The Florida State Seminoles are 1-9 amidst one of the worst seasons in program history. Head coach Mike Norvell is in his fifth season with the club coming off of an impressive 13-1 campaign and an ACC Championship, which adds to the mystifying 2024 season of the Seminoles.
The Seminoles’ final two opponents are the 5-6 Florida Gators and FCS opponent Charleston Southern who sit at 1-10 so far this season. While a one-win FBS team may seem far and away a decisive favorite to defeat a one-win FCS team at home, things are different with the Seminoles in 2024. And it is not a good different.
The Seminoles currently rank 121st in the country with 178 passing yards per game and 133rd in the country in points for with 14.1 averaged per game on the season. Additionally, the four main statistical categories of passing yards, rushing yards, points for and points against per game categories all see the Seminoles ranked 100 or worse amongst all of FBS.
Three reasons Charleston Southern will defeat the Florida State Seminoles
1. More to play for
Although Charleston Southern has similar rankings at a level below in FCS, do not be surprised if it is still a close contest. While the Seminoles have nothing to play for, it may seem that Charleston Southern does not either. However, the fact that Charleston Southern plays at the FCS level means that most likely not a single player on their roster was recruited by the Seminoles, and the majority probably did not receive any FBS offers. Hence the reason they ended up at Charleston Southern.
2. Charleston Southern players have a chip on their shoulder
With that being said, players at this level often approach games like this with a chip on their shoulder they use as motivation to beat teams that did not feel they were deserving of a scholarship. Also, it would inarguably be a large claim to fame for a lifetime for any players on the Charleston Southern roster if they were to walk into Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee and defeat the Seminoles.
3. A chance to make history
This feat is something few teams have accomplished, but two more recent that have happened have been Appalachian State defeating the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 2007 and Georgia Southern defeating the Florida Gators in Gainesville in 2013. Both Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are FBS schools now, but were at the FCS levels at the time of their victories.
We could see the same thing happen this weekend in Tallahassee with Charleston Southern. And while Appalachian State’s victory over the Wolverines may still be considered the biggest upset in FBS history, if Florida State manages to lose this weekend, it would probably be a close second.