FSU FOOTBALL
Florida State football lost to Miami by a score of 28-22 at home, as the Hurricanes continue their winning ways while the Seminoles are on a two-game losing streak. It was a disappointing result for the team as they looked to bounce back after the Virginia loss.
This is not a time for "moral victories" or excuses, but the Seminoles didn't seem to get their flow until the fourth quarter, when they had scored 19 points during that period.
Nonetheless, the offensive line played well at times against two ultra-talented pass rushers, Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor. Bain Jr. could be a top-five pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
OFFENSIVE LINE DEPTH
Florida State hired a new offensive line coach with Herb Hand this offseason. He has been around several Power Four teams, such as Texas, Auburn, Penn State, Vanderbilt, and UCF, so the experience speaks for itself.
However, there is a limitation in Tallahassee as Coach Hand had to acquire four new starters on the line since the previous regime had an issue with developing the young talent that they had. The offensive line has been a solid success thus far.
The unit knew that it would be tested against Miami, and it had offensive tackle Micah Pettus injured, who left the game. As a result, the Seminoles inserted starting offensive guard Adrian Medley at tackle and then put veteran depth piece Jacob Rizy at guard.
This would have been a situation where I would have liked to have seen Jonathan Daniels and Lucas Simmons in the contest to see what the Seminoles would get from the youngsters. Both were highly-touted prospects in their respective recruiting classes that the coaching staff values.
If Daniels and/or Simmons were used at right tackle, this would have allowed Rizy to be the backup piece for wherever Florida State saw fit. The good news is that Coach Norvell mentioned that he didn't have a definite update on Pettus, but did suggest that he didn't think that it was long-term.