Mike Norvell assesses play of Brock Glenn and FSU offense in first half of ACC Championship Game

It was one of the lowest scoring halves in ACC Championship Game history on Saturday night. Florida State led Louisville 3-0 at halftime. The Seminoles have had to roll out their third string quarterback, Brock Glenn. Both offenses struggled to get anything going and they’ve only managed to combine for 149 yards in the first half. Heading into the locker room, FSU head coach Mike Norvell spoke with Katie George and assessed the play of his third string quarterback in the first half.

“Well, obviously, we need to be able to get into a rhythm. We’ve missed a couple of opportunities. He’s doing a good job. We’re holding the football. Just gotta put together some drives and finish in the end zone,” Norvell said.

As the offense works out the kinks, how pivotal has the play of his defense been so far? “Well, they’re doing a great job and really keeping Louisville off balance. And I think they’re being very impactful stopping the run and negating things in the passing game. But we’ve got 30 more minutes to go. We’ve got to continue to get better,” Norvell said on Saturday night.

Mike Norvell and FSU claim 2023 ACC Championship

As a program, Florida State expects to compete for championships. Both at the conference and national level, the Seminoles were able to accomplish a goal on Saturday night. Mike Norvell has worked hard to get his squad back to this level and all of it paid off, taking down Louisville in the ACC Championship.

There was certainly some adversity to overcome, dating back to a few weeks ago. Jordan Travis went down with a season-ending injury, throwing backup Tate Rodemaker into the fold. But he went down with a concussion in the rivalry game against Florida — leaving Brock Glenn as the option.

While the offense was not pretty, Glenn was able to get the job done. He completed just eight of 21 pass attempts, throwing for 55 yards. Arguably most importantly, Glenn did not throw an interception and did not put Florida State’s defense in a tough position.

Defense — on both sides — was where the money was made. Florida State held Louisville to under 200 yards on offense — 188 yards, to be exact. Veteran quarterback Jack Plummer never got anything going and missed open throws all night. Pure domination from the FSU defensive line as well, limiting the Cardinals to 77 yards.

Back to the big picture, Florida State had not won an ACC Championship since 2014 when Jimbo Fisher was running the program. Between now and then, the Seminoles had four losing seasons.

While everyone might be thinking about tomorrow afternoon around noon, Saturday night is still a special moment.

All eyes turn to Florida State, College Football Playoff

With Florida State officially being crowd ACC champions, all attention turns to their potential involvement in the College Football Playoff. History has proven a 13-0 Power Five conference champion is getting in, no matter what but the situation is a little different this go-round.

Norvell had to play his third-string quarterback against Louisville, with Rodemaker not playing due to a concussion. Glenn was thrown into the equation and the Florida State offense struggled. The argument going against the Seminoles will now be that they are not one of the four best teams.

There will be a strong campaign out of Tuscaloosa for Alabama to be the final team in the CFP. Nick Saban certainly has his team playing great football at the right time, taking down No. 1 Georgia on Saturday in the SEC Championship.

A decision is ahead of the College Football Playoff committee, with both Alabama and Florida State feeling like they have a case to get in.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this article.