Florida State football is 0-3 for the first time since 2021.

While it was an improved showing in some areas from the Seminoles against Memphis, the result remained the same as the Tigers walked out of Doak Campbell Stadium with a 20-12 win on Saturday.

The defense played arguably its best game to give FSU a chance after yet another slow start from the offense.

"I believe in who we have, I believe in what they can do, but we got to be able to transition the positive things we see out there on the practice field has got to translate on to gameday," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "That is going to be a lot of evaluation and a continued evaluation coming off the bye week.

"I thought we would have a much better performance than what we did here today."

Memphis forced a fumble on the Seminoles' third play from scrimmage, popping the ball out of Roydell Williams' hands. That set up a field goal on the drive to open the scoring.

The Tigers added a touchdown pass from quarterback Seth Henigan to Greg Desrosiers Jr. and a field goal before halftime to go into the break up 13-3. Memphis opened the second half with a touchdown drive after Henigan found tight end Anthony Landphere for the score.

While DJ Uiaglaelei and the FSU offense came out with a three-play, 75-yard touchdown drive right after that, the Seminoles added just one more field goal and fell short despite an improved second half.

Here are the takeaways from FSU's 20-12 loss to Memphis.

Slow start, inconsistency from Seminoles offense prove costly

While the second half was an improved display from the FSU offense, an underwhelming first half and the same inconsistencies that have plagued the team all season proved costly in the end.

Uiagalelei went 7-of-14 for 31 yards and an interception in the first half and it seemed like the offense was lost heading into the break.

He came alive at the start of the second half with his first pass a 67-yard bomb to wide receiver Malik Benson, doubling the amount of passing yards he had in the first half on a single play, and he finished the game 16-of-30 for 201 yards and one touchdown and one interception.

"Turnovers matter, you turn the ball over on the second play of the game, that's a big play. We had the interception, they had pressure and the arm got hit, but had an opportunity on the play," Norvell said. "When you have those things and a couple of big drops in moments, that kills drives pretty quick."

Benson recorded 99 yards and was nearly unstoppable in the second half when he got the ball, allowing the Seminoles to get back into the game. However, late-game sacks, poor throws and the inability to get in the endzone left FSU staring at defeat.

Things started clicking momentarily for FSU as Uiagalelei went through his progressions well and made mostly smart throws and the running backs were able to pick up important yards on the ground. But after a long 16-play drive ended with a field goal in the fourth quarter, the Seminoles offense looked shell-shocked the rest of the game.

When the Seminoles got the ball with 2:51 on the clock and a chance to tie the game with a score and two-point conversion, Uiagalelei was sacked twice and missed a throw.

FSU had a chance to tie again with just under a minute on the clock, but couldn't convert as the Seminoles' inconsistent offense reared its head and a three-and-out cost the team any chance of forcing overtime.

Improved showing from the defense can't save FSU

The Seminoles' defense put together its best showing of the season against Memphis. The defensive line looked better led by a strong performance from Joshua Farmer, who had one sacks and five tackles, as that unit finally showed signs of improvement.

FSU allowed Memphis 65 rushing yards and 272 yards through the air, and while it wasn't the cleanest, it held the Tigers to two field goals and came up with some crucial third and fourth down stops to give the team a chance.

There were still some chunk plays given up that allowed Memphis to gain momentum, including a 43-yard pass to set up the first touchdown for the Tigers.

In his first start, safety KJ Kirkland led the team in tackles with nine as he slotted in for Shyheim Brown almost seamlessly. Linebacker Justin Cryer forced the lone turnover with an impressive interception in the third quarter, diving to take the ball away from the receiver.

"Ultimately it kind of turned the tide for us defensively from that point on we were playing hard and playing ball," Cryer said. "That's what I know are defensive identity is. We go out there and make plays, we go out there and stop the run, we got there and shut people down, that's what we did. We just got to build off that."

While the defense gave opportunities to the Seminoles' offense in the first half, that unit couldn't convert. The same tackling issues and hesitant tackles were present for the defense at times and that was ultimately part of the reason for the loss.

Needless penalties, mistakes and poor tackling

FSU forced Memphis into a fourth-and-eight situation in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers set to punt and give the Seminoles the ball back with about four minutes on the clock and a chance to tie.

However, offsides called on Kirkland allowed Memphis to convert on a fourth-and-three and bleed another minute off the clock to halt any momentum built by the Seminoles.

In total, the Seminoles had six penalties for 43 yards, with a handful coming in crucial situations.

A holding and illegal substation on the second drive put FSU out of first-down range quickly. Sione Lolohea jumped offsides on a third down stop, giving the Tigers a free first down and a targeting penalty from Edwin Joseph on special teams were some examples of needless flags.

Paired with more poor tackling and hesitation on defense, FSU challenged itself more than Memphis challenged the team at times en route to a third straight loss. The biggest example of that came when the Tigers gained 31 yards on a third down play after Landphere caught the ball and the Seminoles tried to force a fumble rather than wrapping up the ball carrier, allowing for extra yardage.

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football lose third straight in 20-12 loss vs. Memphis