On Saturday, the Florida State Seminoles shocked the faculty soccer world with a 31-17 win over preseason Related Press No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide, ending Alabama’s streak of 23 consecutive season-opening wins.
Extra improbably, it continued a dizzying three-year stretch for Florida State.
In 2023, the Seminoles entered bowl season an undefeated 13-0 however had been controversially snubbed for the School Soccer Playoff over a one-loss Alabama after Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending leg harm in late November.
That playoff snub paved the way in which for final 12 months’s disastrous 2-10 2024 season, this system’s worst since 1974. Florida State had the fourth-worst scoring offense within the nation, averaging 15.4 factors per sport and solely defeating one FBS program.
Head coach Mike Norvell employed Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator through the offseason, and that transfer immediately paid dividends in opposition to Alabama.
The previous Auburn head coach put in a run-heavy sport plan in opposition to the Tide, who had been unable to cease an unrelenting Seminoles speeding assault.
Florida State gained 230 yards on the bottom and ended the sport with 49 rush makes an attempt to 14 move makes an attempt.
After by no means establishing an offensive id a season in the past, it is a promising signal for the Seminoles that they have already got the framework of what may very well be an excellent speeding assault.
Saturday’s win may propel Florida State as a lot as final 12 months’s loss to Georgia Tech in Eire torpedoed its season. The offense stood out, and Florida State additionally managed the road of scrimmage on protection, holding Alabama to 3 yards per carry and sacking quarterback Ty Simpson 3 times.
Florida State ought to simply enter ACC play 3-0 after going 0-3 by way of three video games final season, with its subsequent two video games in opposition to FCS East Texas A&M and Kent State, which hasn’t defeated an FBS opponent since November 26, 2022.
It has been an exhausting few seasons for Florida State, and if Saturday’s win is any indication, the journey is not over but.
