Norvell admits he ‘failed’ after FSU loses again
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State coach Mike Norvell ran off his home field after a 28-13 loss to Boston College on Monday night, his stone-faced expression speaking for him.
Nobody around the Seminoles program expected what has unfolded over two weeks in front of a national television audience: An 0-2 start, with issues across the board — an inability to run the ball, an overmatched and oftentimes flummoxed defensive front and a passing game that has struggled with a completely overhauled roster.
If the 24-21 season-opening loss to Georgia Tech could be explained away because it happened a continent away in Ireland, Florida State’s loss to Boston College exposed many of the same issues that came up against the Yellow Jackets.
Norvell was hard-pressed for answers in his postgame news conference, simply saying, “I’m sick to how this season started. Tonight, I failed in preparing the team to go out and respond,” Norvell said.
Florida State came into the season not only as the defending ACC champions, but as the preseason choice to win the conference — despite losing its best players, from Jordan Travis to Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and Keon Coleman. While they are off preparing for an NFL season, Florida State has been left to fill their spots — not just on the field but in the locker room.
Norvell spoke repeatedly about players having to trust one another more on the field, about pressing, about how the team has to come together now to fix its issues. They have an open date before playing Memphis on Sept. 14 to “go back in the lab,” as receiver Kentron Poitier said.
“You’ve got a football team that nobody envisioned ever being where we are and having disappointment, having failure, but I do believe in what this team can do,” Norvell said. “I believe in what this team can accomplish.
“There’s going to be plenty of negativity around this program. I understand that. When we perform the way we just did, that’s all part of it. But for our football team, you’ve got to stay together, and you’ve got to make sure that you’re there for each other. We’ve been knocked down. We know how to get up, but we’ve got to go do that. It’s one thing to talk about it. It’s another thing to put into action and then to be able to perform in the moment.”
Florida State has done this before under Norvell. In 2021, Florida State started 0-4 before rallying to win five of its final eight games. Then in 2022, it dropped three straight before reeling off six straight wins. That season launched the Seminoles to 13-0 in 2023 and an ACC championship victory, until a snub from the College Football Playoff left a significantly depleted Florida State team to play Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
Florida State lost that game 63-3. The Seminoles are now 0-3 in its last three games. Norvell said the playoff snub has no correlation to this year’s team.
“When things don’t go how you want them to go — a disappointing outcome in our first game — and obviously today it was all the things that can go wrong basically did,” Norvell said. “I don’t know if that’s a carryover from any part of it other than starting to press, starting to try to do too much, where you want it so bad that there’s times where you almost abandon the training that you’ve had because you just start pressing and trying to do almost too much.”
Boston College won the line of scrimmage on both its offensive and defensive lines, the way Georgia Tech did. In its first two games of the season, Florida State has given up 453 total yards rushing, while managing just 119 yards on the ground. The Boston College game proved especially problematic — Florida State only rushed for 21 total yards and its running backs had eight total carries.
DJ Uiagalelei was erratic at best as Norvell turned to him to help jumpstart a struggling offense. Uiagalelei was off target for most of the game, and the fans started chanting for backup Brock Glenn before halftime. Uiagalelei finished 21-of-42 for 272 yards a touchdown and a crucial interception in the third quarter that essentially put the game out of reach.
Down 14-6, Norvell elected to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Florida State 47. Uiagalelei missed badly on his pass, and Max Tucker was there to intercept it and return the ball to the 7 yard-line. Boston College punched it in to take a 21-6 lead.
The victory was the first under new coach Bill O’Brien, a statement of sorts that this Boston College team would play tough and physical up front — while also relying on a remade Thomas Castellanos, who looked far more confident as a passer. Castellanos scrambled for 73 yards and a touchdown, while throwing two more passing touchdowns in the victory. While this win will be celebrated in Boston, those in Tallahassee were left to scratch their heads after another loss.
