Week 4 shook up the ACC picture, and Florida State is one of the teams inching forward even without a spotless performance to point at. The Seminoles beat Central Arkansas to move to 2-2, but the bigger story across the league is how many teams around them stumbled, slipped, or flat-out exposed themselves.
Florida State’s win was not clean. Ashton Daniels and the offensive line had rough stretches, and the offense stalled too often for comfort.
The defense had its moments, but a 34-point outing against an FCS opponent is hardly the kind of statement Mike Norvell needed after putting up 36 against Alabama. Even so, the Seminoles climbed from 16th to 13th in the updated ACC power rankings, helped by the fact that several teams behind and around them have been even shakier.
That includes Georgia Tech, which fell all the way to the bottom after its collapse against Stanford. The Yellow Jackets led by 10 before letting the previous worst team in the ACC rally for a win, and their 2026 season keeps sliding in the wrong direction.
Syracuse is only a step above them, with Steve Angeli’s numbers telling the story: four touchdowns, five interceptions, and eight sacks through three games. The defense has kept things from completely falling apart, but not by much.
NC State sits next at 15th, still with plenty to clean up and not nearly enough discipline on defense. Boston College is 14th, and the Eagles’ defense has shown it can hold up, but the offense has been a dead end.
Mason McKenzie leads the team in passing and rushing, yet five interceptions and nine sacks have dragged the attack to a crawl. Even a modest boost there would change the conversation quickly.
Stanford made one of the week’s biggest jumps after beating Georgia Tech, moving from 17th to 12th. The Cardinal showed some real fight, but the question now is whether that offensive showing can be repeated. North Carolina, meanwhile, used a week off to reset after staff drama, a loss to Clemson, and growing injury issues.
Cal tumbled after another uneven stretch from Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. His season has split sharply depending on the result: two touchdowns and four interceptions in losses, five touchdowns in wins.
Virginia also slid after losing to West Virginia, and now the Cavaliers have to prove they belong in the upper tier after looking like a real threat early. Florida State is part of that test, with a matchup that could swing the direction of both seasons.
Wake Forest and Louisville made one of the more telling shifts in the league. The Demon Deacons rose after their upset of Louisville, and they are now 7th.
Louisville dropped to 6th after Lincoln Kienholz came back to earth with an interception and four sacks. The sack numbers have been a pattern too: the Cardinals have allowed seven sacks in losses and none in wins.
Above them, Clemson moved to 5th. The loss still wasn’t pretty, but LSU’s recent run against multiple strong teams has made that result look a little less damaging.
Virginia Tech held at 4th, with James Franklin’s one-year turnaround looking smooth so far, though the looming Pitt matchup could say a lot about where the Hokies are headed. Pitt stayed at 3rd after another strong offensive showing, though 37 points against power conference opponents raises a question despite two 50-point games already.
Duke sits at 2nd and continues to look like a legitimate threat to Miami.
And Miami remains where it was. Until someone beats the Hurricanes, they stay alone at the top.
In Other News...
Mike Locksley Is Suddenly In A Conversation Maryland Fans Dread
Week 4 turned up the heat across college football, and Mike Norvell found himself part of a wider conversation about coaches under pressure after another rough weekend. Florida States season has already shifted the tone around the program, and when losses pile up this early, every next game starts to carry a little more weight for a coach trying to steady things before the schedule tightens further.
Norvell is hardly the only name in that mix, with Marylands Mike Locksley, South Carolinas Shane Beamer, Colorados Deion Sanders and others all getting pulled into the same uncomfortable chatter about job security and buyout math. For Florida State, the stakes are less about the national noise and more about what comes next, because every result from here on out will be measured not just as a loss or a win, but as part of a larger answer to where this season is headed. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Still Has An ACC Path But One Problem Looms
Florida States season has already reached the point where every ACC week feels like a referendum on the bigger picture. After a 2-2 start and an 0-1 mark in league play, the Seminoles are still staring at a workable path through their remaining seven conference games, with the goal of putting themselves in position for the 2026 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.
The encouraging part is that the ingredients for a turnaround are at least visible. Ousmane Kromah has to keep giving the offense traction on the ground, Ashton Daniels needs to settle into a steadier rhythm at quarterback, and the pass rush has shown signs of getting better even if the sack numbers have not fully caught up yet. The larger question is whether Florida State can turn those separate pieces into something dependable before the league schedule tightens the pressure even more. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Faces A Pivotal Mike Norvell Decision Starting With Virginia
Florida States season has reached the point where every Saturday feels like part of a bigger conversation about the future, and Mike Norvell is right in the middle of it. The Seminoles are trying to get themselves into position for a seven-win finish, a number that has become a meaningful benchmark in the thinking around whether Norvell could stay on if the team gets there, while the program also weighs the financial implications of a change.
Virginia is the next chance to keep that path alive, and it comes at a time when Florida State is still sorting through the broader leadership picture with a new athletic director search underway. Between the buyout savings tied to any decision and the uncertainty at the top of the department, this is more than just another conference game for the Seminoles - it has become a pivotal checkpoint in how the rest of the season might be judged. [Read more 🡒]