Mike Norvell dismisses idea Florida State was looking ahead toward Clemson

Florida State avoided disaster by beating Boston College 31-29 last week and Mike Norvell insisted the Seminoles did not look ahead to Clemson.

Clemson, while unranked, is not a team to be trifled with on the road as Florida State looks to stay atop the ACC as we near the halfway point of the season. Despite nearly falling down a peg, Norvell’s crew didn’t lose focus by looking at the Week 4 matchup.

Norvell just chalked it up to a rollercoaster game against the Eagles.

“That game we just played was very close to going a couple different ways,” Norvell said after the Boston College win. “And it didn’t, you know, we made some mistakes. There were some things and how we started, I thought the guys responded well there …

“Offensively, we got a great, great start there in the third and so that could have gone a couple different ways. It wasn’t a lack of work. It wasn’t a lack of investment, but you know, we didn’t like the execution and you know, there’s plenty of distractions that are out there, and different distractions will always be there.” 

Norvell could not point to the looming matchup against Clemson directly, but just noted a team always has to fight through distractions each week.

“Okay, if we allow them to distract us, you know, whether it’s a score of being up 21, I mean, because when you go in and it’s a seven point game, and then you jump up 21, the natural instinct is to take a deep breath,” Norvell said. “If you don’t have that edge, if you don’t have that execution, if you allow yourself to perform less than what you’re capable of, that’s real. 

“And, you know, I think this is something that we’ll learn from as a football team. And we’re going to continue to push, we’ll continue to improve and I’ve got a lot of confidence in what this team will do and how they will bounce back from what we just saw.”

So while the team didn’t look ahead, Norvell mentioned Florida State’s sense of urgency this week.

“I believe so,” Norvell said. “It starts in the walk-throughs. It starts in the meeting room. Just your overall approach to what you bring to the day. I think the guys have done that. 

“You can see they’ve got an edge about them, and that’s what I want to see, whether they’re completing with their position, competing against the other side of the ball, ultimately competing against yourself to leave the field better than when you came on it. So, I think our guys have done a nice job and we’ve got to go continue to get better.”