How we know Florida State football has made zero progress

Well, it was fun while it lasted, Florida State football fans, but the cream is seemingly rising to the top as far as your Seminoles are concerned.

FSU once again won folks over with an impressive stretch of wins, hitting 4-0 on the season and even seeing a spot in the AP Top 25. The loss to Wake Forest that soon followed surely hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Today probably feels like the end of the world, though.

On Saturday, Florida State headed into Carter-Finley Stadium to take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack, with the latter coming off of a tough loss to Clemson.

NC State was narrowly favored entering the game, and the fact that it was hosting probably deserves the credit as to why. In other words, the Wolfpack being favored had virtually nothing to do with some visible skill advantage and, by halftime, the people had seen that for themselves.

The Seminoles were down 3-0 entering the second quarter, but had scored 17 unanswered to have a convincing 14-point lead at the half. All they had to do for the remainder of the game was manage said lead.

But, we must remember that this is Mike Norvell’s FSU squad that we’re talking about, and holding sizable leads is hardly his area of expertise. It’s okay, though, as anyone who didn’t remember received a brutal reminder late in the game.

At the start of the match’s final quarter, NC State was still facing a deficit, but it was by a matter of four points instead of the aforementioned 14. So, no matter what, Florida State was going to once again be caught in a nail-biter that it had no business being in.

However, a lead is still a lead, and the Wolfpack had already lost star quarterback Devin Leary to a shoulder injury, so what could possibly go wrong?

Everything, apparently.

The Seminoles went on to give up six more points and find themselves in a 19-17 hole with under seven minutes of game clock left, but they did not find their best scoring opportunity until mere seconds were all that remained.

How did Florida State football respond to losing its lead?

It was second-and-8, with FSU well inside its kicker’s range, and NC State only having one timeout still in its holster. All the Seminoles had to do was run the ball a couple of more times, forcing the Wolfpack to use its last timeout, before kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired. But Mike Norvell had something else in mind.

Florida State’s very next play was not just a pass, but a pass to the end zone, and what do you know — it was easily intercepted.

The game was one where the Seminoles had proven that they had the means to win, but choked every ounce of life out of it at the very end. We saw this rather recently when they visited New Orleans to face LSU, but the performances on special teams were enough to bail them out there.

A meeting that didn’t see such luck was all the way back in 2020 when FSU hosted Georgia Tech. Nothing about that Yellow Jackets team showed a chance for it to leave Doak S. Campbell Stadium victorious, and such a statement held true as the Seminoles had a comfortable 10-0 lead at the start of the second half.

However, the Yellow Jackets managed to outscore their adversaries 16-3 from that point forward, winning the game by a field goal. But what’s the relevance of all this? It was Mike Norvell’s first game as FSU’s head coach.

In other words, he showed his ability to crumble in the second half all the way back then, and he just did so again this last weekend. Combining that lack of progress with his questionable play calling in impactful moments makes the coming days look quite dark for Florida State.

Where does Florida State go from here?

Now most Seminoles fans are probably dreading the Clemson matchup this upcoming Saturday, but as far as how that will affect the future of their team, there isn’t much to lose sleep over. Simply put, the Tigers are widely expected to win it, and for them to do so by a convincing margin would fail to turn many heads today.

What was not expected was being down 21 to Wake Forest in the third quarter before losing by two scores back on Oct. 1, nor was the self-destructive collapse against NC State a couple of days ago.

I would argue that FSU has shown the potential to beat every opponent remaining on its schedule not named Clemson, meaning that I feel the Seminoles could still enter the postseason at 9-3. But, if they do not do that, and instead finish somewhere closer to 7-5, then Mike Norvell has to be placed on a hotter seat than the one he currently has.

A 7-5 record is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and it shows at least some improvement, but how much can we rejoice about that if it could have been even better had someone other than Norvell been at the helm?

Florida State fans both understand and voice these concerns, and the chances of a better — yet still far from great — record is not enough to silence them, nor should it be. If Norvell continues to keep the Seminoles from winning games that they clearly can, then the team may need to begin its search for a new head coach.