5 questions, 5 answers: FSU continues to embarrass itself with the disastrous loss to Duke

Florida State (1-6, 1-5 ACC) suffered its first loss to Duke in football after another embarrassing and error-filled performance…ever.

Fans swear they've had it bad in the Willie Taggart era, and Mike Norvell wants them to hold on to their beer as FSU continues its worst start since a 1-10 season in 1974. The Seminoles are poorly coached, put in little effort and the veterans continue to make performance mistakes that you would expect from a true freshman in spring ball.

As always after every single Florida State game Tomahawk Nation tackled the task of breaking down the matchup with five answers to five questions.

What was the most annoying mistake of the evening, whether coach or player?

Matt Minnick: No, I can't just stay with one. Mike calling a timeout on a punt from the middle of the field with an All-American punter made me rage inside. Kentron dropped a dime of a TD pass and Benson killed our fake punt momentum with a simple drop. That was really frustrating, but unfortunately to be expected for this wide receiver room. It was mind-blowing when Mike had Brock do anything other than shake Toafili's hand after the second turnover. But the worst part for me was that Jalen Brown made about 2% of his effort at pick 6. He makes no attempt to break up the pass or get an OPI or anything like that. And then don't try to attack him. He's lucky he plays for coaches who don't seem inclined to hold kids accountable, because if it were me, he'd be done for good and the last zero check would have bounced.

Tim: Matt's not wrong, so much happened in this game it's insane. For me it was the Kentron drop. That was a drop-in-the-bucket pass from Kro that would have made a big difference. Not just for the game, but potentially for the young quarterback as well. At this point, FSU needs to see what their young wide receivers like McCoy, Moore, etc. are capable of. You can't be any worse, can you?

Evenflow58: I don't know if the tenth time I got kicked in the balls was much different than the ninth time. There isn't much more to say. You can argue that you should play against the younger guys, and I wouldn't argue, but they're not ready to play yet and by and large aren't getting the training they need to get there. It's just a total failure.

NoleThruandThru: Why do we continue to see experienced players being verbally abused or making unforced errors? Oh, because this staff keeps pushing them out and refusing to play as underclassmen in spots they MUST evaluate for the future. We should never see people like Rob Scott or Kentron Poitier in a non-garbage era again. I'm willing to bet that the majority of FSU fans knew Poitier was going to give up that touchdown pass when they realized who the target was. This receiving corps is atrocious.

Jon Lösche: Kentron Poitier drops the finest touchdown pass by an FSU quarterback since Jameis. This one piece managed to sum up so much of what went wrong this year.

Was this the low point of the season for FSU?

Matt Minnick: Absolutely. You just lost to a terrible Duke team despite holding them to 185 yards of total offense, marking the first loss to this historic doormat program in school history. And your head coach keeps spouting the same coaching line saying, “It has to be better.” That’s worse than Jax State.

Evenflow58: No, because I expected that. I would argue that the game against Boston College was the low point, because it made even the most positive fans realize that they had been given a lot of success. Duke is not good and is probably the worst 6-1 team in the country, but they are 6-1.

NoleThruandThru: Absolutely, because we continue to see a coaching staff giving play instructions that are common in the Bush League and experienced players making unforced errors. No adjustments. No progress. The bye week made no difference. You could almost think that FSU would have voluntarily given up the game tonight. Mike Norvell has now made history as the only FSU head coach to lose to Duke. Just when I think things can't get any worse, Clark Griswold tells me we're on the brink of hell.

Jon Lösche: Not even close. SMU and Memphis were worse. Not to mention the potential loss to Miami next week by more than 30% or a loss to Florida in front of the smallest crowd for a UF game since the 70s.

Given that FSU is all but guaranteed to have a losing season, what changes can Mike Norvell make during the season to impact this team?

Evenflow58: I think we're playing the strings with Norvell right now. He's shown that recruiting isn't a priority for him, and he's unwilling to support coaches who can't get it done. At some point this attitude permeates the team. They've wallpapered the portal, but the rot is in the walls. Either he has to be lucky in the portal AND recruit and develop better, otherwise he is finished. Given that FSU missed a bowl in half of Norvell's tenure, and the fact that he didn't make any changes after last year, I'm not sure he's ready to make the necessary changes. It's a brutal business and Norvell is not.

