Florida State delivered a dramatic start to the Week 1 clash against No. 19 SMU by forcing fans to wait nearly two hours after the scheduled kickoff. A power surge led to a major outage that nearly forced the game to be rescheduled, but the two teams agreed to move forward with limited digital tools available to start. The bizarre circumstances were not enough to rattle SMU, and now Florida State needs to go back to the drawing board following the loss.
The Seminoles were able to keep the contest relatively close for nearly the entire game, despite some clear differences between the teams on paper. The loss delivers a whole new set of overreactions that will be important talking points throughout the week.
Overreaction #1: Florida State cannot afford to let Ashton Daniels struggle to find deep connections through the air
Week 0 can often lie to fans about what is wrong with a team, but the Seminoles had multiple issues carry over into Week 1. Quarterback Ashton Daniels was unable to generate a convincing aerial attack against New Mexico State, with an average of 7.5 yards per completion. Daniels does not need to light up every game through the air for the Florida State offense, but his step backwards against SMU is concerning.
Daniels was trapped under 100 passing yards deep into the final quarter of play, and the SMU defense never truly needed to worry about the pass. The struggles for Daniels can certainly in part be attributed to the weaknesses the offensive line has shown, the quarterback has plenty of experienced receivers like Duce Robinson who need the ball.
Florida State needs to find a way to assist Daniels to avoid being a one-dimensional offense, and when the quarterback gets the football to his best players, then big things can happen. If the Seminoles cannot make the aerial offense work with Daniels, then Norvell may need to start considering Malachi Marshall.
Overreaction #2: There is a serious problem going on with the secondary
Another problem that traveled from Week 0 into Week 1 involved the communication issues within the secondary. Coach Mike Norvell revealed that the staff pumped in extra crowd noises during practice to help mimic the chaos of a game, but no real improvements were seen on the field.
Florida State defensive backs were regularly in the wrong position, or following the wrong assignment against the Mustangs. The Seminoles' safeties allowed receivers to pass on multiple occasions, expecting someone to pick up the man even though no help was available. The secondary cannot allow the opposing offense to get away with big gains and potential scores that easily.
SMU attacked the Florida State secondary early and found success, which gave quarterback Kevin Jennings plenty of confidence. Jennings is an experienced quarterback, and the soft zones Florida State continued to run gave the quarterback easy chances to find gains down the field. The secondary has admittedly been banged up, but the lack of help defense and field awareness is a growing issue.
Perhaps the brightest spot in the secondary for Florida State against SMU was Nehemiah Chandler, who intercepted Jennings at a key time. Chandler was someone who needed to step up against SMU with all of the injuries going on, and his performance was one of the best on the defensive side.
Overreaction #3: Mike Norvell needs to figure out the offensive line situation once and for all
The offensive line has been the one area on offense or defense that needs the most attention due to the talent behind the line. Daniels can be a versatile dual-threat quarterback at times with the right balance up front, and Ousmane Kromah continues to excite with his explosive athleticism out of the backfield. The offense has had flashes of true success at times, and the consistency of the offense could improve with a more consistent offensive line.
Norvell entered Week 0 with evaluataions for the offensive line still underway, but no changes were made after a poor performance and a week of practice. Florida State again found success with Kromah on the ground, but one has to wonder how much better the offense could be with a more formidable attack up front.
Florida State has the week off before facing the Alabama Crimson Tide, and the offensive line could truly be exposed if changes are not made.
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