FSU football: Special teams is the foundation of the Seminoles’ program

FSU football is coming off a tremendous home victory by a score of 38-20 against the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night.

The Seminoles faced a high level adversity early on in the contest as quarterback Jordan Travis had his pass attempt intercepted and returned for a touchdown, which gave Duke the 17-7 lead with 13:04 left in the second quarter.

Fans began to feel that Florida State might have their hands full against the Blue Devils. However, head football coach Mike Norvell always preaches about “response” within his program.

The football team responded in a massive way after the costly turnover as redshirt junior wide receiver Deuce Spann returned the ensuing kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-14.

While Spann had not made a significant contribution during his time in Tallahassee, he responded when his number was called upon.

Most fans remember the exchange between Norvell and the former Illinois transfer. During the early portion of the fourth quarter in a matchup between Miami and Florida State, Spann was penalized for a 15-yard personal foul penalty. With the Seminoles lead by a score of 38-3, some individuals were wondering why Norvell was so frustrated with the pass catcher.

This certainly spoke to the potential that the head coach saw in Spann. Fast forward to the Duke contest, the speedster gained an opportunity to be on kickoff return duties. Interestingly enough, he had only been a returner once this season before he returned the kickoff for a touchdown.

During his introductory press conference, Norvell emphasized the importance of special teams with following statement:

"You are going to see toughness displayed in special teams. I believe that is the backbone of your program. People can talk about offense and defense, but if you want to see a team that has tremendous culture, tremendous passion, tremendous belief in each other, watch them on special teams."

The former Memphis head football coach has not went against his core foundation from the time that he arrived in Tallahassee back in December 2019.

He has even placed starters on special teams such as defensive tackle Braden Fiske, who delivered a key block in the 99-yard kickoff return from Spann.

Before the program was under the guidance of Norvell, FSU had not had a kickoff returned for a touchdown since Kermit Whitfield in the BCS National Championship Game against the Auburn Tigers in January 2014.

The Seminoles already have two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the last two years (Trey Benson versus Boston College in 2022 and of course Deuce Spann versus Duke in 2023).

Disclaimer: Florida State almost had another special teams touchdown last week against Syracuse where wide receiver Keon Coleman had a 72-yard punt return and got tackled at the Orange 9-yard line.

There is something special brewing in Tallahassee as the Seminoles are looking to make the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014.