Florida State left Saturday night’s double-overtime loss to Miami with a lot of frustration, but it also walked away with something else: a path.
At 3-4, the Seminoles still have five games left, and if they can stack four wins from that stretch, they’ll reach bowl eligibility at 7-5. The immediate reward after the 43-35 loss is a bye week, giving Florida State a chance to regroup after a game that was close enough to feel encouraging even in defeat.
The loss did more than drop the Seminoles to 3-4. Florida State is now 0-12 in road games since the start of the 2024 season, and the program is also 10-21 under Mike Norvell since its 13-1 season in 2023.
Still, the schedule offers a route, and it starts to unfold after the break.
Clemson comes to Tallahassee on Oct. 31, and this is not the version of the Tigers that used to sit comfortably among the sport’s elite. Clemson is 4-2, but Dabo Swinney has already used four quarterbacks trying to wake up an offense that has hovered near the bottom of the ACC.
The Tigers have thrown only two touchdown passes, and Tait Reynolds has gotten the most run, putting up 943 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Florida State is 1-4 against Clemson under Norvell, and it hasn’t beaten Clemson in Tallahassee since 2014.
Even so, this looks like a spot where the Seminoles can finally cash in.
Result: Win
A week later, Florida State heads to Boston College on Nov. 7.
The Eagles are built around quarterback Mason McKenzie, who has been their top passer and rusher. He’s piled up 1,706 total yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Boston College is 3-3 after a 27-21 win over Pittsburgh, and it already beat Florida State 28-13 in Tallahassee last season. The Seminoles are 0-2 on the road against Boston College, but this matchup also looks like one they can tilt.
Result: Win
The following Friday, Nov. 13, brings a trip to Pittsburgh. The Panthers are 5-2, but they’re in a rough stretch after back-to-back losses to North Carolina and Boston College.
Quarterback Mason Heintschel is dealing with a right leg injury suffered against Virginia Tech, and before that injury he had thrown 14 touchdown passes and just one interception. Pitt’s defense has been strong, leading the ACC in rushing defense and interceptions, but with the quarterback situation in flux, Florida State could catch the Panthers at exactly the right time.
Result: Win
NC State comes next on Nov. 21, and the Wolfpack have not looked steady for much of the season. They opened with a loss to Virginia, then two weeks later a fumble by quarterback CJ Bailey on an attempted safety helped cost them a win against Vanderbilt. At 3-3, NC State is dealing with injuries and an angry fan base that wants head coach Dave Doeren gone.
Result: Win
The regular season ends on Nov. 27 with Florida coming to town. The No.
20 Gators are 5-2 and have already posted ranked wins over Ole Miss and Texas under first-year head coach Jon Sumrall. Running back Jadan Baugh leads the SEC with 13 rushing touchdowns, and Florida State has won three of the last five meetings in Tallahassee.
Even so, this one is the toughest ask on the slate.
Result: Loss
That leaves Florida State at 7-5 in this projection.
The Seminoles gave Miami everything it wanted, and that should matter. It was their best game of the season, and the confidence coming out of it has to be high. But the offense has also been haunted by questionable play calls over the last two weeks, and four failed downs inside the 5-yard line have become a brutal storyline.
They also took another hit Saturday night with the loss of star running back Ousmane Kromah, who fractured his ankle. With Ashton Daniels and Tre Wisner still available to help carry the running game, Norvell may need to adjust the offense around what’s left.
Florida State has enough on its schedule to make this finish interesting, and enough talent to believe it can turn the last five games into a bowl berth.
In Other News...
Mike Norvell Couldn't Hide His Anger Over How Miami Ended
Florida States overtime loss to Miami left Mike Norvell visibly frustrated with how the final sequence unfolded, and he did not try to soften his reaction afterward. The Seminoles had a touchdown from Micahi Danzy wiped away by a holding call on left tackle Xavier Chaplin, a play that changed the entire feel of the extra period and kept the game hanging in the balance.
Duce Robinson then appeared to make the next big catch for Florida State, only for the pass to be ruled an interception after review and end the game. Norvell blasted the holding flag as an absolute joke and pushed back on the turnover ruling as well, a postgame flashpoint that added another layer of heat to an already bitter ending against Miami. [Read more 🡒]
Alex Steen Can Finally Help Florida State Sooner Than Expected
After spending the offseason in legal limbo, Florida State forward Alex Steen finally has a path back onto the court sooner than expected. A Leon County judge granted him an extra season of eligibility after his challenge to the NCAAs 5-in-5 rule, a ruling that clears up a situation that had kept him in waiting even as he stayed enrolled in classes and continued practicing with the Seminoles.
Now the question shifts from the courtroom to the hardwood, where Steen could make his first game appearance against LSU on Oct. 24. For Florida State, it is a notable boost to a frontcourt that has already had to deal with the uncertainty surrounding his status, and it gives the Seminoles a player they had been able to work with behind the scenes but not yet officially deploy in a game. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Must Rebuild Its Backfield After Ousmane Kromah Update
Florida States backfield took a major hit in the Miami game when Ousmane Kromah went down with a foot and ankle injury that turned out to be far more serious than the initial concern. The injury involved fractured and dislocated bones, and it will require surgery with plates and screws, a development that abruptly changes the Seminoles plans in the run game for the rest of the season.
Kromah had been the teams leading rusher before the injury, making his absence even harder to absorb as Florida State moves into the final stretch of the year. He is expected to miss the remaining five games, and while he was said to be in good spirits before surgery, the Seminoles now have to figure out how to replace both his production and his presence in the offense. [Read more 🡒]