“Losing is a lot of motivation. Nobody likes to lose,” linebacker DJ Lundy said. “So, we’re going to push. We’re going to work as hard as we can to get where we want to be. Right now, we’re 0-2. We don’t want to lose another game. We shouldn’t lose no more.”
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Bradford Doolittle
CLEVELAND — How far can a team go by repeatedly dancing away from a season-ending precipice? The Cleveland Guardians are determined to find out.
The Guardians, boosted by a five-run eighth-inning outburst that began with an unlikely home run from Brayan Rocchio, beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 on Wednesday to force a decisive Game 3 in the AL Wild Card Series.
In many ways, it was fitting that Rocchio ignited the season-saving rally because the trajectory of his rags-to-riches season has been in lockstep with the team around him. And, yes, the blast was unlikely, but unlikely is where the Guardians seem to be most comfortable.
“We always say we try to always play without pressure,” Rocchio said through the team’s interpreter. “That’s our type of ball. We just play and we realize we’re going to play until the last out. Even if we’re down by 10, we’ll know we’ll continue to try to play that type of ball.”
For seven innings, the Guardians and Tigers engaged in the kind of low-scoring, close game that frustrates hitters and thrills pitchers alike. For Cleveland, the frustration came from an inability to do much of anything after George Valera‘s first-inning home run. Through seven frames, Cleveland had just two hits and five baserunners overall.
For Detroit, the frustration was very different. The Tigers stranded 15 baserunners for the game. One Cleveland pitcher after another managed to wriggle out of trouble, usually with an inning-ending strikeout.
“It was a tough day,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously, they made the most of their opportunities and we left 15 guys on. I think that paints the picture that was today.”
The score was tied 1-1 entering the Cleveland half of the eighth. With one out, Rocchio stepped to the dish against Detroit fireballer Troy Melton.
“Just velo and the plus stuff,” Hinch said when asked why he went with Melton in that situation. “We needed to extend the game.”
Melton might have been the least of Rocchio’s problems. The afternoon shadows make things miserable for the hitters, with Guardians manager Stephen Vogt noting that in those conditions, batters simply can’t pick up the spin on a pitch, making everything look more or less like a fastball.
Rocchio got an actual fastball from Melton, a four-seamer in the heart of the plate that registered at 99.9 mph, per Statcast. The sheer velocity of the pitch was the first thing that made Rocchio’s homer so unlikely. According to ESPN Research, only Oscar Mercado, in a 2020 regular-season game, had gone deep on a pitch that fast for Cleveland over the past decade.
Rocchio connected and sent a shot toward right field. But even so, a home run still seemed very unlikely thanks to a howling wind that had been blowing in from that direction and played havoc with fly balls all afternoon.
“Funny enough, when the game started, I was thinking with this wind, we have to put the ball on the ground, try to get ground balls,” Rocchio said. “When I get that mindset to get the ball on the ground is when I get better and better results.”
Indeed, the ball settled into the right-field seats, giving Cleveland the lead and sparking an offensive surge capped by Bo Naylor‘s three-run blast later in the inning.
But forget the conditions — the shadows, the wind, the pitcher — and just think how unlikely it was that Rocchio was there, taking a high-leverage at-bat in a postseason elimination game.
Rocchio struggled so badly early this season that he spent six weeks at Triple-A despite helping the Guardians to the 2024 AL Central title and becoming a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop.
When Rocchio did return to the majors, his club was on its way to digging a 15½-game hole beneath Detroit in the AL Central. Nevertheless, there they were in Game 2, Rocchio and the Guardians, getting a postseason win in a season that has at various times been on life support.
“I think it’s important to just understand that we’re here for a reason,” Naylor said. “We’re here because we trust the guys that are in that clubhouse at our side.”
The Tigers won’t be daunted by their Game 2 loss, though they will join the Guardians in facing an elimination game Thursday. But if experience in playing with your back against the wall means anything, that edge has to go to a Guardians squad that has been there for three months.
