Ashton Daniels went down in Florida State’s 50-36 Week 3 loss to Alabama, but he went down swinging. The Auburn transfer quarterback faced the Crimson Tide for the second time in his career and averaged over 11 yards per dropback with an average depth of target over 15 yards downfield, and accounted for four touchdowns.
However, Daniels also turned the ball over, throwing three interceptions and being sacked three times, with an average time to throw of almost four seconds. He threw caution to the wind, which, in some ways, he deserves credit for in a game where his defense let him down, but his three turnovers also led to nine points.
All things considered, it was Daniels’ best game as a Seminole. Was it deserving of the praise Mike Norvell bestowed upon it? Certainly not.
"There's not a lot of quarterbacks in the history of college football that have gone into that stadium and played the way he played,” Norvell said on Monday.
So why was Norvell so hyperbolic? The best guess is that he knows he doesn’t have any other option at the position, so he can’t see Daniels lose his confidence after a 1-2 start.
Mike Norvell can’t throw Malachi Marshall into the fire, but he may debut vs. Central Arkansas
Iowa Western transfer Malachi Marshall arrived in Tallahassee over the summer, but even with a truncated offseason, he seemingly managed to surpass 2025 three-star Kevin Sperry for the QB2 job. Marshall added some much-needed weight and appeared to play well throughout fall camp.
Marshall is a talented thrower and an intriguing prospect, but it's a big jump to go from the JuCo level to starting in the ACC, and if Norvell felt he was ready, he may not feel the need to be so protective of his current QB1.
Daniels’ performance against Alabama wasn’t worthy of a benching. But his third-down struggles against FSU squandered a +4 turnover margin (FSU’s lone turnover came on the final play), and after arriving with a 23/22, touchdown/interception ratio, he’s thrown four apiece this year. That’s about what Florida State paid for, cheaping out in its offers for Anthony Colandrea and DJ Lagway, and it's not good enough to paper over an abysmal defense.
So, fans can be forgiven for their interest in opening the mystery box that Marshall currently is. But Norvell doesn’t sound like a coach ready to indulge that curiosity, and that probably means that Marshall isn’t quite as good as the most optimistic fans are hoping.
The best-case scenario for everyone involved, however, is that Marshall does finally see the field on Saturday in Week 4 as Florida State hosts Norvell’s alma mater, Central Arkansas. That includes Daniels, who would presumably have to play well enough for the Seminoles to build a convincing lead.
Then, Marshall would have a chance to prove whether or not he’s capable of leading a functioning offense and, potentially, start to change Norvell’s tune on Daniels, because Daniels wasn’t disastrously bad in Week 3, but there are plenty of QBs who could have gone into Bryant-Denny Stadium and thrown three interceptions. And I’m pretty sure Norvell knows that.
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