TALLAHASSEE – Florida State redshirt junior Jared Verse was named one of 12 semifinalists for the Lombardi Award on Wednesday.
Verse has 24 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss in eight games this season. He is FSU’s active career leader with 13.5 sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and one blocked kick. Verse ranks fourth nationally among active players with 0.90 TFL per game and 0.68 sacks per game in his FBS career.
Verse tied a career high with 2.0 sacks against Virginia Tech and at Wake Forest, and now has four games as a Seminole with 2.0 sacks. The Dayton, Ohio, native had a career-high eight quarterback pressures against the Demon Deacons on Saturday as FSU improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the ACC.
In the Seminoles’ 41-3 win against Syracuse, Verse recovered a fumble forced by Joshua Farmer and returned it 11 yards, his second career fumble recovery. Verse had a season-high five tackles against No. 16 Duke and added 1.5 tackles for loss at Boston College.
A 2022 First Team All-American, Verse was on the Lombardi Award preseason watch list, as well as watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award and Walter Camp Award.
The Lombardi Award is presented to the college football offensive or defensive lineman who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to outstanding performance and ability. The finalists for this year’s award will be announced on November 15. Verse would be Florida State’s third Lombardi Award winner, joining 1992 recipient Marvin Jones and 2000 winner Jamal Reynolds.
Florida State is off to its best start since 2014. FSU is ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff, Associated Press and Coaches Polls entering Saturday’s game at Pitt (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
Keon Coleman Named to Maxwell Award Watch List
TALLAHASSEE – Florida State junior Keon Coleman was added to the Maxwell Award midseason watch list Tuesday. The Maxwell Award is presented to the “outstanding player in college football.”
Coleman, from Opelousas, Louisiana, leads Florida State with 38 catches, 538 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. He has added 198 yards on 20 punt returns in 2023.
Coleman’s nine touchdown catches lead the ACC, are 5th nationally and the most for a Seminole since 2019. He has three multi-touchdown games this season – he caught three in his FSU debut against No. 5 LSU and added two more at Clemson and at Wake Forest. His second touchdown catch at Clemson was in overtime and led FSU to its first road overtime win in school history.
Coleman joined Peter Warrick as the only players in Florida State history with 100 receiving and punt return yards in the same game when he caught nine passes for 140 yards and added 107 punt return yards against Syracuse. Coleman caught a career-long 58-yard touchdown and returned a punt 72 yards against the Orange.
Against LSU to begin the season, Coleman caught nine passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns, the most in FSU history for a player making his Seminole debut and the most in the ACC this year.
Coleman is also on the Biletnikoff Award watch list, presented to the nation’s top receiver and named for former Florida State and Pro Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff.
FSU quarterback Jordan Travis and running back Trey Benson were on the preseason Maxwell Award watch list. Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced November 13.
Florida State is off to its best start since 2014. FSU is ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff, Associated Press and Coaches Polls entering Saturday’s game at Pitt (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
