Mike Norvell addresses how playing on Sunday impacts preparation

Few fans will have to wait as long to see their teams take the field as Florida State‘s and LSU‘s, with the two programs playing Sunday on opening weekend.

But the delayed season opener will afford both programs the opportunity to cross their Ts and dot their Is before finally taking the field in Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

“For us, everybody gets 25 practices, so it’s not like we’re gaining any advantage,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “We’ve structured it a little bit different, to take this game we can extend it a day from what normally would have been the case in a normal week. That allows tomorrow to be a little bit more of a mental day for us. We’ll have our Wednesday and then be able to roll through the end of the week of how we normally get to game prep.”

Of course, FSU players in particular might have their minds in other places as Hurricane Idalia strikes the west coast of Florida in the Big Bend area. The damage is likely to be devastating, and Florida State has a couple players in the storm’s path.

Once the storm has cleared, though, it’ll be time to gear up and get to action by playing on Sunday.

Norvell is happy with the way the schedule played out.

“I like how it kind of unfolds,” he said. “It’s ironic that it’s the same structure as last year because we played the game and then the game being on a Sunday we had that same structure going into the LSU game.”

FSU using LSU game as a measuring stick

By playing on Sunday against a quality opponent, FSU might learn more about itself in the opening week of the season than most teams.

The preseason top-10 matchup should be an elite one, pitting a pair of returning quarterbacks that can hurt you both on the ground and through the air against each other. Last year’s game was a dandy, ending on some late drama as LSU missed a vital extra point attempt.

Expect this year’s game to be equally telling.

“You think about it the whole season. Everybody’s been talking about what we’re able to do, what we’re capable of doing,” FSU pass-rusher Jared Verse told On3’s Andy Staples. “A lot of people are expecting us to go all the way, to go the distance — but our main focus has always been, ‘What can we do?’ Now, we finally have a chance to showcase it.

“LSU is a very good team. They were one of the top teams in the SEC last year. They want to come back and get us for what happened last year. We want to prove that they got better, but we got better, too. It’s a big game in all factors, but what I’m excited about is just to see how much I’ve grown as a player.”

Florida State and LSU will meet on Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game that will be broadcast on ABC.