By james art 
FSU head coach Mike Norvell talks about losing to North Carolina
FSU head coach Mike Norvell talks about losing to North Carolina
Florida State football kept falling and couldn’t avoid being beaten by North Carolina’s best rusher, Omarion Hampton. His five-touchdown performance led FSU to its fifth straight loss, 35-11.
The Seminoles fell to 1-8 on the season. It’s the first time since 1974 that the Seminoles have started the year 1-8 and could potentially end the year as a one-win team.
UNC coach Mack Brown picked up his first career win against FSU, putting him at 1-11 against the Seminoles. The Tar Heels improve to 5-4 after a convincing ACC victory.
“Obviously a very disappointing result,” Mike Norvell said in his opening statement.
“Congratulations to Carolina. They did a great job and really dominated the game in almost every phase, offense, defense, special teams. We have to be better than what we showed today. I thought our guys, they worked in preparation but I didn’t have the application of what I expected, what I expected to see.”
While the Seminoles have three games remaining, they finished 1-7 in league play, the program’s worst since joining the ACC.
FSU has Notre Dame, Charleston Southern and Florida on its remaining schedule.
Here are the grades for FSU’s performance.
Offense: F
FSU made another offensive line change for the eighth time in nine games.
Andre Otto started at guard and Jacob Rizzi moved to center. The result remained the same, if not worse.
Neither Brock Glenn, who started for the Seminoles, nor Luke Cromenhoek had time to throw the ball, resulting in one completion in the first half.
After a defensive stop in the red zone by FSU, the line allowed two sacks on Glenn, leading to a three-and-out. FSU allowed a season-high seven sacks.
The running game, as usual, was non-existent as it posted just 42 yards on the ground.
FSU showed some life when Glenn connected with Malik Benson for a 50-yard pass, setting up FSU’s first touchdown on Ja’Khi Douglas’ fourth-and-3. Freshman wide receiver Lawayne McCoy converted the two-point conversion.
“I thought because we were about to get a spark, we made it a 10-point game there in the third quarter, and then their drive down the stretch – we’ve got opportunities,” Norvell said.
“We’ve got guys in position to be able to provide that spark and we’ve just got to be better at finishing it and like I said we’ve got to do a better job in every phase where we’re a better football team than that , which we put on display.”
Glenn completed 6 of 11 passes for 123 yards and one TD. Douglas had two catches while six receivers had one reception in the game.
Defense: F
The defense showed its weakest performance. For the second time, the Seminoles allowed 500 yards of offense. Much of it went to the Hamptons.
Hampton had a field day against the Seminoles, registering 265 total yards and five total touchdowns.
The five-touchdown performance is a career best for the junior. The last player to score five TDs against an FSU defense was Lamar Jackson in 2016 when Louisville beat the Seminoles 63-20.
FSU’s poor possession and failure to get off the field on third down has been consistently awful.
North Carolina went 11-for-16 on third downs, UNC also had nearly 40 minutes of possession.
“You look at third downs, time of possession, it was extremely one-sided and for us, even when we have those things, a positive play, a positive moment, just not being able to sustain that, build on that is something that really hurt this team and hurt us through the whole year,” Norvell said.
The defense’s best play was a fourth-and-1 in the one that kept the Tar Heels out of the endzone in the first quarter. Linebacker Omar Graham Jr. made the tackle. North Carolina has been on the run ever since.
FSU safety Shyheim Brown led the Seminoles with nine tackles. Four different Seminoles registered 0.5 tackles for loss, and Darrell Jackson recorded FSU’s only sack of the day.
Special Teams: B
Special teams has always been a bright spot for the Seminoles all year. Saturday’s loss to the Tar Heers was no different.
The best play of the day was kicker Ryan Fitzgerald’s 56-yard field goal to put the points on the board for the Seminoles in the first quarter. Fitzgerald is now a perfect 10-for-10 on field goals, 5-for-5 on 50-plus.
Alex Mastromano was no disappointment either, as he had 238 yards on five punt attempts. Three of the punts went 50 yards or more. His longest punt was 57 yards, putting the Tar Heels at the 20.
The kicking team allowed a 49-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.
Coaches: F
FSU football quarterback Brock Glenn, wide receiver Ja’Kee Douglas talk about UNC loss
FSU football quarterback Brock Glenn, wide receiver Ja’Kee Dougals talk about UNC loss
It was another poor performance by Norvell and his coaching staff, who failed to put together a game plan against the Tar Heels.
The quarterbacks suffered early due to another offensive shuffle that allowed seven sacks. FSU’s offense hasn’t totaled 300 yards in nine straight games and was 2 for 10 on third downs.
The defense had no answer to stop UNC’s run game, mainly for Hampton. The consistent poor performance from the players also reflects poor coaching leading to another disappointing result.
“We talked about the importance of trying to establish and drive the ground game and how important it is to stop the run against one of the most talented backs we’ve played against, and obviously that was something we weren’t able to do and from both sides,” Norvell said.
FSU 2024 football schedule: TV channels, dates and start times
- Saturday, August 24: vs. Georgia Tech* (Aer Lingus College Football Classic) Lost 24-21
- Monday, September 2: vs. Boston College* | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Lost 28-13
- Saturday, September 7: bye
- Saturday, September 14: vs. Memphis | Lunch | ESPN (Fubo) Lost 20-12
- Saturday, September 21: vs. Cal* | 19:00| ESPN2 (Fubo) won 14-9
- Saturday, September 28: at No. 20 SMU* | 8:00 PM EST | ACC Network Lost 42-16
- Saturday, October 5: vs. No. 9 Clemson* | 19:00| ESPN (Fubo) Lost 29-13
- Saturday, October 12: bye
- Friday, October 18: at Duke* | 19 hours | ESPN2 (Fubo) Lost 23-16
- Saturday, October 26: at number 5 Miami* | 19 hours | ESPN (Fubo) Lost 36-14
- Saturday, November 2: vs. North Carolina* | 3:30 in the afternoon| ESPN (Fubo) Lost 35-11
- Saturday, November 9: of Notre Dame Notre | 7:30 p.m. | NBC (fubo, peacock)
- Saturday, November 16: bye
- Saturday, November 23: vs. Charleston Southern
- Saturday, November 30: against Florida
- Saturday, December 6: ACC Championship Game (Charlotte, NC)
All times east
* = ACC
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him by email at [email protected] or at X @_Da_pistol.