There was something fitting about the first victory of the Mike Norvell era.

Nothing has come easy for the Florida State football team since Norvell took over the program last December, so why shoud anything have been different now?

On a night when the Seminoles had to shuffle their offensive line seemingly every other series, when they again had to play without a slew of key players and they trailed Jacksonville State by 14 points twice in the first half, the 'Noles rallied for a 41-24 victory that required much more determination and perseverance than the final score might indicate.

"I was really proud for our guys," Norvell said. "It was great to be in the locker room with them after the game. You could see the joy. You could see the excitement of winning a game. And it's been a challenge for these guys. They've been through a lot."

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Like all college football programs, adversity struck FSU in March in the form of a shutdown due to the coronavirus. That challenge was compounded for the Seminoles, who were just beginning to learn new offensive and defensive schemes under a first-year coaching staff.

Then once the 2020 season started, the 'Noles suffered a pair of humbling defeats. First, they blew a 10-point second-half lead and fell at home to Georgia Tech as double-digit favorites. Then they got obliterated by rival Miami last Saturday, 52-10.

FSU also was tasked with playing that Miami game without Norvell on the sideline after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Nobody was feeling good about their selves early this week," Norvell said. "There's a lot of challenges we've had to overcome. There were some guys who were not available tonight for a varety of different reasons. And other guys had to step up."

Indeed, a pair of starting offensive linemen -- center Maurice Smith and guard Dontae Lucas -- did not play the first half for what appeared to be disciplinary reasons. Both seemed perfectly healthy during warmups, and Smith ended up playing the second half while Lucas sat the entire game.

That forced the Seminoles to move guard Baveon Johnson back to center, start reserve center Andrew Boselli at guard, move tackle Devontay Love-Taylor from right tackle to guard and start freshman Robert Scott at right tackle. That lineup would then be shuffled numerous times throughout the game due to injuries.

Star safety Hamsah Nasirildeen still has yet to play after rehabilitating from knee surgery late last season, and the Seminoles were without both of their starting defensive tackles in the early going. Senior Marvin Wilson missed the first half due to a targeting penalty in the second half last weeek, and junior Robert Cooper was out after sustaining a hand or arm injury at Miami.

On top of that, the Seminoles have been dealing with what Norvell described as a "banged-up quarterback room," so he decided to give freshman Tate Rodemaker the first start of his career. And it didn't go particularly well, as the Valdosta, Ga., product threw a pick-six on his second pass and failed to march more than 30 yards on any of his four possessions.

By the time he was benched after the first quarter, the Seminoles were trailing 14-0.

"It wasn't pretty at some points tonight," Norvell said, "but it might have been exactly what we needed. We needed to be able to respond to adversity. We needed to be able to go out there and sustain success throughout those moments, and be able to feed off of each other."

Responding to adversity has been one of Norvell's key talking points since arriving in Tallahassee.

When he watched the Seminoles' losses from last season on film, he saw a team that frequently faltered once things started going poorly. And he saw that on display first-hand during the first two games of this season.

The first-year head coach, who led Memphis to the best season in school history last fall, said he challenged the Seminoles this week in practice to rise up the next time adversity struck. He told them it could be their "defining moment" as a team.

"When you're in that moment of adversity, your true character is going to show itself," Norvell said. "We talked all week about our response and maximizing opportunities. ... Tonight, when we're down 21-7, we had that opportunity. It didn't go like we necessarily wanted it to go early at the beginning, but it might just have went like we needed it to."

Some things did go Florida State's way on Saturday.

Junior defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, who was knocked out of the season opener with a knee injury that also forced him to miss the Miami contest, started and played the entire Jacksonville State game without issue. He recorded three tackles, including 1.5 for loss.

Sophomore quarterback Jordan Travis, who was sidelined with a minor knee injury during the Miami game and missed most of this week of practice, told the coaches he felt good enough to play during pregame warmups, and that would prove to be a godsend. Travis relieved Rodemaker in the second quarter and led the Seminoles to touchdowns on six of the next seven possessions.

Almost in an instant, a 14-point deficit was transformed into a 17-point victory.

"It just showed me that we have some fight, we have some pride," Kaindoh said. "And I think that can take us a long way."

After an exhausting first few weeks of the 2020 season, Norvell was moved by the "tremendous joy" he saw in the Seminoles' postgame locker room.

He saw a team that not only broke a four-game losing streak dating back to last season, but a group of players who finally found a way to battle through adversity and find success on the other side.

"I loved seeing their smile," Norvell said.

"It's a tremendous feeling," added junior cornerback Asante Samuel, who ended Jacksonville State's final big threat with a fourth-quarter interception. "We haven't won since the Alabama State game."

That would be correct. Before Saturday, FSU's most recent victory came last November against Alabama State, another FCS opponent.

So as sweet as this victory might have tasted given the circumstances, the Seminoles are well aware it won't mean much when they travel to Notre Dame this coming Saturday.

"It felt good, but not good enough," said senior offensive lineman Devontay Love-Taylor, who played both tackle positions and some guard on Saturday. "We want to get more. We can't be satisfied with just one win. We enjoyed it in the locker room, but now we've got to go on to our next opponent."

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