Florida State is taking a short week into Pittsburgh with the same message it carried out of Boston College: keep the edge, keep the standard, and don’t let one road win change the script.
Interim head coach Rick Stockstill said Monday after practice that the Seminoles are not treating last week’s 31-24 victory like a reason to ease up. It was Florida State’s first road win since November of 2023, but Stockstill made it clear the approach stays steady.
“It doesn’t change to be honest with you. Still demanding the same things, pushing them as hard as we can.”
“Just because you won doesn’t mean you reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to add more to the menu.
We got to get better at what we’re doing. … The message isn’t going to change just because you won a game.
You still have to approach it like a pro.”
Now the Seminoles turn to a Pitt team Stockstill described as a difficult, well-rounded challenge. Florida State visits a Panthers squad that is 6-3 and has been in every game.
“(We are playing) a really good Pittsburgh football team. They’re 6-3.
They’ve been right in every game. It’s going to be a challenge.”
Stockstill pointed to the variety Pitt brings on defense, especially the pressure looks and coverages.
“They’re a very multiple defense. We’re going to see a lot of different blitz schemes. We’re going to see different coverages.”
He also singled out the Panthers’ offense, saying the quarterback situation has not slowed them down.
“They’ve got good personnel offensively. They lost their quarterback earlier in the year.
The guy they got now is really doing a good job. He’s a really good passer.
Playing a young running back that’s really dynamic.”
That physical profile shows up across the roster, in Stockstill’s view.
“They’re big and physical on both sides of the ball. They’re very solid in the kicking game. We’ve got to be ready.”
“You go on the road, you got to pack your toughness. We got to do that again this week.
Get ready for a very physical, tough football game. That’s how we’re approaching it.”
Stockstill also broke down what makes Pitt’s front so disruptive. The key, he said, is the way the Panthers mix up their looks and force offenses into mistakes.
“The big thing that makes them really good schematically is what they do schematically. They twist a lot.
They give you a lot of different looks with their front seven. They’re very multiple in their blitz schemes and their coverages.”
“The different pressures that they give you creates miscommunication a little bit up front, which enables them to get some tackles for loss. They’re very active.
They’re good players. They’ve got good size and length.
We have to do a great job communicating up front.”
Stockstill also revisited what stood out most about the Boston College win: Florida State didn’t blink after falling behind early.
“We were down 10 at the end of the first quarter. We were down 17-7 with eight or nine minutes left in the first half, but we didn’t flinch.
We stayed in there and we stayed poised. We didn’t panic.”
He said the Seminoles finally put together the kind of all-around performance they had been chasing.
“We played complementary football really for the first time in a long time. We made plays in the kicking game, we got turnovers, we got critical stops on defense.
Offensively, we did a really nice job of answering. You scored 31 points.
Winning that game meant a ton to me and the players. … It was special.”
Stockstill added that Deante McCray and Kevin Wynn are both getting closer. “Deante (McCray) is getting closer. … Kevin (Wynn) getting closer.”
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