Week 7 has come and gone, but the game between Florida State and Miami will likely be talked about for weeks to come. A gritty, hard-nosed matchup between two rivals ended in controversy after Florida State scored not one, but two heroic touchdowns that were ultimately overturned.
The Seminoles lost in Week 7 in perhaps the most deflating way, because Miami did not truly beat down the team, and the entire final drive in overtime was a complete mess. Florida State needs to move on from the loss now, and with a bye week coming up, there will be plenty of time to properly digest the result.
With the dust on the loss now settling, here are some final reactions to the Week 7 loss to the Miami Hurricanes.
The refs robbed Florida State of two heroic touchdowns, but there were other key plays that contributed to the loss
We can all be mad about the two blown calls in overtime until we are blue in the face, but the reality is that there was a lot more that went wrong for Florida State than two overturned touchdowns.
The Seminoles went for it on fourth down three times, and two of those times the team could have attempted very short field goals. Tre Wisner lost a fumble in the middle of a productive drive for Florida State. The offensive line let practically everyone through during the final overtime drive, three plays in a row, before the wild plays occurred.
It is easy to blame the refs for the terrible calls, but the reality is that Florida State beat themselves multiple times before that point. This was a far different game than the loss to Alabama, but the Seminoles did the same thing in that game as well. The team played a strong game for the most part, but made mistakes when the team needed to build upon the momentum that had been gained.
What does the loss mean for Florida State financially?
Ahead of the Week 7 clash against Miami, Florida State administration was reportedly coming close to making a decision regarding the future of coach Mike Norvell and his staff. Florida State is between a rock and a hard place, needing to decide between firing Norvell and his staff to the tune of $68 million, or bringing the regime back for the 2027 season with hopefully more resources.
A single game was likely never going to be the deciding factor for a move that would cost the university a ridiculous amount, but there was a lot that could be learned from the result. Miami has arguably the most expensive roster in college football, with some experts claiming the Hurricanes have spent over $60 million on the roster. Florida State, however, is reportedly somewhere around $25 million, which is a massive gap.
If Florida State were completely blown out against Miami, it would be very hard to argue that the combination of the current coaching staff and roster is enough to contend with the best. If Florida State defeated Miami, the delusion that spending a third of what the top programs are spending would have continued, even if that meant paying a premium to find the right man for the job.
Things get tricky with a narrow, double overtime loss to Miami because the Seminoles proved the team can stand toe-to-toe with the best teams in the country, but there was still not quite enough there to get the job done.
Injuries are starting to expose roster issues at the worst time
Heading into the 2026 season, Florida State had a talented, but curious roster that seemed to bulk up in a few areas while leaving others very thin. Many experts felt that the Seminoles had a roster talented enough to push for a bowl game, but that confidence mainly surrounded the starters. The Seminoles had issues with depth before entering the season, and now the growing number of injuries is quickly exposing some of those holes.
Florida State has been playing with an injured secondary all season, with players like Jamari Howard, Jordan Crutchfield, and Karson Hobbs spending more time injured than healthy this season. Nearly all of the game-ready depth players Florida State had in the secondary have been injured this season, forcing starters like Ashlynd Barker to play through injuries. The secondary has been the most extreme example this season, but there is another position that has become a massive problem.
Last season, the Seminoles had a loaded running back room with players like Gavin Sawchuk, Ousmane Kromah, Samuel Singleton Jr., and Jaylin Lucas all seeing action. Sawchuk and Lucas transferred at the end of the 2025 season, and Florida State responded by adding Tre Wisner and Gemari Sands. After dismissing Sands, the Seminoles really only brought in Wisner to fill the shoes of multiple running backs.
Doing your own job and the job of someone else can be difficult, and due to the current roster, Wisner will need to do so with Kromah and Singleton sidelined. It is easy to call that problem out in hindsight, but the staff should have prepared themselves properly with a more competitive roster from top to bottom.
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