Florida State running back Trey Benson will enter the NFL draft and will not play in the Capital One Orange Bowl for the Seminoles, he announced Sunday.
Benson, who rushed for 905 yards and 14 touchdowns this season while averaging 5.8 yards per carry, is the No. 2-rated running back by ESPN NFL draft insider Mel Kiper Jr.
“I cannot begin to express how valuable my two years here have been, especially the relationships I’ve made with teammates, coaches, athletic training, academic staff and the whole FSU family,” Benson said in an announcement posted to X. “I will forever carry FSU with me wherever I go.”
Benson, a redshirt junior who had a long rehab journey following major knee surgery at Oregon in 2020, moved to FSU and immediately found success, rushing for 990 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022. He also had a receiving touchdown and a kickoff return in his two seasons at FSU, giving him 25 total TDs in two seasons.
He was perhaps at his best in rivalry games: Benson had a combined 10 touchdowns in Florida State’s four games against Miami and Florida, including three TD runs in the November 2023 victory at The Swamp.
Senior defensive tackle Fabien Lovett, the Seminoles’ top reserve at the position, also announced Sunday he’ll forgo the Orange Bowl to prepare for the NFL draft.
Lovett had 22 tackles and four tackles for loss this fall. He wrapped up a career in which he had 93 tackles and six sacks, most of them at Florida State after his transfer from Mississippi State following the 2019 season.
The Seminoles play Georgia in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 (4 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+/ESPN App).
ESPN’s Andrea Adelson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
