Mike Norvell praises Florida State defense for near-shutout

Florida State‘s defense was impressive in their win this weekend against Miami, holding the Hurricanes to just a field goal in their 45-3 win. Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell bragged on his defense following their win, starting with their ability to get off of the field on Saturday.

“It was awesome, and our guys they’ve worked really hard and we talked about wanting to create three and outs today tonight,” Norvell said. “We wanted to get the ball back for the offense as many times as we could, I think we might’ve ended with seven or eight on the night.”

The Seminoles also got their hands on the ball on various occasions against the Hurricanes, forcing two interceptions and recovering two fumbles, an area that Norvell has been looking to see improvement in all season.

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“We were able to create takeaways, that’s something we’ve really been harping and working on throughout the last three or four weeks, and really for a season that we’ve been working on it. We hit a little dry spell, and then to see that show up in the moment tonight, guys were playing fast, they were playing physical, and they just continued to respond,” Norvell said.

Florida State even held the Hurricanes out of the end zone when they were on their own one-yard line, forcing a five-yard tackle for loss followed by a fumble recovery after a bad snap as everything seemed to go the Seminoles way.

“Even when they were back on the goal line and having to make a play, they got another stop and then obviously they had the snap and great pursuit, great effort, we got the ball and ended the drive,” Norvell said.

The Seminoles ended the game holding Miami to under 200 yards of total offense, allowing just 126 yards on the ground and a whopping 62 yards passing. Norvell attributed their play to a combined effort between defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, his staff, and his players, as they look to ride this momentum into their next matchup on the road against Syracuse.

“All those things matter and just really pleased, I thought coach Fuller, our defensive staff, did an extraordinary job. Our players were the ones that went out there and they took hold to it, and they made sure that they did the things necessary to keep them to whatever it was,” Norvell said.