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.”
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.
Inspirational thought of the week:
I hear your laugh
And look up smiling at you
I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch
And the tractor rides
Look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs
And fall asleep on the way home
I don’t know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you’re not scared of anything at all
— “The Best Day,” Taylor Swift
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located beneath the pile of regret RSVP cards at Rece Davis’ house because his daughter scheduled a fall wedding, now that October has arrived, we know exactly where you will all have been this week. Standing in line with us, waiting for the store to open at midnight Oct. 3 to sell us the first copies of Tay-Tay’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Yes, this week the World’s Most Famous Chiefs Fan Not Named Ant-Man drops her new batch of songs, but we also know that as the Bottom 10 faithful camp out on the sidewalk, they will be listening to another playlist of sweet tunes. I’m speaking of the fight songs of Sam Houston, We Have a Problem on Thursday night. Then, the Charlotte 1-and-3’ers, San No-sé State and Colora-duh State on Friday night. All programs that are in their own “Era” of writing “Bottom 10’s Version” of their “Reputation” for “Evermore.”
And while we watch those games, at some point we will realize that it isn’t “1989” and we no longer have to be in line to buy a new record. Or buy records at all. We can download them to our phones. Or as we call them here in the B10CU, the Bottom 10 Cinematic Universe, our pocket computers.
With apologies to the Taylor University Trojans, former Nebraska wide receiver Nate Swift and Steve Harvey, here are the post-Week 5 Bottom 10 rankings.
The Bearkats kruised through their skheduled open date and now koncentrate on krossing the Rio Grande for a kontest kounter to New Mexiko State, who were just konquered by New Mexiko in Albukuerkue.
Have you seen that meme of Cookie Monster drumming his fingers on the table, impatiently waiting to go bonkers on a yet-to-arrive tray of cookies? Yeah, that’s us, waiting for the Oct. 11 Pillow Fight of the Week of the Year of the Century Mega Bowl, when the Minutemen travel to face State of Kent, who are 1-3 after taking the week off. But before that, UMass hosts Western Not Eastern Michigan, while Kent will be getting run over by the Sooner Schooner like a snake trying to cross an Oklahoma freeway.
In Westwood, they said bye to their coach, then they had a bye week, then they lost at Bottom 10 Wait Listers Northworstern, then they raced USC back to Los Angeles, both wondering why they said bye to having all those games closer to home in the league they said bye to too.
Speaking of the Artist Formerly Known But Soon To Be Known Again As The Pac-12, the Beavers became the nation’s first five-loss team after a near-win over undefeated Houston Not Sam Houston. Now they travel east to face Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina, where I once camped with the Boy Scouts and had all of our food stolen by actual beavers.
There are those who might try to convince you that Penn State’s White Out didn’t work the night they played Oregon, but it did. Watch James Franklin’s postgame news conference when he was asked about his record against top-10 teams. He totally used virtual Wite-Out to paint over the word “narrative” and change it to “factual.”
I was roasted over mesquite, and rightfully so, for omitting Oklahoma State from these rankings one week ago after it lost to Living On Tulsa Time at home and then fired Mike “I’m a man! I’m 58!” Gundy. It was a mistake. I was in denial. But I was snapped out of that trance of disbelief by all of the DMs and texts from Stillwater phone numbers saying that I had to have Oklahoma State in here this week or lose all credibility, including one from what my caller ID listed as “Gundy, M.”
The Spartans Not Trojans are one of a whopping four Mountain West teams stuck at 1-3, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other three because: A. They actually played a game last weekend; 3. They lost the Pillow Fight of the Week to neighbor and fellow Bottom 10 Waiting Lister Stanfird by one point; and fifthly, they can probably sneak up on New Mexico this weekend because the Lobos have spent all week with upset tummies after spending a week eating from college football’s new greatest rivalry trophy, the Chile Roaster.
I feel very strongly that we as a nation aren’t making a big enough deal out of this new chile roaster trophy for New Mexico-New Mexico State. pic.twitter.com/ls0s5X1ETA
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) September 28, 2025
The Other Other Huskies are one of a whopping six #MACtion team stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other five because: 1. They actually played a game last weekend; C. They lost to San Diego State, which isn’t terrible, but the final score of the game was 6-3; and secondly, we wanted a chance to hype this week’s Pillow Fight of the Week, when they host My Hammy of Ohio, which is now 1-3 after beating Lindenwood, a school you’ve never heard of unless you are a big Pierre Desir fan.
The Red Wolves are one of a not-as-whopping but still not small three Fun Belt teams stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other two because: I. They actually played last weekend; IV. They lost to our old friends and former Bottom 10 stalwart ULM (pronounced “uhlm”); and XL. That Week 2 loss to now-head coach-less Arkansaw by 42 points is aging about as well as that bottle of gas station chardonnay that I accidentally left under the seat of my truck all summer.
My hometown team is one of a totally-not-whopping-but-still-seems-like-a-lot-for-one-conference-after-only-one-month-of-football three Just American teams stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er … OK, yeah … I’m tired of this bit too. Almost as tired as the Niners fans will be of watching US(not C)F run up and down the field on Friday night. The good news? Shortly after the game ends, they can ease their pain by listening to Tay’s new album.
Waiting list: State of Kent, UTEPid, Muddled Tennessee State, Northworstern, FA(not I)U, Bah-stan Cawledge, Clempson, Flori-duh, Georgia State Not Southern, Colora-duh State, No-vada, Stanfird, My Hammy of Ohio, South Alabama Redundancies, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me 1-4, Akronmonious, Baller State, a college football world without Sam Pittman in it.
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