Penalties are an aspect of the game that can derail a team in key situations, and it’s an area that has seen improvement in each year over the past several years under Mike Norvell. As bad as the 2024 team was, they only averaged 5.6 penalties per game, which was an improvement over 2023 (6.1), which was better than 2022 (6.7), which was better than 2021 (6.8).
It’s a small sample size, but FSU has only averaged 3.5 penalties per game through two games in 2025. They had four against Alabama in the season opener and three against East Texas A&M last week.
A holding call on first or second down can put an offense behind the chains. The same goes for a false start or chop block. A defensive pass interference or offside penalty can make it easier for an opposing offense to find success. Penalties will occur, but the hope is that they aren’t a consistent issue, and that seems to be the case for FSU thus far.
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FSU has more talent than most of the teams on its schedule, and not beating itself against inferior teams allows it to widen the gap. Conversely, when they play teams that have equal or better talent, not beating themselves gives them a better chance to pull off the upset.
That was a key part of the Alabama win. FSU was consistently ahead of the chains on offense, which made third-down conversions easier. The offense had a holding penalty and one false start. Defensively, they had a defensive holding call and a defensive pass interference (one of those was a smart play because it saved a sure touchdown).
Alabama had eight penalties for 70 yards, and at least two of their penalties kept the FSU offense on the field when they would have punted.
I suspect FSU could have some games where they have way more than four penalties max, but if they can stay in this four to five range per game, it's going to take a team playing really well to knock them off.