MIAMI GARDENS — The anguish was easy to see on the faces of Florida State coach Mike Norvell and his players after coming agonizingly close to upsetting rival Miami on Saturday night.
A couple hours before the emotional pain of falling short in a 43-35 double-overtime loss, there was the distress the Seminoles felt after seeing leading rusher Ousmane Kromah suffer a gruesome ankle injury in the second quarter.
Kromah’s pain was mental as well as physical as he was overcome with emotion after his leg was placed in an air cast and he was carted off the field at Hard Rock Stadium while all of his teammates surrounded the running back to give him words of encouragement.
“We were all really, really hurt deep down inside when Ousmane went down,” FSU quarterback Ashton Daniels said. “(Offensive coordinator) Coach (Tim) Harris (Jr.) said it: He’s one of the Alpha dogs on this team. He’s somebody that’s going to come out and give it his all every day.
“If you can’t see that from an outside perspective then you don’t know football. He’s a dawg. He’s given this offense so much life. We’re praying for him and that the news comes back good.”
Kromah broke loose for what turned out to be a 9-yard run to the Miami 2-yard line with 1:35 left in the second quarter. But on the play, as Kromah was tackled, his ankle was rolled up under Hurricanes linebacker Chase Smith’s body. Kromah got up quickly and hopped on one leg as he tried to make it to the FSU sideline before collapsing to the ground.
“I love the kid and to see somebody hurting the way he was hurting,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “He’s such a competitor. Even with what happened, he’s hopping, and trying to get across. I just told him ‘Everything will be OK, whatever it is.’ To see his teammates surround him … We have a great group of young men and I’m honored to see them play for each other and take on the challenges they embrace.”
Kromah finished the game with 44 yards on 14 carries, bringing his team-best rushing total to 609 yards and five touchdowns on 114 attempts.
His mom, Katiatou Fofana Kromah, posted on Facebook early Sunday morning: “The bones connecting the foot and ankle are dislocated and fractured. To fix them, the doctors have to perform surgery and use metal plates and screws to hold the broken bones together until they heal. The hardware is temporary and will be removed once the bones have healed.”
Without Kromah, and already missing running back Samuel Singleton Jr., who is out indefinitely, the Seminoles (3-4) likely will be without their top two backs going into the bye week and potentially for the Clemson game on Oct. 31.
Quintrevion “Tre” Wisner, Amari Thomas and Zay Parks are the only healthy running backs remaining on the roster. Wisner and Thomas are the only running backs among that group to carry the ball so far this season. A few receivers, like Micahi Danzy and Jasen Lopez, have run jet sweeps or end arounds but are not going to be viewed as traditional running back options if FSU is without Kromah and Singleton for the long term.
Wisner took the bulk of the carries after Kromah exited the game and finished with 63 yards on nine carries. Wisner has 204 yards on 38 carries. Thomas, who did not have a touch in Saturday’s game, has three carries for 11 yards.
Wisner caught four passes for 56 yards and has 12 catches for 151 yards for the season.
Kromah’s last run of Saturday’s game set up a 2-yard touchdown by Daniels that tied the game at 14. FSU would take a 21-14 lead when Wisner caught a 28-yard go-ahead touchdown from Daniels with 4:09 left in the third quarter.
But Wisner made one costly mistake when he was stripped of the ball on the run by Ethan O’Connor and Xavier Lucas recovered at Miami’s 39 with 8:57 left in the fourth. Wisner’s run covered 24 yards and FSU was driving at the time, hoping to break a 21-21 tie.
“I’m proud of how our guys, how Tre stepped up,” Daniels said. “I know that one play (the fumble) is eating him up. But he still stepped up and gave us a chance.”
FSU was fortunate not to lose Daniels as well early in the game after he took a hit to the helmet while sliding from Miami defensive back Zechariah Poyser. Daniels left the game for a drive, but returned while Poyser was ejected for targeting.
Daniels gives FSU the added dimension in the running game that can somewhat alleviate the absence of Kromah if he does not return. Daniels now has an ACC-best 11 rushing touchdowns and has 354 yards on 79 attempts.
"We’re hurting for Ousmane, that’s for sure, and we’re going to keep praying for him," Daniels said. "We know Tre is going to step up and carry the load and so will some of the other young guys on this team.”
Andre C. Fernandez has covered South Florida sports for the Miami Herald and the Athletic. He also covered FSU sports for a few years for the Tallahassee Democrat.
