Current thoughts on Noles/Bucs

 

     I'll forgo a winded intro just to say I have a lot of thoughts, some good, some bad, some ugly. We last touched based on these 4 teams in May, when all 4 were officially in the offseason. Fast-forward to now, and FSU has completed half of it's season, the Bucs are 1/3 of the way through, the Lightning have just scratched the surface, and the Magic tip things off in less than 2 weeks. Here's my 2 cents (probably more like a full quarter, but oh well)

Florida State

A complete 180, not in the good way

     Crazy to think that just 3 weeks ago this team was ranked inside the top 10 and had playoff and ACC title aspirations. Mike Norvell's hot seat had seemingly cooled after a two-TD win over Alabama and a beat down of 2 lesser opponents. Castellanos was considered an early Heisman candidate and the new coordinators looked like true game-changing hires.

     Fast-forward to today and the narrative has flipped on its head. For the second straight year, the playoffs and the ACC can be kissed goodbye before the calendar even hits Columbus day. Norvell would likely have been fired by now if not for an unrealistic buy out. The team hasn't won an ACC game in over a year (after winning the whole conference in 2023), and we're once again questioning if a bowl game will even happen this year.

A near decade of disappointment

     Here is a year-by-year list of our final record (bowl and conference championship games included when necessary) every season from Jimbo Fisher's final year (2017) to now:

2017: 7-6

2018: 5-7

2019: 6-7

2020: 3-6 (shortened season for COVID year)

2021: 5-7

2022: 10-3

2023: 13-1

2024: 2-10

2025 so far: 3-3

     This just feels unacceptable. In our college years in the Jimbo Fisher era, Florida State never won less than 10 games. They perennially ranked inside the top 10, were an annual National Title contender, and won the ACC 3 times in that stretch. Before Fisher and before old age caught up with him, the Bobby Bowden era was much of the same: 2 championships, a litany of top 5 finishes, numerous ACC titles, etc. But how the mighty have fallen.

What even is the real problem(s)?

     Short answer is some combination of any of the following: leadership, roster talent, recruiting, injuries, the defense.

     Long answer...where to begin. I guess with on the field? With the exception of the 4th quarter of Miami, the defense has been just horrendous. In the Virginia game they didn't even need to throw, there was a drive where the QB legit hurt his throwing hand and they just ran the ball up the middle the entire drive. Pittsburgh was the opposite problem, the middle of the field was wide-ass open all day long and too many instances of Pitt players catching it in open space and running for 30 or more yards after the catch. They haven't held a team below 28 points since the cupcake games and Miami probably could have scored even more if not for taking their foot off the gas. The tackling has been bad, the coverage has been bad, they're getting dominated in the trenches despite being bigger than teams like Virginia and Pitt.