Will Seminoles be able to sustain success this time after UNC upset?

The circumstances were strikingly similar.

In mid-October of 2020, the Florida State football team was off to a poor start to its season and looking for its second win against a heavily favored North Carolina team. After pulling off the stunning upset, FSU's players doused head coach Mike Norvell with Powerade during an on-field celebration.

This past Saturday, after a poor start to the 2021 season, the FSU football team again was searching for its second win of the year in mid-October -- again while facing a heavily favored North Carolina team. And after pulling off another upset of the Tar Heels, Norvell again was doused with Powerade in the postgame celebration.

But that, Norvell and his players hope, is where the similarities end.

Don't miss out on any of our great FSU Football coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial!

As euphoric as the Seminoles were after last year's upset win, those good feelings soon vanished as they were pummeled one week later at Louisville, 48-16, in the first of three straight convincing losses.

"I was a lot happier after this one than I was really a year ago," Norvell said on Monday, when asked to compare the two performances. "This was a clean game."

And that is why the Seminoles' second-year head coach is confident this victory will be a sign of better things to come.

In the 2020 upset, FSU capitalized on some huge individual plays on defense and special teams that can't necessarily be duplicated from week to week.

The Seminoles' first score in that game was set up by a blocked punt -- the first of two in the game. They pushed their lead to 24-0 later in the first half on a pick-six by defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, and they would end up taking a 31-7 lead into halftime.

It was a remarkable first 30 minutes, but it was offset by being shut out in the second half.

And when the final seconds ticked off the Doak Campbell Stadium scoreboard, and FSU had held on for a 31-28 victory, it felt more like the Tar Heels had run out of time than it did the Seminoles had closed the door.

"We didn't play a real clean game, especially there in the second half," Norvell said after that game.

In that respect, this one appeared to be different. Instead of winning with energy and dynamic individual plays, this one was more based on execution in all three phases.

Florida State was much more efficient offensively this time around, and the Seminoles also won the turnover battle. They controlled the tempo of the game in the final three quarters, and they salted away the victory on their final drive -- instead of holding on for dear life.

Norvell pointed out that FSU didn't even jump out to an early lead this time around; North Carolina actually led 10-0 late in the first quarter. And when the Tar Heels made a surge early in the third quarter, the Seminoles stormed right back and essentially put the game away.

"Being able to truly win the game by doing the things that were necessary," Norvell said, "I was really pleased with our team."

Barring an astonishing setback on Oct. 23 when UMass comes to town, the Seminoles should be able to extend their win streak to three games. But Norvell, his coaches and players are hoping to do more than that.

Remaining games against Clemson, N.C. State, Miami, Boston College and Florida don't appear quite as daunting as they once did.

The Tigers are 3-2 and struggling mightily on offense. The Wolfpack are 4-1 but needed a last-second interception in the end zone last time out to preserve a victory against Louisiana Tech.

The Hurricanes are 2-3 and just learned that quarterback D'Eriq King is lost for the season. The Eagles are 4-1 but lost their star QB, Phil Jurkovec, for the season a few weeks ago. And the Gators are 4-2 but not feeling great about themselves after losing at Kentucky earlier this month.

If the Seminoles could win any of those games, it would be a very positive sign for the future.

But Norvell isn't thinking about that right now, of course.

He said the Seminoles' focus during their open week will be primarily on fundamentals while letting bodies heal during less-physical practices. Then they will look to build on the successes of the past two weeks and prove that this North Carolina upset was not a flash in the pan.

"I'm just proud of our team," Norvell said. "I think we're getting better. It's a continued work in progress. We definitely have a lot of things we have to continue to improve on. ... We can be a lot better. And we need to be a lot better. That's why we go back to work."

----------------------------------------------------

Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council