Florida State’s third game at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2026 now has a kickoff time and TV window.
The Seminoles will host Central Arkansas on Saturday, September 26, with the ACC announcing Monday that the game is set for 3:00 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
It will be the first meeting ever between Florida State and the Bears.
Central Arkansas enters the matchup at 2-1 after rebounding from a Week 1 blowout loss to West Florida with a 59-20 win over Central Oklahoma this past Saturday. The Bears are an FCS program led by ninth-year head coach Nathan Brown.
There’s also a direct connection between the schools through FSU head coach Mike Norvell. Before becoming one of the top coaches in the country, Norvell starred at Central Arkansas as a receiver, where he set the school record with 213 career receptions and finished second all-time with 2,611 receiving yards. He also scored 15 touchdowns.
Norvell’s numbers still place him inside the school’s top 10 more than two decades after his playing career ended. During his four years with the Bears, he helped the program to 33 wins, then started his coaching path there as a graduate assistant.
Central Arkansas honored him with a Hall of Fame induction in 2015. Since then, Norvell and his wife Maria have remained connected to the program, including support for the Mike & Maria Nutrition Center that opened in 2016 and serves healthy meals, snacks, and drinks to all varsity athletes.
Before heading to Tallahassee, Central Arkansas will play at Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, September 19. That game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
In Other News...
FSUs Linebacker Depth Just Became A Serious Alabama Concern
Florida States linebacker room took a hit at a bad time, with the Seminoles announcing that freshmen Izayia Williams and Daylen Green will miss the rest of the season because of injuries. The loss of both newcomers, combined with veteran Blake Nichelson being sidelined indefinitely, leaves the position thinner just as Florida State turns its attention to Alabama and the kind of physical matchup that can expose any cracks in the two-deep.
For a defense that will need steady communication and reliable tackling, the burden now shifts to the remaining veteran linebackers to set the tone and keep things organized. It also opens the door for younger players to see more meaningful snaps sooner than expected, which makes the next stretch of practice and preparation especially important as the Seminoles try to sort out who can help them hold up in the middle of the field. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Heads To Alabama With One Big Reason For Hope
Florida State heads into a bye week carrying a little bit of everything from its first two games, which is often the most honest kind of early-season snapshot. The Seminoles have shown up in some of the national efficiency rankings on both sides of the ball, with the offense and defense each flashing in different areas, but not in a way that has yet produced the kind of momentum this program wants after an ACC-opening loss.
Now comes the trip to No. 10 Alabama, and that is the kind of stage that can either sharpen a team or expose it. The numbers have been mixed enough to leave room for concern, but also just encouraging enough to suggest Florida State is not walking into this one empty-handed, which is why the bye week feels especially important before the Seminoles try to turn those early trends into something more meaningful. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Enters A Stretch That Could Heat Up Dave Doeren Fast
NC States season has reached the kind of checkpoint that can change the tone around a coach in a hurry, and Florida State fans know how quickly that conversation can turn once a program starts stacking frustrating results. The Wolfpack have been part of a broader college football picture that has coaches across the country feeling the heat, with recent performances and the next few weeks carrying real weight for staffs trying to steady the ship.
For Seminoles followers, the relevance is obvious because Florida State has lived through its own long stretch of scrutiny around Mike Norvell, with the schools struggles and the financial reality of a hefty buyout keeping the pressure on every week. When other programs enter a run like NC States, the ripple effect is easy to see: patience gets thinner, expectations sharpen, and every game can start to look like a referendum on where a program is headed. [Read more 🡒]