catastrophe. Doak S. Campbell stadium can hold a maximum capacity of 79,560. It was less than half full right before kickoff.
Boys need to get on that BOGO ticket package ASAP pic.twitter.com/TAyieGtviG
— EL Reed (@Team__305) September 14, 2024
To be fair, fans started to fill in throughout the first quarter. But they didn’t stay long.
Here is how it looked with approximately 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter:
Incognito Gators who are actually sitting in Doak Campbell rooting for Memphis. Would love to know the attendance. Ghost Town! pic.twitter.com/cIJJewbOpm
— ZenJen 🗣✝️👨👩👦👦✝️🇺🇸🗣 (@ZenJenHan) September 14, 2024
The Florida State fans who did show up were very aware of what they were about to witness.
Those who stuck around didn’t want anyone to know their identity because they were so ashamed.
And then there’s the ‘Garnet and Gold Guys.’ They cover themselves in glitter from head to toe for every game. They stand in the front row of the student section and are tasked with bringing the energy.
Having to do so in 90º Florida heat during an embarrassing loss to an AAC opponent must be miserable.
It is officially panic time in Tallahassee. Not only is the College Football Playoff out of the picture, a bowl game is not guaranteed. To go 6-6 after an 0-3 start is a tall ask.
Florida State has a home game against Cal next weekend. The crowd is going to be nonexistent!