By james art 
Florida State (1-7, 1-6 ACC) hosts the North Carolina Tar Heels (4-4, 1-3 ACC) at 3:30 PM ET today, wrapping up conference play in Tallahassee.
FSU is trying to avoid matching its 1-8 start to the 1974 1-10 season, as well as avoid finishing with its worst record in ACC play by defeating the Tar Heels. UNC head coach Mack Brown is 0-11 in his career when facing the Seminoles – his alma mater.
Before the game, Florida State announced its uniform combination – gold helmets with maroon jerseys and maroon pants:
The last time the two schools faced off in 2021, FSU wore an alternate gold-white-white look on the road. In 2020, when UNC traveled to Tallahassee, FSU wore its classic home, a combination worn 12 times in the series. Gold-white-gold has been worn five times, with gold-white-garnet and the aforementioned gold-white-white twice.
According to the FSU Uniform Tracker, the Seminoles have worn 10 different uniform combinations under head coach Mike Norvell – all garnet, all white, white-garnet-white, garnet-black-garnet, gold-white-garnet, gold-black-garnet, gold -black-gold, gold-white-gold-traditional guest and traditional home.
Florida State Seminoles vs. North Carolina: How to watch
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Florida State Seminoles vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Pregame coverage from Tomahawk Nation
Florida State vs. North Carolina: Game Notes
- Florida State returns home for its ACC finale against North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. FSU is the first team in the nation to play its entire conference schedule and is the only team to play a conference opponent in eight of its first nine games in 2024.
- The Seminoles have won eight straight games in November after posting perfect 4-0 records in both 2022 and 2023, improving head coach Mike Norvell’s career record in the final month of the regular season to 24-5 ( .828).
- Florida State is the only team in the ACC and one of two nationally with a kickoff touchdown in each of the past three seasons. Samuel Singleton, Jr., extended FSU’s streak to three straight years with a 95-yard punt return touchdown to open Duke’s second half. Last year, Deuce Spann had a 99-yard kickoff return at home against the Blue Devils, and in 2022, Trey Benson recorded FSU’s first kickoff touchdown since the 2013 season when he returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score against Boston College.
- The Seminoles are tied for 1st in the nation with five blocked shots this season thanks to four field goals and one blocked kick after blocking one field goal against Cal, one at SMU and two against Clemson and adding a blocked kick of Duke. Florida State is one of only two teams in the country to block at least one punt in four different games against FBS opponents, and its four-game streak with at least one blocked kick between the SMU and Duke games is the longest nationally this season. FSU’s 14 blocked shots under Mike Norvell are 6th nationally and 2nd among P4 conference programs since the start of the 2020 season.
- Florida State ranks No. 1 in the nation with a net average of 46.58 yards per punt. Alex Mastromano’s 49.6 yards per punt average is No. 1 nationally, and Mastromano also leads the nation in punts of 50+ yards with 21. He has by far the most punts of 50 yards with one or more few touchbacks this season as the next closest player has 15.
- Ryan Fitzgerald is the only kicker in the country with four field goals of at least 52 yards. He is one of five kickers with four 50-yard field goals in 2024 and the third kicker in FSU history with at least four 50-yard field goals in a season. He is one of five kickers nationally still perfect on a field goal with at least nine attempts this season.
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Florida State held Duke to 70 yards, recording a season-high eight pass breakups and 180 yards of total offense. The pass total was the fewest allowed by an ACC team against a P4 conference opponent this season, and the Seminoles’ turnover total was the most since they registered 10 in the 2023 ACC Championship Game victory.
- Florida State recorded 7.0 sacks in the win over Cal, its most in a game since it also had 7.0 in the 2023 ACC Championship Game and the most allowed by the Bears in a game since Oct. 19, 2019. That total sack count is also the 2nd-most by an ACC team against an FBS opponent this season and tied for the 9th-most single-game sack total in 2024.
- Ten Florida State players made their first collegiate starts in 2024. Linebacker Blake Nickelson has started five games and wide receiver Haikeem Williams has started five consecutive games. Defensive back KJ Kirkland has started five of the last six games and offensive lineman Jaylen Early has also started five games this season. Tight end Landon Thomas has started three straight games. Offensive lineman Andre Otto made his first start against Clemson and started again at Duke. Linebacker Justin Cryer made his first two career starts at Duke and at Miami. Wide receiver Jalen Brown started the first two games of the season, while tight ends Brian Courtney and Jackson West made their first career tackles against Memphis.
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