Daily briefing: On Mike Norvell and .500, Michigan’s WR-turned-DB and Northwestern’s ritzy football future

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

Mike Norvell, Florida State get big test Saturday

It’s probably not something Mike Norvell will put in his career scrapbook, but if No. 23 Florida State beats No. 22 Wake Forest on Saturday, Norvell will reach .500 (13-13) with the Seminoles for the first time since he was – gulp – 0-0. It’s been a long haul out of mediocrity, if in fact Florida State is out of it. We’ll find out against the Demon Deacons, a veteran team who will need that experience to shake off the emotional trauma of last week’s double-overtime loss to No. 5 Clemson. The Seminoles will need to score to keep up with Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman. The improvement of Florida State’s offense is the reason the ’Noles are 4-0. They are averaging 37.5 points and 503.8 yards per game, 10 points and 124 yards per game better than last season.

Mike Sainristil’s move to defense has paid off for Michigan

The transition of Michigan junior Mike Sainristil from wide receiver to starting nickel back has gone better than anyone on the outside expected. Sainristil, who played both ways at Everett (Mass.) High, didn’t need coaxing. But surely it helped his decision that more than a decade ago at Stanford, Jim Harbaugh switched Richard Sherman from wide receiver to corner, and Sherman spent 12 years as one of the best defensive backs in the NFL. Sainristil, four games into his new career, is fourth on the Wolverines with 15 tackles, and tied for the team lead with two sacks. C’mon, Michigan d-front. You gonna let a wide receiver do that?

Northwestern has bold plans for future

Northwestern’s announcement that it has plans to construct an $800 million stadium on campus should answer anyone who had any question about whether the Wildcats are committed to the new NIL/Alston model of college football. There has been chatter among the FBS schools with high academic standards about whether they are comfortable philosophically with providing Alston money – “academic awards” – to athletes without it being available to other students. Would those administrations that don’t want to pay up to $5,980 per year to each athlete for making grades prefer some sort of FBS Ivy League? Stanford is discussing what it wants to do. Northwestern seems to have made its decision.