5 questions, 5 answers: FSU dives further into embarrassment

Florida State (1-6, 1-5 ACC), after another embarrassing and mistake-filled performance, saw its first loss to Duke in football...ever.

Fans swear they had it bad in the Willie Taggart era and Mike Norvell would like them to hold his beer as FSU continues its worst start since a 1-10 season in 1974. The Seminoles are poorly coached, give little effort and veterans continue to make mistakes one would expect out of a true freshman in spring ball.

As we always do after each and every Florida State game, the Tomahawk Nation tackled the task of breaking down the matchup with five answers to five questions.

What was the most infuriating mistake of the night, whether coaching or player?

Matt Minnick: Nah, I can’t just stick with one. Mike calling timeout on a punt from around midfield with an all American punter had me raging inside. Kentron dropping a dime of a TD pass and Benson killing our fake punt momentum with an easy drop was really frustrating, but sadly expected for this wide receiver room. Mike having Brock do anything other than hand off to Toafili on the play after the second turnover was mind numbing. But the worst for me was Jalen Brown giving about 2% effort on the pick 6. Makes zero attempt to break up the pass or get an OPI or anything. And then doesn’t attempt to tackle him. He is lucky he plays for coaches who don’t seem inclined to hold kids accountable because if it were me he would be done for good, with the last NIL check bouncing.

Tim: Matt ain’t wrong, there’s so much that happened in this game that was the definition of infuriating. For me, it was the Kentron drop. That was a drop in the bucket type pass from Kro that would have made a huge difference. Not only for the game but potentially for the young quarterback. At this point, FSU needs to see what it has in their young wide receivers such as McCoy, Moore, etc. They can’t be worse can they?

Evenflow58: I don’t know if the tenth time I’ve been kicked in the balls was much different than the ninth time. There’s not much more to say. You can argue to play the younger guys, and I wouldn’t disagree, but they aren’t ready to play and aren’t getting the coaching they need to get there by and large. It’s just a total failure.

NoleThruandThru: Why do we continue to see veteran players getting abused or committing unforced errors? Oh, because this staff keeps running them out there and refusing to play underclassmen at spots they NEED to evaluate for the future. We should never see guys like Rob Scott or Kentron Poitier in non-garbage time again. I’m willing to bet that once they realized who the target was, the majority of FSU fans knew Poitier was going to drop that touchdown pass. This receiving corps is atrocious.

Jon Loesche: Kentron Poitier dropping what should’ve been the prettiest TD pass by a FSU QB since Jameis. That one play managed to sum up so much of what has gone wrong this year.

Was this the lowest point of the season for FSU?

Matt Minnick: Absolutely. You just lost to a terrible Duke team despite holding them to 185 yards of total offense, marking the first loss to this historically doormat program in school history. And your head coach just gives out the same old “gotta be better” coach speak. This is worse than Jax State.

Evenflow58: No because I expected this. I would argue the Boston College game was the low point because that’s when it became obvious to even the most positive of fans that they were sold a bill of goods. Duke isn’t good and is probably the worst 6-1 team in the country but they are 6-1.

NoleThruandThru: Absolutely, because we continue to see a coaching staff make bush-league playcalls and veteran players make unforced errors. No adjustments. No progress. Bye week didn’t make one bit of difference. You’d almost think FSU willingly gave the game away tonight. Mike Norvell has now made history as the only FSU head coach to lose to Duke. Just when I think things can’t get any worse, Clark Griswold tells me we’re at the threshold of hell.

Jon Loesche: Not even close. SMU and Memphis were worse. Not to mention potentially losing by 30+ to Miami next week or losing to Florida in front of the smallest crowd for a UF game since the 70s.

With FSU all but guaranteed a losing season, what changes can Mike Norvell make in-season to impact this team?

Evenflow58: I’m of the opinion that we’re just playing out the string with Norvell. He’s shown that recruiting isn’t enough of a priority for him and he’s not willing to can coaches that aren’t cutting it. Eventually that attitude seeps in to the team. They papered over it with the portal but the rot is in the walls. He either need to get lucky in the portal AND recruit and develop better or he’s done. Given the fact that FSU has missed a bowl in half of Norvell’s tenure along with the fact that he didn’t make changes after last year I’m not positive he’s willing to make the changes he needs to make. It’s a cut throat business and Norvell isn’t.

