That season-opening win over Alabama feels like a heck of a long time ago for Florida State.
Maybe nowhere has felt further away from that than Palo Alto, California, late on Saturday night, with the Seminoles walking off the field at Stanford with another loss.
The Cardinal pulled off the upset, 20-13, but it wasn't without controversy.
Florida State appeared to tie the game in a wild ending sequence.
The 'Noles needed a Hail Mary to the red zone, then a pass interference in the end zone. That set up an untimed down from the 2-yard line to potentially tie the game.
Florida State went with the misdirection shovel pass, and it looks to have worked.
From multiple broadcast angles, the FSU player seems to cross the plane of the goal line.
But on the field, and in further discussion, the Seminoles were called short. They wouldn't get a chance at an extra point to tie the game or overtime to potentially win it.
Instead, they had to fly to the other end of the country with a sour taste in their mouths.
Here's the play:
ACC AFTER DARK.
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) October 19, 2025
STANFORD TAKES DOWN FLORIDA STATE AFTER STOPPING THE SEMINOLES AT THE GOAL LINE.
FSU HAS LOST 9 STRAIGHT ACC GAMES. pic.twitter.com/LwhIPd6rz6
It's hard to come up with any reason that was short, but that was the final call.
Florida State likely should've done better in the balance of the game to not need that finishing sequence to go their way, anyway.
Nine consecutive ACC losses is a place no one would've expected FSU to be in, but that's the college football world we live in now, where Stanford picks up an Atlantic Coast Conference win over mighty Florida State.