Florida State has gotten off to a tremendous start this season as the Seminoles have surged up the rankings, claiming a top 10 spot in this week’s AP poll. It’s a start many of us hoped for, but few probably expected, at least to the magnitude we’ve seen. FSU opened the season by thrashing a top-10 Alabama team 31-17. They followed it up with a 74-point beatdown of East Texas A&M.
If we remove preseason bias from the polls, FSU’s resume matches up almost identically to that of top-ranked Ohio State. Therefore, in my opinion, FSU should be ranked No. 2. Either way, they will have their chance to earn their way into the top 5 in due time, but the point remains: this team has looked like one of the best in the country through two weeks of the season.
With so much unknown coming into this season, and now having seen FSU play two games, the bye week felt like a good time to reevaluate what this team could be in 2025. FSU looks like a completely different team than we saw last year, which is what we hoped for, being that it was essentially a different team with the new staff and a host of new starters. This team plays fast, physical, and with an edge. They look well-coached and have leadership that was missing last season.
Another aspect that has stood out is their mindset. Even after the big win over Bama, most of what we heard was that it was just one game, and we can get better. Listening to DC Tony White and OL coach Herb Hand, you’d have thought FSU lost by 30 in week one.
Seeing how they handled the big win and the way they did not play down to the competition against the FCS school last week, I don’t think this team is going to lose focus or let off the gas. My two big questions for this team, if they hope to achieve what now appears to be lofty goals this season, are whether they can play at that level every week and stay healthy.
Question 1) Can FSU stay healthy?
Florida State has shown that it has weapons on both sides of the ball. They have also shown that they have better depth at certain positions than expected with the emergence of guys like the Desir twins. However, we’ve already seen the injury bug creep in and bite several guys. Thankfully, none have been serious so far, but FSU will need all hands on deck if they hope to make a run. FSU will also need to stay healthy at a few key positions, like quarterback and offensive line.
With games against East Texas A&M, Kent State, and a bye week stuffed in between, now feels like a good time to limit guys to protect them for later in the season, which is likely what FSU is doing. But it will be key for them to return before FSU hits the road in two weeks to open conference play at Virginia.
Question 2) Can FSU play at this level every week?
FSU came out like their hair was on fire versus Alabama. The crowd was juiced, and the team fed off that energy. After that game, we said that if FSU can play like that every week, there isn’t a team on this schedule that they can’t beat. But it’s not hard to get hyped up for a big game like Alabama. We wondered if they would bring that same fight against the FCS school in a sleepy noon game the following week, and they did just that. FSU once again came out swinging and buried the Lions by halftime.
FSU still has a lot of football left to play. Can they sustain this level of play for the next 10 games? Can they bring their own energy when they hit the road and don’t have the home crowd? Can they respond when adversity strikes and things aren’t going as well as they have in the first 2 weeks? If the answer is yes, this will be a dangerous team.
Now that we have seen FSU play two games and know what they are capable of, it begs the question: What should we expect from this team in 2025? What’s funny is that the same 8-4 record we hoped for in the preseason would now feel like a disappointment. This becomes especially true when you look at the rest of the teams on the schedule. Two of the toughest teams on the schedule, Clemson and Florida, have gotten off to underwhelming starts. Right now, Miami looks like the biggest challenge remaining, and thankfully, you get them at home.
Through the first two weeks of the season, FSU has looked better than just about every team on its schedule and like one of the top teams in the ACC. It’s hard to run the table over the course of a long season, so I’m not expecting FSU to go undefeated. However, I think 10-2 to 11-1 feels perfectly reasonable if they avoid any major injuries.
FSU controls its own destiny in the ACC picture. If they beat Clemson and Miami, they will undoubtedly put themselves in the driver’s seat for a trip to Charlotte and a chance to seal an AQ bid into the playoffs. At worst, they need to split the two games and avoid any letdowns along the way. Lose both, and you may need some help. A trip to the ACCCG is always priority number one, and now with the AQ bid, it gives you the chance to play your way into the postseason, no matter what the committee or anyone else thinks.
It feels crazy to be talking about trips to Charlotte or even the playoffs for a team that won two games last year, but with how they opened the season, everything is on the table for this team. Of course, we’re going to take it one game at a time, but after seeing FSU play, it’s fair to reset the expectation, and thankfully, they are back in line with what we expect at a place like Florida State.
I don’t know how the rest of the season will play out, but it’s fun to be relevant again. It’s fun to watch a good brand of football again. And it’s nice to expect this team to compete for something special again. It all starts with taking care of Kent State next Saturday at 3:30 PM ET inside Doak Campbell Stadium. Thanks for reading, and Go Noles!
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