After a bye week to recover a bit and return to basics, the Florida State football team gets its third shot at its first win of the 2024 season Saturday afternoon.
The Seminoles (0-2, 0-2 in ACC) host the Memphis Tigers (2-0) at Doak Campbell Stadium (Noon on ESPN) in a clash of FSU head coach Mike Norvell against the program that gave him his first head coaching opportunity. Over four seasons at Memphis, Norvell went 38-16 (.704) over four seasons as the Tigers' head coach from 2016 through 2019. Now, he hopes to snap a three-game losing streak against his former team after FSU won 19 straight games across the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Memphis arrives in Tallahassee as the No. 25 team in this week's USA Today Coaches poll and three spots removed from the top 25 of the AP poll. The Tigers beat FCS North Alabama 40-0 in their opener and then beat Troy 38-17 last week entering this opportunity to send a statement against their former head coach. Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield was an assistant during Norvell's Memphis tenure.
FSU leads the all-time series against Memphis 10-7-1 and has won the last four games against the Tigers. But Saturday's game will be the first game between the two programs since 1990. FSU is favored by 6.5 points over the visiting Tigers.
FSU, meanwhile, has had 12 days since its last game after getting the first of three bye weeks this season last week. Norvell is 9-2 (.818) in his head coaching career coming off an in-season open date. Including season openers, non-Saturday games and bowl games, his teams are 27-11 (.711) with more than seven days to prepare for a game.
The only change to FSU's depth chart this week was the removal of Indiana running back transfer Jaylin Lucas, who suffered a season-ending injury in FSU's loss to Boston College Sept. 2. However, it will be interesting to monitor if there are any changes to the starting lineup during pregame warmups and once the game gets underway.
At least one good bit of news for the Seminoles is that sophomore wide receiver Hykeem Williams, a former five-star recruit, is expected to make his season debut Saturday after missing the Georgia Tech and Boston College losses. Williams had 80 yards and a touchdown as a true freshman in 2023 and should bring a dynamic athleticism and big-play ability to the Seminoles' offense.
Once the press box opens at 10 a.m., we'll have updates in our live updates game thread on the Osceola Village before and during the Seminoles' clash against the Tigers.
FSU fans seeking improvements to gameday experience will see it Saturday
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