Mike Norvell on Georgia Tech loss: 'That game came down to one play'
Florida State had seven possessions. Georgia Tech had seven possessions. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, was decided by a field goal, a 44-yarder from the boot of Yellow Jackets kicker Aidan Birr that flew through the uprights as time expired.
“That game came down to one play,” FSU head coach Mike Norvell said Wednesday. “And when you sit there and you look at it, I mean, you could take 30 plays in that game. [If] any one of those had a different outcome, I mean, we’re probably in a lot better mood right now than what we’re in.”
Georgia Tech collected a 24-21 victory, its first win over an AP top-10 opponent since 2015 — its last one also came against the Seminoles — and FSU suffered its first regular season loss in 679 days.
The 2024 college football season began with a stunner overseas, and Norvell’s Seminoles were on the wrong side of it.
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“How you respond to it, what you do,” Norvell said. “I mean, nobody ever wants to find yourself in this situation. But I believe in the character of the team. I believe in this coaching staff. I believe in the talent and ability that we have. But we got to go play better. And it starts with me.
“It’s my job to make sure that in all things that we’re doing, that come Monday night, our best football shows up.”
Monday night is when still-No. 10 FSU hosts another upset-hungry ACC upstart, Boston College. The Eagles have ushered in a new era under head coach Bill O’Brien, who notably turned around both Penn State and the Houston Texans in the 2010s.
BC is led by star dual-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who transferred in from UCF last offseason, became QB1 and then totaled 3,350 yards from scrimmage, including 1,113 yards on the ground. Castellanos threw for 15 touchdowns and ran for 13 more. Now he’s learning under O’Brien, who has worked with an array of star signal callers, most notably Tom Brady, Deshaun Watson and Bryce Young.
Norvell discussed Wednesday how FSU will have to tackle better in space against BC than it did against Georgia Tech, particularly on quarterback designed runs. The Yellow Jackets opted for 15 of those in Dublin. Quarterback Haynes King and running back Jamal Haynes bulldozed their way to victory, combining for 129 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Overall, Georgia Tech controlled the line of scrimmage and finished the day with 190 rushing yards, including 5.3 yards per carry. Norvell called for more production from his defensive line Wednesday, making the point that it’s one of the better position groups on his team. It’s a talent-laden unit, headlined by defensive ends Patrick Payton and Marvin Jones Jr. and defensive tackles Joshua Farmer and Darrell Jackson Jr. Even so, FSU rounded out the afternoon with just three tackles for loss and zero sacks.
Norvell wants more explosive plays on offense as well. He did say he was proud of the way quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and the unit operated on its final series: Uiagalelei converted a pair of fourth downs on a 15-play, game-tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. That said, FSU logged only 291 total yards on the day, didn’t convert one of its fourth down attempts earlier in the game and had to settle for two 50-plus-yard field goals.
“Obviously we’re going to learn and work and get better from it,” Norvell said Wednesday. “But I thought our guys did a really good job in practice yesterday. There’s definitely the right edge that we need. Just for this week, obviously we’re playing a Boston College team that’s kicking off their season, new coach, new coaching staff, some very talented players, you know a very dynamic quarterback, some experienced guys defensively that have been through it and done it. We know that they’re coming in ready to kick off their season.
“For us, it’s all about us going to get better. I want to see us play our best game, and we got to have our best week of preparation to be able to have a chance to do that.”