There’s a long college football season ahead of us, with most teams having played just one game, but Florida State couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. The Noles, who began the season ranked No. 10, are 0-2 with losses to two unranked opponents.
The team has struggled despite the Noles making a big investment in their defensive line this year, spending nearly $2 million on their starting front in what is a NIL team budget of about $12 million, a source familiar with FSU’s NIL strategy said. The Athletics this week.
On Monday night, FSU was blown out 28-13 at home by Boston College. The Eagles ran all over FSU, outgaining them 263 yards to 21.
Meanwhile in 2023, the Noles ran through the ACC, going 13-0 and claiming the conference before being shut out of the Playoff. Since then, however, it’s been a nightmare for FSU.
Georgia defeated a depleted Noles team 63-3, with 20 players opting out of the 2023 Orange Bowl. Florida State coach Mike Norvell dug into the transfer portal again, signing 17 players in hopes of replacing 10 draft picks. Norvell has done a great job mining the portal before, but this year has had terrible results.
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One of the key players for the new-look Seminoles was former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who transferred after FSU failed to land Washington State player Cam Ward, who opted for Miami.
Uiagalelei has gotten off to a shaky start for FSU, with the former five-star recruit throwing just one touchdown and completing 58 percent of his passes for an average of 6.7 yards per attempt. A team that averaged 35 points per game last year has scored just 34 in its first two games.
The most surprising problem, however, is a defense that was battered in both games. Boston College had 10 runs of at least 10 yards against FSU.
The Noles rank 124th in the nation in run defense, allowing 227 yards per game on the ground. FSU was 4th in the nation in sacks in 2023 with 46 and has just three through two games this season. The program did have to replace two top-40 draft picks in Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, but was expected to still be loaded with transfer Darrell Jackson, a 328-pound defensive tackle, brought in along with Georgia transfer defensive end Marvin Jones Jr. to go with Patrick Payton and Joshua Farmer.
FSU’s problems have played out on both sides of the ball. The Seminoles rank last in the ACC among 17 teams in third-down defense, allowing conversions 56 percent of the time. The Noles were No. 2 in the ACC last year, allowing first downs less than 29 percent of the time. On offense, they’re just No. 14 in the ACC in third-down conversions and No. 14 in red zone touchdown percentage.
Norvell’s team has this weekend off to try to iron out some issues before Memphis heads to Tallahassee on September 14.
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