NoleThruandThru: Fully commit to the youth movement, get meaningful game reps for as many freshmen and sophomores as you can, and start evaluating assistant coaches and recruiting staff you want to hire. I don’t care if you package it through season-ending injuries or whatever, there are numerous upperclassmen on this roster who should never see the field again. Same goes for some of the assistant coaches.

Matt Minnick: He needs to fire someone. I’m dead serious. Mike Norvell has to demonstrate to his coaches and players that not fixing mistakes costs you your job. A guy like Jalen Brown needs to be benched Von Wafer style. (Ham just stopped playing him altogether midway through his soph year). A guy like Jackson West who makes a dumb penalty when we are receiving the ball down 7 needs to be sent down to practice squad. And a guy like Alex Atkins needs to have “offensive coordinator” removed from his title and duties. There must be consequences for underperforming game after game after game. That’s called earning your $10M salary.

Jon Loesche: Going all in on the youth movement. Feel like we’ve been saying this since the Memphis game but starting to actually see it and it needs to continue. As others have said he also needs to have serious changes to the staff up and down.

Should Norvell have left Luke Kromenhoeck in the game or was the move back to Brock Glenn the correct call?

Evenflow58: I guess but does it matter? It wasn’t like Kromenhoeck was lighting it up. Yeah, he hadn’t committed a turnover but that doesn’t mean that wasn’t coming. I get sitting Brock for a bit to cool him down and allow him to collect himself so I understand putting Kromenhoeck in but the team is so bad that it doesn’t much matter who the quarterback is. It’s a failure on all levels.

NoleThruandThru: I’m glad they both saw the field but is wildcat just not a thing this year? We really aren’t gonna try it with Kam Davis, Deuce Spann, Toafili, Bueller? Bueller?

Tim: Not sure there is a right answer here as neither quarterback excelled. I think sticking with Luke is maybe the choice though. The game seemed a step fast for him but he appeared to be making the right decisions. Does he catch up to the speed of the game if he gets the entire second half? Does FSU still only score three with him at QB? I think I would have taken the chance. In the end, if the two dropped passes are caught, I doubt it’s even a discussion.

Matt Minnick: I agree with Tim, if Hykeem Williams wasn’t scared of contact (in an era when defenders aren’t even really allowed to hit receivers that hard anymore, no less) then this probably isn’t even a question. But what about this: Toa at wildcat? Did that get left in Charlotte? We might not have the 2023 defense but the D was shutting down Duke’s pathetic offense. Maybe Toa wildcat mixed in with some Luke runs and short passes gets it done?

Jon Loesche: I get why Mike did it. Luke took a few nasty shots and ultimately you don’t want Brock’s confidence completely crushed because he’s the only other option at QB the rest of the way. That being said I would’ve kept Luke in.

What are the positives, if any, to take from this loss?

Evenflow58: My daughter’s school had a Halloween Festival tonight. We had really good weather and were able to get in and out pretty quickly. I was able to park in an area where we avoided having to use the overworked shuttle.

Matt Minnick: There are none. I appreciated seeing Graham continue to improve at LB. I appreciated seeing FSU’s DB’s turn and find the football. But at the end of the day, the defense forced zero turnovers and the team lost to Duke. There are no positives in that.

NoleThruandThru: It was nice finally seeing Luke K play some meaningful snaps and sling it a couple times. FSU still has the best punter/kicker duo in the nation. Otherwise, zilch.

Tim: The defense was the best it looked all year. Hard to say how much was Duke’s offense versus how much was the defense, but they definitely played better. Linebackers triggered to the right spot more often than not, the corners played excellent, and the defensive tackles collapsed the line consistently.

Jon Loesche: Luke throws a really pretty ball even if FSU doesn’t have a single WR capable of catching it.

FSU now prepares for Miami, which is great, because that’d be the first time they’ve prepared for anything this year.

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