NoleThruandThru: Fully commit to the youth movement, get meaningful game reps for as many freshmen and sophomores as possible, and begin evaluating assistant coaches and recruiting staff to hire. I don't care if it's due to season-ending injuries or whatever, there are plenty of upperclassmen on this roster who should never see the field again. The same goes for some of the assistant coaches.

Matt Minnick: He has to fire someone. I'm absolutely serious. Mike Norvell needs to show his coaches and players that not correcting mistakes will cost you your job. A guy like Jalen Brown needs to sit on the bench, Von Wafer style. (Ham simply stopped playing it altogether in the middle of his sophomore year). A guy like Jackson West who takes a stupid penalty when we get the ball in the 7th minute needs to be sent to the practice squad. And a man like Alex Atkins needs to have the title “offensive coordinator” removed from his title and duties. There have to be consequences if you perform worse game after game. This is called earning your $10 million salary.

Jon Lösche: Full commitment to the youth movement. I feel like we've been saying this since the Memphis game, but we're actually realizing it now and we need to keep it up. As others have said, he also needs to make serious personnel changes.

Should Norvell have left Luke Kromenhoeck in the game or was switching back to Brock Glenn the right decision?

Evenflow58: I guess, but does it matter? It wasn't like Kromenhoeck set it on fire. Yes, he had no turnovers, but that doesn't mean that wasn't the case. I let Brock sit for a while to cool him down and allow him to collect himself so I'll understand when I use Kromenhoeck, but the team is so bad that it doesn't matter much who the quarterback is. It is a failure on every level.

NoleThruandThru: I'm glad they both saw the field, but is Wildcat just not a thing this year? We're really not going to try Kam Davis, Deuce Spann, Toafili, Bueller? Bueller?

Tim: I'm not sure there's a right answer here, as none of the quarterbacks were outstanding. However, I think sticking with Luke might be the right choice. The game seemed a step too fast for him, but he seemed to make the right decisions. Can he keep up with the pace of the game if he gets the entire second half? Is FSU still only scoring three points with him at QB? I think I would have taken the chance. I doubt there is even a discussion about whether the two dropped passes will ultimately be caught.

Matt Minnick: I agree with Tim, if Hykeem Williams wasn't afraid of contact (in an era where defenders aren't even allowed to hit receivers that hard, no less), then it's probably not even a question. But what about this: Toa at Wildcat? Did that stay in Charlotte? We may not have the 2023 defense, but the D wiped out Duke's pathetic offense. Maybe Toa Wildcat, mixed with a few Luke runs and short passes, will get the job done?

Jon Lösche: I understand why Mike did it. Luke took a few bad shots, and in the end you don't want Brock's confidence to be completely destroyed because he's the only other option at QB the rest of the way. Other than that, I would have kept Luke in there.

What positive impact, if any, can be gained from this loss?

Evenflow58: My daughter's school had a Halloween festival tonight. We had really good weather and were able to get in and out pretty quickly. I was able to park in an area where we didn't have to use the overloaded shuttle.

Matt Minnick: There is none. I enjoyed watching Graham continue to improve at LB. I enjoyed watching FSU's DB take his turn and find the football. But at the end of the day, the defense forced zero turnovers and the team lost to Duke. There is nothing positive in this.

NoleThruandThru: It was nice to see Luke K finally play some meaningful snaps and strike out a few times. FSU still has the best punter/kicker duo in the country. Otherwise zero.

Tim: The defense was the best it has seen all year. It's hard to say how strong Duke's offense was compared to its defense, but they definitely played better. The linebackers mostly hit the right spots, the corners played brilliantly, and the defensive tackles consistently broke down the line.

Jon Lösche: Luke throws a really nice ball, even though FSU doesn't have a single WR that can catch it.

FSU is now preparing for Miami, which is great because that would be the first time they've prepared for anything this year.