Three thoughts: FSU’s biggest problems under Mike Norvell featured in Florida loss

If one were tasked with identifying which play could describe Florida State’s 2025 season, Tommy Castellanos’ 48-yard pass to Randy Pittman Jr. called back due to a pre-snap procedural penalty would be the perfect answer.

Fitting, because if any game could describe the state of the Florida State program under head coach Mike Norvell, Saturday’s loss — the second this season to a team with a losing record led by an interim head coach — could not encapsulate it any better.

No points in the first quarter? Absolutely, with FSU officially shut out in the opening 15 minutes in all five of their road games this season.

A red-zone trip with no points? Got that one.

How about a missed field goal? That was a given.

The most impactful mistake of all was Norvell deciding to go for it on his side of the 50 on 4th-and-1 at the start of the third quarter, trailing by three. Did Florida State pick up the first down? Of course not.

Three plays later, UF went up 24-14 and then 8:02 in-game minutes later, the Gators led 31-14, with any hope of a comeback bid and salvaging the season having been drowned in the Swamp.

“In the third quarter, we obviously had some mistakes,” Norvell said after the game. “We fell behind, and they were really able to control the game through the end. Disappointed for every player and the work that has gone in and the expectations of our play. When that doesn’t show up, it’s infuriating.”

Norvell’s fourth-down call was particularly egregious since the defense started to settle in, as the Seminoles forced a three-and-out to begin the second half, but no one should have been shocked by his decision — in the press conference after the game, Norvell called fourth-and-short a “high-percentage play” for FSU, even though the Noles were stuffed in the same situation earlier in the game. Maybe if the Seminoles play tight on the road, as quarterback Tommy Castellanos told the ESPN2 broadcast, living another day rather than playing in a game of wild momentum swings would be the right answer. But not for Norvell, who makes the easy hard and the hard impossible while being the master of his own demise. As much as the FSU administration wants to shuffle blame for the football program’s failures, nothing will solve a head coach who cannot be honest with himself or his team about the best way to navigate football games.

“Unfortunately (after the fourth-down stop), they went down and scored in three plays and scored a touchdown,” Norvell said. “But (we were) just trying to extend the drive, trying to put points on the board. We’ve been at a pretty high level in those fourth-and-short situations, but obviously, we did not get it done there.”

The Seminoles came out tight, fell behind 10-0 before closing the gap but managed to find themselves trailing by only three heading into the break after rallying in the second quarter. But in the second half, Florida State came undone as the inconsistency issues once again reared their head, compounded by the Florida run game ramming the ball down the Noles’ throat.

Just like with the state of his program, once Norvell’s team started letting go of the rope, nobody made a stand and the bottom fell out as Florida State lost its second straight game to Florida by 19-plus points. Sure, in Vegas’ eyes, the Seminoles were road underdogs as Gainesville does not make it easy on visitors, but Florida found success against Florida State that the Gators hadn’t experienced vs. a competent opponent this season, scoring its most points vs. a power conference opponent since October 2024 a week after falling behind 31-0 at home. Norvell provided a boost to his team’s biggest rival heading into the offseason as UF went out in front of its home crowd on a high note, set to carry that momentum into the offseason with a new head coach as his program once again heads into a bowl-less offseason with the vibes as rancid as ever.

Last season was an ever-evolving adventure in ineptitude. This season, each loss for Florida State has felt like a retread of a game already played, defined by the warts that have always lingered around Norvell’s program — head-scratching game management, self-inflicted mistakes from nervy teams, FSU losing games it has no business losing.

Saturday’s loss drove that feeling home more than any other, sending the Seminoles to the offseason with plenty of hard questions and no easy answers.

First thought: Another historic performance at FSU’s expense

FSU hadn’t allowed a 200-plus yard rusher since 2018 — that changed Saturday night as the Seminoles allowed seven yards a carry to running back Jadan Baugh. The UF sophomore rewrote the rivalry history books to the tune of 266 rushing yards — the second-most in Gators program history and highest for any player in the series — while racking up two touchdowns, the final of which came in the closing seconds to further twist the knife.

“Shoot, coach told me don’t score,” Baugh said after the game. He told me to slot. I’m like, ‘Coach, don’t do me like that. We don’t like them guys.’”

No adjustment or run blitz made a difference as FSU generated only three tackles for loss and one holding penalty on Florida’s 45 rushing attempts. If stopping the run is more mental than physical, no wonder Florida almost doubled its season average in yards per carry (6.0 vs. 3.9).

“Lot of missed tackles,” Norvell said when asked about his team’s issues stopping the run. “There’s times where we’ve got to put ourselves in better position, too. Coaches, players, had a couple of alignment issues. They were able to get to the edge and sometimes just force a one-on-one, whether we didn’t trigger fast enough or just flat-out missed a play, that opens a lot of opportunity for a very talented back. We came into it saying, ‘that’s a guy that you have to stop,’ and for him to have that kind of production is a complete failure.”

Second thought: Castellanos question lingers

Castellanos told the local media he felt that Saturday was his best game of the season, and it would be easy to see why. The quarterback was the best Seminole on the field, which is not saying much, but he passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns, added 77 yards on the ground and a rushing score, accounting for all three FSU touchdowns. He also played with a noticeable confidence that verged on cockiness, a quality lacking among his teammates.

As the season comes to a close, the time for Castellanos’ evaluation arrives, and in the end, he was exactly who FSU thought they were getting. The Boston College transfer finished the season with a 58% completion, lower than when he was benched at Boston College last year, but averaged 9.0 yards per completion, the highest mark of his career. His TD-INT ratio was 13-8, compared to 15-14 in his best season at Boston College two years ago and he finished with an 87.3 passing grade and 86.3 overall grade from PFF, both career-highs.

Castellanos told the press he would like to return to FSU if his waiver for an extra year of eligibility is approved. Does Norvell think it makes sense to run it back with a fifth-year quarterback or try his luck with true sophomore Kevin Sperry in hopes of saving his job?

Third thought: A peek into the future

Among the cacophony of problems facing Florida State heading into the offseason, an apathetic fan base leads the list. Why should anyone pay attention to one-year mercenaries and a lame-duck coaching staff? What hope and momentum does FSU have heading into 2026?

The best option for Florida State moving forward is to nail a general manager hire, as the administration alluded to in its statement when it decided to retain Norvell. As I’ve discussed before, the general manager hire needs to be in the form of Andrew Luck, not Derrick Yray, FSU’s current general manager with a player personnel background. Hiring a general manager with ties to the program will be key to reconnecting and overcoming fan apathy. The general manager should also be appointed by Alford, not Norvell, and receive the right to hire the next football coach. That way, an infrastructure will be in place after Norvell leaves, and the program will not have to start from scratch. Who that person should be is a difficult question, but taking the decision-making about the football program away from Alford and Norvell and into a homegrown player who has been around football will be paramount to stopping the bleeding.