FSU Football: Evaluating Seminoles’ history with FCS teams

FSU football’s last few meetings against FCS teams have not gone as smoothly as they could have. Are these admirations or does FSU have a problem?

I did things a little differently this week. Instead of analyzing this weekend’s matchup with Alabama State, I actually went back and took a look at FSU football’s recent history against teams from the FCS level. I went all the way back to the 2008 season and looked at the final scores of those 14 games.

Among those 14 contests are “instant classics” like the 19-9 slugfest victory over Jacksonville State in 2009 in a driving rain storm against ex-LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux. Or how about the 36-26 win over Sanford just last year, a game played in similar conditions, and a game that the ‘Noles would have lost had it not been for the late game heroics of a Levonta Taylor pick six.

With all that said, just how well has FSU faired against FCS opponents? Well, they are 14-0 since 2008 and in those games, they have outscored their opponents 746-125 collectively. That’s an average score of 53 to 9. That’s not too shabby.

Florida State Seminoles Football

However, Florida State’s most recent games against FCS opponents have not been as dominant. The  were both way closer than anybody anticipated and way too close for comfort for most Seminole fans. Naturally, this recent struggle with FCS opponents has led to many of the Florida State faithful being a bit anxious for this upcoming game against Alabama State.

I guess I kind of get the anxiousness, because there is a fair amount riding on this game. After all, a win on Saturday does make Florida State bowl eligible – and with how awful this season has been, a bowl game could serve as a decent consolation for an otherwise forgettable 2019.

With the season finale being in Gainesville against a very strong UF team, I think it is safe to say that this game is a must-win, for any kind of post-season hopes. Factor in an (undefeated) interim-head-coach, and you begin to see why some FSU fans are a bit weary of the Hornets of Alabama State. But, even with all of these less than ideal factors at play, I still believe Seminole fans should be confident heading into Saturday’s game.

For starters, this isn’t a great Alabama State team. They have a 5 and 4 record and have lost to some extremely bad football teams. Florida State has obviously not been very good either, but in case you haven’t noticed, some pretty substantial changes have recently been made to FSU’s coaching staff. And it seems as though this team has a new found edge and energy under the “new-direction” of Odell Haggins.

The moral of the story is: if Florida State shows up to the correct field on Saturday, and has all of their collective limbs, they should win this game no problem. Under the leadership of a coach who has proven that he can motivate and connect with this team, I believe ‘Nole fans should be supremely confident heading into Saturday’s game.

Listen, I am not trying to disparage teams at the FCS level. Every now and then one of those smaller schools is able to rise up and knock off a far superior opponent (just ask the Florida Gators about it).

But, for the most part, these games are scheduled because larger schools need to fill out their schedules with winnable games and the smaller FCS schools rely on the lucrative game-checks that they receive to fund their athletic department(s). No seriously, UF actually paid Georgia Southern a half a million dollars in 2013; and lost.