10/24/2022 football Edit

FSU a heavy favorite but knows all too well sting of losses to GT

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

On paper, Saturday’s games presents a chance for Florida State to start its final stretch of the regular season on the right foot.

The Seminoles (4-3, 2-3 ACC) host Georgia Tech (3-4, 2-2) at noon (ACC Network) and will do so as significant favorites. The line opened with FSU favored by 18 points Sunday and has ballooned even further in the Seminoles’ favor since, with them now favored by 23 points at most betting websites.

While the two teams’ records are close, the perceptions of them are not. The Yellow Jackets saw coach Geoff Collins fired just four games into the 2022 season. They head to Tallahassee fresh off a home loss to Virginia, where they managed just nine points and no offensive touchdowns.

Some people outside the program may already be looking past the Yellow Jackets to what lies ahead in the weeks to come. But FSU coach Mike Norvell has too much respect for GT and too much desire to show his team isn’t what it was during its active three-game losing streak to do any such thing.

“I think every time you step on the field is that chance to really put on display this team, their response to the mindset of what we're going to take, to the opportunity that's at hand,” Norvell said. “You sit there and you watch Georgia Tech, they've had their ups and downs. They went through a coaching change. They win the next two games. They've been playing really well on defense, making some very impactful plays. Even though they came up short the other night, I thought their defense played really well. Offensively, they've had some challenges that presented themselves just with different injuries and things that have shown up and some missed opportunities.This is a team that's very capable. You see that. I think they're playing hard. (Interim) Coach (Brent) Key has done a good job of kind of rallying the troops.”

After all, it was GT that ruined Norvell’s FSU debut back at the onset of the 2020 season. The Seminoles were 12.5-point home favorites in that game, but saw a hot start fall apart in a 16-13 loss that would set the tone for Norvell’s 3-6 debut season in Tallahassee.

The Seminoles have gradually improved under Norvell, while that improvement never came for Collins. He was fired early in his fourth season, finishing his GT tenure with a 10-28 record.

While Collins never won consecutive games at GT, his successor, Key, did exactly that in his first two games directing the program.

The Yellow Jackets won 26-21 at Pitt in his first game and then handed Duke its first ACC loss the following week at home. While the offense has struggled, especially lately with former FSU quarterback commit Jeff Sims dealing with an ankle injury, GT’s defense is not to be taken lightly.

The Yellow Jackets have forced 16 turnovers this season – tied for second most in the ACC – and are allowing 6.5 yards per passing attempt, tied for sixth in the conference.

“When you turn on film, you see ability, you see talent, you see potential. Those are things that you know are there…” Norvell said. “Ultimately, this is a team that does have talent. They have beaten people. They do have experience on their football team. You look, both sides of the ball have shown that they're very capable.”

Added FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, “Tech does a good job of adjusting its defense to personnel. What he does a good job of is identifying his good players and putting them in the best position possible. They are big inside so he wants to utilize that. They can run on the edges. The corners are playing really well. So it is all about him finding what his guys do best and coaching their ability. That is why I think they do a good job on defense.”

Perhaps the spread is as big as it is because there are questions about Sims’ health. He returned from an ankle injury vs. Virginia, but apparently re-aggravated the injury early in that game and did not return.

Since Sims claimed the starting job as a true freshman, he’s been a major spark for the Yellow Jackets. If he’s not able to play, GT’s offense could be very listless if Zach Gibson’s performance vs. UVA is any indication of what is to come. In two games this season, Gibson is 11 for 27 (40.7 percent) for 104 yards (3.9 yards per pass attempt) with no touchdowns or interceptions.

“Their starting quarterback, No. 10, has been a good player for them and he’s created a lot of offense for them throughout the year and he’s gone down in back-to-back games,” FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “So whether he plays or not, I’m not quite sure. But like always, you always try to play for the starter and the backup, it’ll be no different. It’s just part of the evaluation when you’re getting ready for teams that have injuries, especially at quarterback. It’s all part of the evaluation of how you get ready.”

Norvell liked how his team approached last week’s bye. He also liked how it returned to practice and hit the ground running Sunday evening. Now he hopes it will be put into action over the next few days leading up to Saturday’s game.

Because while he tends to focus on his own team instead of the opposition, Norvell didn’t entirely downplay the chance to start this final five-game stretch out right against the Yellow Jackets.

“This week is still about us. It's about our improvement in all areas, but just specifically to those critical situations, the importance of the detail, the importance of the discipline, the importance of being able to execute with our fundamentals in those critical situations. That's what we need to see,” Norvell said. “I think our guys understand that, they embrace that. Yes, this week will be an opportunity for us to go out there and push to show our best to be able to make a statement of that's who we are and that's what we desire to do in our continued improvement.”