FSU Football tasked with bouncing back quickly before key date with No. 4 Clemson

While the Florida State football team has stumbled in back-to-back weeks, including in a crushing last-minute defeat at North Carolina State on Saturday night, FSU now has an extremely crucial opponent next on the schedule: the undefeated, top-five ranked Clemson Tigers.

The Seminoles (4-2, 2-2 ACC) will host No. 4 Clemson (6-0, 4-0) in a prime-time game against a rival program that’s reached six of the last seven CFP Playoffs and won the conference every season from 2015-2020.

After the Seminoles’ 19-17 loss to N.C. State, FSU head coach Mike Norvell and players spoke about the mistakes that showed up in the road defeat, including an error-filled second-half meltdown, where the team blew a 17-3 lead at the break

The team also spoke about how crucial a bounce-back response will be during this week’s preparations to face the best team on its 2022 schedule.

“I believe in the work that we do. I believe in the young men that I get to coach. I believe in the staff that I get to work with. That we will respond in a way that’s going to showcase the identity of this team, of this group,” Norvell said. “We represent an incredible university, and I know there’s a lot of people disappointed with the outcome that we’ve seen here the last two weeks, but there’s nobody more disappointed than us.”

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With the entire second half of the regular season to play out on the field, FSU will have several opportunities to show how much the program has improved from 2021’s 5-7 campaign.

Norvell addressed that in his message to the players after the loss to the Wolfpack.

“Continue to fight, continue to believe, go showcase your identity. That was what I just told them in there,” Norvell said. “You go through life and everyone wants it to go pretty smooth. I was absolutely 100 percent confident we were going to come in here and we were going to find a way to win this game. That did not happen. But I believe in this team.”

Even though Clemson poses a major challenge next Saturday night in Doak Campbell Stadium, a disjointed second half against NCSU could be a challenge to flush during the upcoming week.

Just after halftime, FSU surrendered a quick score to open a third quarter in which the Seminoles were outgained by N.C. State, 115-28, in total yards.

An assortment of self-inflicted blunders by FSU, from special teams to key penalties, allowed the Wolfpack to take control, then back-to-back late turnovers ended the chances for an FSU road win over the No. 14 team in the country.

FSU linebacker Tatum Bethune, who led the team with 14 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss, explained he doesn’t expect the team to have any issued focusing on the No. 4 Tigers.

“Tomorrow, we are going to bounce back. We have to bounce back and forget about it. Move on to Clemson,” Bethune said late Saturday. “I just feel like we need to execute, that’s really it. Yeah, the focus is going to be, we lost two in a row. The focus is going to be there. The attention is going to be there. It’s just, what are we going to do game day? We’ve just gotta get it done.”

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Redshirt sophomore running back Lawrance Toafili, who busted loose for a 12-yard touchdown late in the second quarter, helped the ’Noles drive into Wolfpack territory again on the final drive. He finished with 46 total yards and reiterated several times the need for FSU to move on quickly.

“Honestly, it’s just one of those things where you gotta trust the process. Just keep pushing and keep earning your one percent every day,” Toafili said. “About to hit back to the drawing board, short-term memory loss. Move to the next page, next opponent.”

As he always does, Norvell expressed confidence in his players as competitors, also noting the big chance the ’Noles have against Clemson.

“They’re competitors, they’re tough. This a football team of competitors. Nobody wanted to experience coming up short in that game. I can dang sure tell you that it’s not from a lack of work or want-to,” Norvell said. “We had some critical, critical mistakes that showed up. It’s everybody involved, I have to be better for this football team. …

“Ultimately, we have an incredible opportunity to be able to rise up, to go push forward, to get better. Put on display the DNA and the culture and values of this football team. I’ve got great confidence in how these guys are going to respond to it and we are going to continue to work to be our best in everything we do.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.