Clark: Uneasy state of college football in this state could be good for FSU
So, that makes three straight great weekends for the Florida State football team. And the Seminoles didn't even play on Saturday -- that's how well Mike Norvell has this thing rolling right now!
After watching their team beat Syracuse and North Carolina back-to-back for the first two wins of the season, FSU fans were able to enjoy a little down time, kick their feet up on the couch and watch their rivals play some football on Saturday instead.
And, yes, for the third straight week, the Florida State faithful were smiling as their heads hit the pillow on Saturday night.
Miami scored 42 points. And lost.
Florida scored 42 points. And lost.
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Both of those programs, like Florida State, have done plenty of losing so far this season. And both of those programs, like Florida State, are trying to figure out what to make of their head coach.
Well, that's not true in Miami. I think the jury has come back with a verdict on Manny Diaz.
But I think most FSU fans are still in a wait-and-see mode with Norvell. After a horrid start to this season, the second-year head coach drew some fans closer to the bandwagon with those last two performances. Plus, his emotional response to my incredible question at the press conference after the Louisville game didn't hurt either!
You're welcome, 'Nole Nation.
As for Florida?
Well, I think that might be the most interesting situation in the state.
Because Dan Mullen has proven time and again that he is a great offensive coach.
He had the best passing offense in the country last season. And heading into Saturday's shootout with LSU, he had the third-best rushing attack in the country! That's insane.
Mullen is an elite offensive mind. He's a savant.
But man, all the other stuff. He's completely unmarketable from a personality standpoint. He's awkward. He's unlikeable. He's surly. He's not a great recruiter. And I get the sense many UF fans and media don't like him all that much.
Now, that doesn't mean much if you're winning 12 games a year. But when you're now 2-6 against your last eight Power 5 opponents -- and one of those two wins was Vanderbilt -- you're not going to have a ton of people in your corner.
I don't think Mullen is in danger of getting fired. Weirdly, it was the guy who beat him on Saturday that was fired instead.
But what does that say about the 2021 Gators? LSU was an 11-point underdog at home, found a way to beat Mullen's team, and yet the head coach is still a goner. Ed Orgeron will coach out the remainder of this season for the Tigers, but won't be back in 2022.
And while I don't expect him to suffer the same fate as Orgeron, I imagine the waters are getting a little choppy for Mullen down in Gainesville.
Meanwhile, in Miami, the waters are essentially a giant 100-foot wave for Diaz. His team is now 2-4 and lost a game in which it put up 42 points with a backup quarterback. Yikes.
All of this is great news for Florida State by the way.
While I still think Florida is clearly the best team in the state, the Gators aren't exactly on solid footing right now. Miami is a mess. And FSU currently owns the longest winning streak of the Big 3!
That's something you can sell to recruits!
In all seriousness, on that front, what is happening around the state (and throughout the country for that matter) is great for Norvell and his coaching staff.
Last year, FSU got blown off the field by Miami and would have suffered an even worse fate if it had to play that Florida team.
This year, FSU has shown genuine improvement.
Miami has not. And might be looking for a new head coach.
Florida has not. And would love for their head coach to quit being such a weirdo.
There's a window that's ajar right now for the Seminoles.
Florida State is still 5-10 since Norvell arrived. Those numbers are still there. But with the other two major programs in the state faltering, the Seminoles certainly look like a stable option for a high school recruit halfway through the 2021 season.
And then look around the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Right now, it looks like Pitt and N.C. State are the two best teams.
Pitt. And N.C. State.
What world is this?
Cincinnati is ranked No. 3 in the country. Cincinnati!
Clemson had to get lucky to beat Syracuse, No. 2 Iowa got dumped by Purdue at home, Michigan State is undefeated, and Arkansas all of the sudden can't win anymore.
It's crazy how quickly things can flip, isn't it?
College football is becoming more and more like the NFL in the sense that a program's fortunes can flip very quickly. One year you're 3-9. The next year you could be 9-3. The transfer portal, and just the parity throughout the sport, has turned it into NFL Lite.
Ed Orgeron won a national title like 20 months ago. And now he's out as the LSU head coach.
What a world.
It's a tough one to navigate. All the money, all the firings, all the transfers, make college football more unstable than it's ever been.
There are only a few programs in the country -- Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Duke -- where you truly know what you're going to get from year to year.
Right now, Florida State isn't a good football team. But it's not terrible one like it was a season ago.
It is showing some signs for life. For the first time in a while.
The Seminoles certainly appear to be closer to Florida and Miami than they were this time a year ago. And Clemson has come back to earth a little bit. That offense is atrocious. Like 2018 FSU bad. After being an offensive machine for the better part of a decade.
That's how quickly things can change.
And while I'm not expecting FSU to beat all three of these teams this season -- they might not beat any, who knows? -- I do think the 'Noles can stay on the field with them. And I think they can win a few more battles on the recruiting trail as well.
The state of Florida is a microcosm for the state of the sport as a whole.
Blue-blood programs aren't guaranteed of anything. You can hype up your coach all offseason and then watch him lose at Kentucky for the first time since ""Matlock" and "The Golden Girls" were on the air, and all of the sudden that Darth Vader mask he wore to a press conference last year isn't so funny anymore.
You can start the season ranked in the Top 15 with a transfer QB you're counting on to lead the offense again. Then you get smacked by Alabama and fall into the abyss.
You can also start 0-4 and leave fans wondering if you're going to win more than one game all season. Then, after an impassioned answer at a press conference, and some improved play on both sides of the ball, you win the next two and are staring at a three-game winning streak heading into a Clemson game that doesn't seem nearly as daunting as it once did.
This is college football in 2021.
Florida State is still going to have a disappointing year by Florida State standards. We all understand that. But the rivals aren't exactly basking in glory, either.
And because of their struggles, as well as FSU's improvements, you start to get the sense that maybe that gap between the programs is narrowing considerably.
Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.
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