“This is who we are,” Vogt said. “Couldn’t be more proud of our guys. Back against the wall. Back’s still against the wall tomorrow. We’ll come out ready to go and so will they. It will be another dogfight tomorrow. I guarantee it.”
CHICAGO — Manny Machado hit a two-run homer, Mason Miller dominated again and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Wednesday, sending their NL Wild Card Series to a decisive third game.
Jackson Merrill hit an early sacrifice fly as San Diego avoided elimination after losing 3-1 on Tuesday. Dylan Cease struck out five in 3 2/3 innings before handing the ball to his team’s hard-throwing bullpen.
The finale of the best-of-three series is back at Wrigley Field on Thursday.
The playoff-tested Padres are looking for a repeat of 2020, when they dropped Game 1 in the special pandemic wild-card round before advancing with two straight victories against St. Louis. Machado also homered in Game 2 of that series.
Chicago finished with four hits. The franchise is making its first appearance in the playoffs in five years, and it hasn’t advanced since it eliminated Washington in a 2017 NL Division Series.
San Diego jumped in front on Merrill’s flyball to right off Andrew Kittredge in the first, driving in Fernando Tatis Jr. Kittredge started for Chicago as an opener, and the right-hander was replaced by left-hander Shota Imanaga in the second.
The Cubs threatened in the fourth, putting runners on first and second with two down. Adrian Morejon then came in and retired Pete Crow-Armstrong on a bouncer to first.
The Padres added two more runs on Machado’s 404-foot drive to left off Imanaga in the fifth. Tatis reached on a leadoff walk and advanced on a sacrifice ahead of Machado’s 12th career playoff homer.
The three runs were more than enough for San Diego’s bullpen, with Miller and Robert Suarez combining for 14 pitches of over 100 mph.
Morejon pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings before Miller showed off his electric stuff while striking out five consecutive batters. The 6-foot-5 right-hander reached 104.5 mph on a called third strike to Carson Kelly in the seventh that was the fastest pitch in the postseason since Statcast started tracking in 2008.
Miller, who was acquired in a trade with the Athletics on July 31, struck out the side in the seventh in his postseason debut on Tuesday. The eight straight Ks tied the postseason record set by Josh Hader in 2022.
Miller was pulled from Game 2 after he hit Michael Busch with a slider with two oust in the eighth. Suarez retired Nico Hoerner on a liner to right before a one-hit ninth for the save.
Darvish played for the Cubs for three seasons before he was traded to the Padres in December 2020. The right-hander said he enjoys pitching at Wrigley.
“Yeah, this place did me good,” he said through a translator. “The organization, the fans did me good, too.”
AMES, Iowa — No. 14 Iowa State‘s secondary will be without longtime starters Jontez Williams and Jeremiah Cooper for the rest of the season because of knee injuries.
Coach Matt Campbell announced Tuesday that Williams damaged the ACL in his right knee late in the Cyclones’ 39-14 win over Arizona on Saturday. Cooper tore his ACL in practice last week. The two have combined for 55 starts.
Williams, an Associated Press All-Big 12 second-team pick in 2024, had one interception and two pass breakups this season. He was hurt with three minutes left against Arizona as he dove in an attempt to knock a ball away from a receiver.
“So that’s a situation that really stinks for the kid,” Campbell said. “But man, just how he’s handled it has been uber impressive. And a great human. He’ll be back ready to rock and roll next year.”
Cooper has made 36 starts since 2022 and was an AP All-Big 12 first-team pick at safety in 2023. He switched to cornerback full time this season and had an interception and three pass breakups through four games.
Tre Bell, a transfer from Lindenwood, made his first start for the Cyclones in Cooper’s place against Arizona. Quentin Taylor Jr., who played 26 snaps against Arizona, would be in line to make his first start when the Cyclones (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) visit Cincinnati (3-1, 1-0) on Saturday.
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