FSU football: Expectations for FSU against Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Dublin

After months of anticipation, the wait is finally over, the Florida State Seminoles play football this weekend. The Noles are traveling out of the country for a Week 0 kickoff against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. After narrowly missing out on the CFP last season, expectations are sky-high for this FSU team, even with new faces at many positions. Folks like Paul Finebaum have come out in the last 2 weeks, expecting the Seminoles to underperform, some even predicting FSU could lose their season opener. With a new-look roster, what exactly can we expect from Mike Norvell's Seminoles?

FSU opened as 12.5-point favorites against GT, but that line has dropped to -10.5 or -10 in some places, so some folks expect it to be more competitive than one-sided. Georgia Tech is not going to be an easy out coming off of a 7-6 season, but they were better than their record showed. Head coach Brent Key has a year of coaching experience under his belt and has one of the best-returning QBs in the ACC in Haynes King. King has weapons like Eric Singleton, and Malik Rutherford, as well as RB Jamal Haynes. It's safe to say GT should not be over

Saturday will mark a new era in Seminoles football, as DJ Uiagalelei will make his first start in the Garnet and Gold. After a surprising season at Oregon State last year, DJ decided to make Tallahassee his home for 2024.

This FSU offense is built to ground and pound, and facing off against one of the worst pass rushes in the ACC, Uiagalelei and the rest of this offense could find great success in Dublin. GT is returning a lot of defensive starters from the 2023 season, but the defensive unit performed poorly last season, being near the bottom in nearly every ACC statistical category.

Georgia Tech is going to be more comfortable coming out of the gate in this game, and I wouldn't be surprised for FSU to take a few drives to get going, so it will be important that the experienced FSU defense will be ready to go. Norvell should lean on the experience of Roydell Williams and Lawrance Toafili to get Uiagalelei comfortable and into rhythm.

Georgia Tech's experienced offensive line is one of their strongest parts of the roster, so a new-look FSU defensive line, led by Patrick Payton and Marvin Jones Jr. will have to turn the pressure up on Haynes King.

This game may unfold at a slower pace than many expected, but with the overall talent on FSU's sideline, they should have no problem taking care of business. Many doubt this roster, but that should only be fueling the Noles to silence the doubters and set the tone on a promising 2024 campaign.