TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State coach Mike Norvell ran off his home field after a 28-13 loss to Boston College on Monday night, his stone-faced expression speaking for him.
Nobody around the Seminoles program expected what has unfolded over two weeks in front of a national television audience: An 0-2 start, with issues across the board — an inability to run the ball, an overmatched and oftentimes flummoxed defensive front and a passing game that has struggled with a completely overhauled roster.
If the 24-21 season-opening loss to Georgia Tech could be explained away because it happened a continent away in Ireland, Florida State’s loss to Boston College exposed many of the same issues that came up against the Yellow Jackets.
Norvell was hard-pressed for answers in his postgame news conference, simply saying, “I’m sick to how this season started. Tonight, I failed in preparing the team to go out and respond,” Norvell said.
Florida State came into the season not only as the defending ACC champions, but as the preseason choice to win the conference — despite losing its best players, from Jordan Travis to Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and Keon Coleman. While they are off preparing for an NFL season, Florida State has been left to fill their spots — not just on the field but in the locker room.
Norvell spoke repeatedly about players having to trust one another more on the field, about pressing, about how the team has to come together now to fix its issues. They have an open date before playing Memphis on Sept. 14 to “go back in the lab,” as receiver Kentron Poitier said.
“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 believe in what this team can accomplish.
“There’s going to be plenty of negativity around this program. I understand that. When we perform the way we just did, that’s all part of it. But for our football team, you’ve got to stay together, and you’ve got to make sure that you’re there for each other. We’ve been knocked down. We know how to get up, but we’ve got to go do that. It’s one thing to talk about it. It’s another thing to put into action and then to be able to perform in the moment.”
Florida State has done this before under Norvell. In 2021, Florida State started 0-4 before rallying to win five of its final eight games. Then in 2022, it dropped three straight before reeling off six straight wins. That season launched the Seminoles to 13-0 in 2023 and an ACC championship victory, until a snub from the College Football Playoff left a significantly depleted Florida State team to play Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
Florida State lost that game 63-3. The Seminoles are now 0-3 in its last three games. Norvell said the playoff snub has no correlation to this year’s team.
“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.”
Boston College won the line of scrimmage on both its offensive and defensive lines, the way Georgia Tech did. In its first two games of the season, Florida State has given up 453 total yards rushing, while managing just 119 yards on the ground. The Boston College game proved especially problematic — Florida State only rushed for 21 total yards and its running backs had eight total carries.
DJ Uiagalelei was erratic at best as Norvell turned to him to help jumpstart a struggling offense. Uiagalelei was off target for most of the game, and the fans started chanting for backup Brock Glenn before halftime. Uiagalelei finished 21-of-42 for 272 yards a touchdown and a crucial interception in the third quarter that essentially put the game out of reach.
Down 14-6, Norvell elected to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Florida State 47. Uiagalelei missed badly on his pass, and Max Tucker was there to intercept it and return the ball to the 7 yard-line. Boston College punched it in to take a 21-6 lead.
The victory was the first under new coach Bill O’Brien, a statement of sorts that this Boston College team would play tough and physical up front — while also relying on a remade Thomas Castellanos, who looked far more confident as a passer. Castellanos scrambled for 73 yards and a touchdown, while throwing two more passing touchdowns in the victory. While this win will be celebrated in Boston, those in Tallahassee were left to scratch their heads after another loss.
“Losing is a lot of motivation. Nobody likes to lose,” linebacker DJ Lundy said. “So, we’re going to push. We’re going to work as hard as we can to get where we want to be. Right now, we’re 0-2. We don’t want to lose another game. We shouldn’t lose no more.”