Lawrance Toafili Reflects On Final Game, Career At Florida State

It was a bittersweet moment for the redshirt senior.

Nov 18, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Lawrance Toafili (9) during the warm ups against the North Alabama Lions at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images / Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Florida State running back Lawrance Toafili's last play in a Seminole uniform was a touchdown, a fitting conclusion for someone who has poured so much effort and heart into the program. Despite the loss against the Florida Gators on Saturday, there will be no shortage of memories about the redshirt senior out of St. Petersburg, FL.

"I'm grateful for that. It was a bittersweet moment you know what I'm saying? I got a touchdown on the last touch I'm grateful for that." Toafili said about his last score after the game.

"Doak has brought me so many memories and so many great times. I feel like I'm just blessed honestly," Toafili continued. "Really, I just want to be grateful for that. Thank everybody, the coaching staff, my teammates, I just want to thank everybody involved. It's a blessing honestly."

A bench-clearing free-for-all fight broke out when the clock read 0:00 due to the intense rivalry against the Gators and such a disastrous 2-10 season for the 'Noles. But that wouldn't sum up Toafili's five-year career at Florida State. While the brawl raged around him, he was calm inside the storm, savoring his last moments inside Doak Campbell Stadium. 

"I mean, honestly, I was I was kind of soaking in my last moment on the field," Toafili said. "I didn't even realize what was going on."

Toafili was the 2023 ACC Championship MVP, the third player to earn the honor, joining Dalvin Cook and James Wilder, Jr. In 55 games, he amassed 1,895 yards on the ground with 15 touchdowns, adding 904 through the air and four more scores.

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As a 3-star prospect from Pinellas Park, he joined the roster during the 2020 COVID-19 year that rattled the country and the college football world altogether. Fighting alongside a loaded backfield with players like Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson, he made his mark on a program that climbed to the top of the ACC.

Now, a new wave of players are in the locker room. Toafili and the other upperclassmen know how to go from a losing team to one that won 19 straight games, an ACC Championship, and put 13 players in the NFL a season ago.

Florida State brought in the 11th-ranked recruiting class in 2024 and there are a lot of promising young players on the roster. In his eyes, Toafili thinks that they are finding that standard that put the Seminoles in the national limelight again.

"A lot of the young guys are learning. They're new to it, so they're trying to understand the way we operate, and I feel like they're coming along very well," Toafili said. "They're understanding the standard, and pretty soon they're going to have to step up and take that role."

Norvell has shown that a turnaround is possible, and Toafili, alongside the rest of the graduating class, has laid the blueprint for what is possible. Wherever Toafili lands, it is safe to say the lessons and leadership learned in Tallahassee, FL, will undoubtedly make him successful in the next stage of his career.

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READ MORE: FSU Head Coach Mike Norvell Throws Florida Gators Flag Off Midfield, Rips Billy Napier

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