Florida State moved to 1-1 with a Week 1 loss to the SMU Mustangs that showed clear gaps between what winning quarterback play and losing quarterback play looks like. Mustangs' quarterback Kevin Jennings proved he was a veteran at times, while the Seminoles have struggled to find an answer on offense that involves starter Ashton Daniels.
Daniels notably dropped to 6-21 as a starting quarterback with the loss to SMU. The game was generally pretty ugly, but the quarterback play was one area that could not go unnoticed, as the clear struggles stalled the offense. Norvell spoke about the play of Daniels in depth in his weekly presser and finally took a stand. Yup, he called him out and then some here.
Mike Norvell says he's seen Ashton Daniels execute the offense at speed in practice, but it hasn't translated when there are other factors out there in a live game.
— John Evans (@_jpevans_) September 10, 2026
Norvell previously was critical of Daniels after his poor Week 0 performance against New Mexico State, but offered a positive spin by praising all that the quarterback accomplished in the win. The comments felt more like Norvell trying to polish off the performance, rather than the coach truly revealing what needs to be done to become better. This time, however, Norvell pointed out specifics and called on Daniels to improve his play during games.
Mike Norvell says Ashton Daniels should have pulled the ball on the first play of the Seminoles' drive that could have won the game with over six minutes to play.
— John Evans (@_jpevans_) September 10, 2026
Instead, the drive ended in a sack, and SMU went down the field for the game-winning kick.
Mike Norvell calls out Ashton Daniels for failing to translate success in practice to games
The criticism from Norvell comes after a game against SMU, where Florida State had seemingly every opportunity to crawl into the lead. The Seminoles even had arguably enough time to move into field goal range on their final drive, but multiple overthrows led to the game ending abruptly. There are tons of areas that need work, but better quarterback play could have been enough to give Norvell the win, considering the circumstances.
Daniels had a total of 63 passing yards with only a few minutes left to play, and the quarterback finished the game with a total of 125 passing yards. Daniels has been solid on the ground for Florida State, however, but with running backs like Ousmane Kromah and Samuel Singleton Jr., there is no need for a quarterback who runs 12 times a game.
Norvell might be ready to call out Daniels in the hope of his performance improving, but further struggles would unleash a whole other problem for Florida State. Malachi Marshall and Kevin Sperry are currently the two quarterbacks behind Daniels on the depth chart, and neither offers more encouraging results at the moment. Marshall completed 49.2% of his passes at the FCS level in 2024, while Sperry has not shown clear signs of development.
Another problem that could present itself if Norvell opts to make a change at quarterback would be the persistent offensive line issues. Florida State showed some improvements in that department against SMU, but the line is still a long way away from no longer being a problem. For better or worse, Daniels has experience playing behind broken offensive lines, and throwing in a different quarterback could lead to them being crushed.
Norvell's pursuit of Daniels in the transfer portal and the subsequent results should be used as a cautionary tale across college football. There are some positions where NIL needs to be spent more wisely than others, and the cheaper the staff goes on a certain position, the more likely the position will fall apart during the season. Daniels may not be getting the job done in the eyes of Norvell, but the coach brought the entire situation upon himself.
Florida State notably spread NIL funds across the entire quarterback room, forcing the budget for a starting quarterback to be reduced. Next season, whether Norvell is the coach or someone else, the Seminoles need to manage the NIL fund in a far more financially responsible manner.
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