The oddsmakers told folks all week that FSU should beat Wake Forest by double-digits. They also said the same thing about Stanford and Pittsburgh. However, the failure to execute, penalties, and turnovers haunted the Noles in those two games as they lost outright and put Mike Norvell on the hottest of hot seats.
There was concern that the atmosphere at Doak Campbell Stadium would turn toxic in their first home game after the loss to Stanford. However, the stadium was mostly positive as it slowly filled to an impressive number(considering what the perception would be after four consecutive losses).
Luckily, FSU secured an early lead, and we never got close to finding out what that looked like. FSU played its most complete game against a Power Four team since the season-opener against Alabama. They finally played complementary football, capitalizing on Wake Forest's mistakes, and becoming the first team to blow the doors off of the Demon Deacons all year.
There might be an element of fool’s gold with the defensive performance, but overall, there was a lot to like about what we saw. Here are my five major observations from the game.