EL PASO, Texas -- A Florida State win here Tuesday would have been important for a lot of reasons.
It would have given the Seminoles a winning record for 2019, it would have added to the positive momentum that has been generated since Mike Norvell's hiring less than a month ago, and it would have provided Odell Haggins with a victory in what could be his final game as an interim head coach. (We have to say "could be" because we know who FSU's administration will call if they find themselves in a period of transition like this again.)
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But would it have had a tangible impact on FSU's 2020 campaign? Would it have given us greater confidence that the Seminoles are going to notch a win this fall against Clemson or Florida? Or even West Virginia or Boise State?
Probably not.
As I reflected Tuesday afternoon on the significance of FSU's 20-14 Sun Bowl loss to Arizona State, the closest analogy I could come up with was the feeling a student has when he takes a final exam in college with the knowledge that no matter what happens, his grade for the semester is still going to be the same.
It would be nice to pass that exam. It would be great to get an A on it. But if it's not going to have a real bearing on the overall result for the class, then there's only so much energy that should be devoted if the exam grade comes back lower than desired.
That's kind of how I viewed this Sun Bowl.
Florida State fans have every right to be frustrated about that performance. The five turnovers by quarterback James Blackman. The offense getting shut out in the first half despite having two golden opportunities to score. Suffering seven losses for a second consecutive season.
But at the same time, we remember that so many aspects of the Florida State football program are about to change that it doesn't really make sense to dwell on what went wrong in El Paso.
After flying home following Tuesday's game, FSU's players will get a few days off before reconvening on Sunday. At that point, Haggins will go back to being a defensive line coach and Norvell will formally take over the Seminoles' head coaching duties. He will have his entire coaching staff in place, and he will on that day begin setting a new course for Florida State football.
From what we can gather, two of the primary changes the Seminoles' players will notice rather quickly will be how hard they are pushed in the strength and conditioning program, and how much more of a focus there will be on discipline.
Norvell hinted as much when he was speaking to reporters during the early signing period in December.
"I tell every kid that's a part of this class, this is about to be one of the hardest things they ever do," Norvell said. "To be a part of this program, we are going to challenge them in every aspect. We're going to challenge them on the field, we're going to challenge them off the field. You truly have to have a purpose and passion to be successful in every area of your life, or it's going to be tough for you to succeed here."
How quickly Florida State's players buy into that approach likely will determine how quickly this program starts to emerge from the mediocrity that has enveloped every aspect of it over the past three seasons. FSU has an overall record of 18-20 over the past three seasons, and that doesn't happen by accident.
