Florida’s Tallahassee — With a dejected expression on his face, Florida State coach Mike Norvell left his home field following Monday night’s 28-13 loss to Boston College.
What has happened in front of a nationwide televised audience over the past two weeks has surprised no one involved with the Seminoles program: An 0-2 start marked by problems all around the pitch, such as a poor passing game that has suffered due to a total squad overhaul, an overmatched and frequently bewildered defensive front, and a difficulty running the ball.
If the season-opening 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech could be justified by the fact that it took place in Ireland on a different continent, then Florida State’s defeat by Boston College revealed numerous of the same problems that the Yellow Jackets had.
In his postgame press conference, Norvell was forced to limit his comments to, “I’m sick to how this season started.” I did not adequately prepare the players to respond outside tonight.”
Despite losing some of its finest players, such as Braden Fiske, Jordan Travis, Jared Verse, and Keon Coleman, Florida State entered the season as both the ACC champion and the preseason favourite to win the conference. Not just on the field, but also in the locker room, Florida State has been left to cover their absences as they get ready for an NFL season.
Norvell talked a lot about how players need to trust each other more on the pitch, how they need to press, and how the squad needs to work together right now to resolve its problems. Before hosting Memphis on September 14, the Seminoles have an open day to “go back in the lab,” according to wide receiver Kentron Poitier.
“You’ve got a football team that nobody envisioned ever being where we are and having disappointment, having failure, but I do believe in what this team can do,” Norvell said. “I have faith in this team’s abilities.
“This program is going to attract a lot of negative attention. I recognise that. That’s all part of it when we perform like we just did. However, you must remain a unit and support one another if you want to succeed as a football team. It has knocked us down. We need to go get up, but we know how to accomplish it. It is one thing to discuss it. Putting something into practice and then being able to execute it on the spot are two different things.”
Under Norvell, Florida State has previously done this. It began 2021 with a 0–4 record before winning five of its last eight games. After that, it lost three games in a row in 2022 before winning six in a row.
That game was lost by Florida State, 63-3. After their last three games, the Seminoles are presently 0-3 overall. According to Norvell, the team this season has nothing to do with the playoff omission.
“When things don’t go how you want them to go — a disappointing outcome in our first game — and obviously today it was all the things that can go wrong basically did,” Norvell said. “I don’t know if that’s a carryover from any part of it other than starting to press, starting to try to do too much, where you want it so bad that there’s times where you almost abandon the training that you’ve had because you just start pressing and trying to do almost too much.”
Similar to how Georgia Tech won, Boston College won the line of scrimmage on both its offensive and defensive lines. Florida State has allowed 453 total rushing yards in its first two games of the season, while only managing 119 yards on the ground. That was particularly difficult for Florida State against Boston College, as the team only managed 21 yards of total rushing, with only eight carries for its running backs.
Norvell looked on Seminoles quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who was, at best, inconsistent, to help turn around a flagging offence. The majority of the game saw Uiagalelei miss the mark, and before the half, supporters began clamouring for backup Brock Glenn. After completing 21 of 42 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter, Uiagalelei made a critical interception that basically
With Florida State behind 14-6, Norvell decided to take a chance on fourth-and-5 from the 47. Max Tucker was there to intercept Uiagalelei’s poorly-thrown pass and bring the ball back to the 7-yard line. Boston College led 21–6 when they punched it in.
The fact that Boston College won its first game under new coach Bill O’Brien was a kind of declaration that the club would play rough and gritty up front and rely on a transformed Thomas Castellanos, who appeared to be a much more assured passer. Castellanos passed for two more touchdowns and scrambled for 73 yards and a touchdown. Boston will rejoice over this victory, but Tallahassee was left in disbelief following yet another setback.
“It takes a lot of motivation to lose. According to Florida State linebacker DJ Lundy, “nobody enjoys losing.” “We’re going to shove, then. To get to where we want to go, we will put in as much effort as we can. We’re down 0–2 right now. We wish to avoid dropping any more games. We ought to stop losing now.”
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