No heart. No fight. No win. The 'Noles are 0-2 in conference play, and we're three days into September, already close to being mathematically eliminated from ACC title contention and practically eliminated from playoff contention. A 28-13 home loss to Boston College has all but sealed their fate.
The 2024 Florida State Seminoles are the fourth preseason AP Top-10 team to start 0-2 in the last two seasons, with the 'Noles being members of this list for the second time (2017).
On a humid evening in the capital city of the Sunshine State, Boston College and first-year head coach Bill O'Brien went into Doak Campbell Stadium. They bullied the defending conference champs, just like Georgia Tech did. They were more physical, better coached, and played like a team. Panic has begun to seethe throughout Tallahassee.
The first quarter was the worst possible start you could have requested from the Seminoles. The offense had a singular drive, a three out on three straight pass attempts. The Eagles' offense played almost the entirety of the opening quarter, with two drives totaling 14:09 in time of possession.
Despite Florida State loading the box to combat the run, it didn't matter. Boston College was comfortable double-teaming the inside linemen and banking on the FSU linebackers not making them pay for it. The Eagles went 4/5 on third down and ran the ball for 69 yards at 4.9 yards per carry in the first quarter.
Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos cemented a 14-play, 9:18-minute drive with a touchdown on QB power to make the score 7-0.
Florida State's offense produced a three-and-out on its first three drives of the ball game and did not record a first down until late in the second quarter on a 25-yard crossing route to Jaylin Lucas over the middle. It was a struggle to fight for every yard.
Former Florida State running back Treshaun Ward made countless plays in his first game with Boston College. Ward was with the program from 2019-2022 before transferring to Kansas State in 2023. After one year in Manhattan, he took his talents up north to play for the Eagles.
Boston College did precisely what Georgia Tech did schematically: run the football downhill and pick on the FSU linebackers in coverage. Ward was the primary proponent of this attack; the offense ran the same mesh wheel concept to Ward three times, totaling 59 yards with a touchdown that put BC up 14-0 in the second quarter.
The Seminoles made it a one-score game going into halftime on the back of two Ryan Fitzgerald field goals. FSU got to the six-yard line twice in the first half and only mustered six total points.
Here's some jarring statistics from the first half of play:
- BC 188 Yards - FSU 118 Yards
- BC 21:06 TOP - FSU 8:29 TOP
- BC 6/9 on 3rd down - FSU 1/7 on 3rd down
- FSU running backs totaled two carries, and the offense totaled ten yards rushing
Now, sure, FSU hardly had the ball in the first half, but how do you manage only to feed your backs twice on five drives of offense?
The Seminoles got the ball out of halftime and recorded its longest rush on an eight-yard inside run by freshman Kam Davis. Despite piecing together a solid drive, the offense turned the ball over on an interception from DJ Uiagelelei, BC's Max Tucker made the interception and returned the ball 58 yards to set up the Eagles' offense deep in FSU territory before a Kye Robichaux touchdown catch made the 21-6.
At this point, the game was over. Florida State had the chance to gain momentum several times in the second half yet continuously shot themselves in the foot.
Florida State managed to make it a one-score game again in the third quarter at the hands of back-to-back 29-yard catches from Kentron Poitier, scoring on the second after making multiple defenders miss to make the score 21-13.
How did Boston College respond? They gashed the FSU defense and marched right down the field to make the score 28-13. Ballgame.
Let's review some takeaways for Florida State as Mike Norvell enters the second phase of his tenure in Tallahassee. His program needs a drastic revamp.
The roster construction approach of acquiring transfers through the portal and building your team year by year is not sustainable. That's evident in this transfer class for FSU; they missed on every single one.
There was a reason why Marvin Jones Jr. didn't get on the field at Georgia: he has zero upside as a pass rusher and has been dominated in the run game.
Malik Benson couldn't get on the field at Alabama and this staff thought he could be their No. 1 X receiver—brutal scene.
DJ Uiagelelei is precisely what we thought he was: a game manager, at best. The wide-open touchdown throw he missed in the corner of the endzone to Darion Williamson is a throw that high school kids make daily. He missed several routine throws early in the game; there's a reason a guy with his arm is going to be, maybe, an XFL player.
I expect an open quarterback competition at practice going forward. Continuing to trot DJU out there is pointless when the aspirations your program brought him in to achieve are dead two games into the season. See what you have in Brock Glenn, but it has to raise concern if Glenn can't beat DJU out in practice with what we've seen from the latter.
Norvell has to figure out recruiting. While his recruiting class ranking has improved every season, he's in year five now, and the guys he's recruited haven't developed. Hiring mercenaries through the portal is sustainable temporarily, but without a foundational element of players and, more importantly, leaders, you are not going to win football games. That starts with recruiting better at the high school level.
Difficult conversations will have to be had regarding some of the faces on this coaching staff. This entire team looks poorly coached, poorly prepared, and unresponsive to the staff's message.
What does this team do well? The special teams units are suitable; in fact, you could argue that FSU's punter, Alex Mastromanno, was the best offensive player in this game for the job he did flipping field position.
The Florida State Seminoles lack a sense of identity and drive. At some point, the players must want it more than the coaching staff. The leaders of this team from 2022 and 2023 are gone, and I haven't seen a single player step up to the plate in that avenue.
What may be the biggest concern for Florida State fans is how confident Mike Norvell was in the DNA and build of his roster leading up to the beginning of the season.
Quite honestly, what were you looking at? How did you miss this poorly? Was the staff so consumed with the playoff snub in December that they frolicked through the offseason and assumed the logo on the helmet would go out and win the games for you?
These are very concerning times in Tallahassee. The team we saw last night will struggle to secure bowl eligibility. Forget your conference championship and playoff aspirations.
The Seminoles will be on bye this weekend before a September 14th matchup with the Memphis Tigers in Doak Campbell Stadium.