FSU Football: How blowout loss at Louisville actually helped Noles future

FSU football suffered one of the biggest losses in program history the last time they traveled to Louisville, but it might benefit them in the long run.

It was a moment where you could say the wheels completely feel off for the FSU football team – a moment that had happened in recent seasons as many times as you would need one hand to count them on – and a moment where the Seminoles realized that the potential for a second dynasty era in program history was out the window.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock on a warm September day in the commonwealth of Kentucky, the Noles not only had lost their first ACC game of the 2016 season – they got beat down in a 43 point defeat at the hands of the Louisville Cardinals and their eventual Heisman Trophy winning quarterback.

It was an outcome no one saw coming – not even after FSU football lost Derwin James to a knee injury the game before. Sure, the Cardinals were a good team capable of pulling off the upset with Lamar Jackson under center, but there was NO WAY they were going to hold the Seminoles to just 20 points while they put up 63 on the day.

Alas, that’s what took place – and it exposed the state of the Seminoles program and the need for changes to be made.

Before that moment, the Noles were living off of a four season span where the FSU football team went 49-6 with a national title, three ACC crowns and a 29 game win streak that spanned three seasons. However, after “just” going 10-3 and finishing second in the Atlantic Division – with a bad loss to Georgia Tech and to Houston in the Peach Bowl – questions about the team began.

The 2016 opener against Ole Miss got overlooked because the Seminoles came back from 22 points down to win the game when it should have been the first sign. But losing like that to Louisville – where the game was effectively over with just over one minute gone in the third quarter after a long punt return – was something that couldn’t be brushed under the rug.

Including that loss to the Cardinals, FSU football went 15-9 through that season and the 2017 campaign (including a second loss to the Cards in 2017) and the writing was on the wall that any dynasty chance was long gone – and the time for a change was now.

You never want to lose at anything, and I am not advocating that there is ever such a thing as a good loss involving the FSU football program. At the same time, when it exposes the flaws that are holding the program back – like coaches that don’t truly care and players that aren’t buying in to the program – it might be for the best in the long run.