Florida State 2023 Preview: Seminoles 'saying the right things' ahead of attempt to take next steps

Clemson was voted to win the ACC by the media during the preseason but one team is closely lurking behind. Florida State is viewed as the favorite to dethrone Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. Expectations might be higher than just a conference championship as well, with there being some College Football Playoff around the Seminoles.

Roddy Jones of the ACC Network is pumping the breaks a bit, though. He told On3’s Andy Staples he needs to see Florida State perform before he believes in them. While head coach Mike Norvell and the FSU players might be saying the right thing, results need to be produced on the field.

“They are saying the right things,” Jones said during Tuesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “They really are.

“I’ve got to see it to believe it right now. For a couple of reasons. One — they lost the three games that they played against the three best teams a year ago. They lost to Clemson, they lost to NC State, and they lost to Wake Forest. Some of that was very self-inflicted.”

The example Jones used was the NC State loss when Devin Leary left the game in the third quarter. Even so, Florida State could not muster up a single point in the fourth quarter and wound up losing 19-17. Jones wants to see Jordan Travis be able to step up in a big — and winnable — situation on the road against a ranked opponent.

Lucky for Travis, he will have two opportunities in the month of September. The season opener in Orlando against LSU will be a top-10 matchup, while Clemson on Sept. 23 could say the same. Walking away from both games with wins would be surprising for Jones.

“They are going to be expected to win every game other than Clemson and LSU,” Jones said. “We will judge them by Clemson and LSU. But those are two games that they are, quite honestly, punching above their weight. Clemson and LSU are more talented football teams…

“Can you get over the stage, the expectations, and then the talent deficiency with those two schools? I don’t know,” Jones said. “I think Florida State is going to be very good and they’re saying the right stuff but I got to see it to believe it.”

If Florida State enters the month of October with a 4-0 record, you might be able to add one more person to the bandwagon. There will, of course, be other critical games to win along the way before letting expectations balloon too large.

But taking down Clemson and LSU would surely back up the strong words coming out of Tallahassee this offseason.