5 questions, 5 answers: Takeaways after FSU falters in 10th-straight road loss

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Florida State (1-2, 0-1 ACC) had its chances against Alabama, especially after going up 21-6, but in the end couldn’t keep up with the Crimson Tide in a 50-26 loss on Saturday night.

The Seminoles gave up 567 yards of offense, the second straight game of giving up 550-plus, and despite putting up decent yardage themselves (471, 22.2 yards per completion), FSU was unable to overcome three Ashton Daniels interceptions.

What are the main takeaways from a 10th-straight road loss? The Tomahawk Nation staff breaks it down below.

Did tonight tell you anything about FSU that you didn’t know before?

• Tony: Yes, that FSU is capable of converting on third down.
• Jon: Nothing really that we didn’t already know. This was essentially the same game as last year, just with a worse roster, and the results reflected it.
• LastNoleofKrypton: Didn’t learn anything new. I believe I called the QB a bottleneck earlier, and that remains true. The defense is 2009 bad.
• NoleThruandThru: Not really. The offense and defense can still look like competent units when things are clicking, but there just isn’t enough depth and talent on the roster to compete against very good teams for four quarters.
• Curt: 2025 Duce Robinson is still in there and can maybe win FSU a few games this season against teams of a lower caliber.
• Matt: That FSU can run the ball even against a stout front seven. Unfortunately, one of our bigger weapons out of the backfield seems like he’ll miss at least a few games.
• Frank: Not really. The defense was the same ol’ same ol’, but the offense played their best game of the season.
• Jacob: We learned that Duce can in fact produce, which is great. Loved to see that. The defense giving up 50 was to be expected given it’s Alabama, but I was pleasantly surprised at them being able to hang 36 on them. Whether that’s Bama’s fault or us being genuinely good is debatable.
• Tim: That with the right play-calling, Ashton Daniels can be a “competent” quarterback. Don’t get me wrong, he made costly mistakes tonight. But the Seminoles can at least score points with him … not sure how many they can win with him.
• Jordan: It told me that there are no answers on defense. On offense, it told me that Norvell can still script a good game plan. Obviously, once they got off script, the offense was not as smooth. But the start of the game was what the offense could be.
• Perry: That Mike Norvell will definitely have a job as an offensive coordinator sooner or later once things play out in Tallahassee.

What was the official turning point of tonight’s loss?

• Tony: Second weather delay, along with the missed holding call on Ryan Williams’ 46-yard touchdown. Just looked flat on defense since.
• Jon: The second-quarter run by Alabama. People will point out the flagrant holding call on the one touchdown, but the way the defense was just getting shredded all night, I don’t think it made that big of a difference.
• LastNoleofKrypton: The second delay, when they realized “oh yeah, Tony White’s defense never sets an edge.”
• NoleThruandThru: We all know when the turning point hit. Shame that lightning delay didn’t come five minutes earlier.
• Curt: I think it would have happened anyway, but the second delay no doubt turned the tide (pun intended). Alabama’s coaches adjusted and motivated. It’s hard to tell if FSU’s impromptu halftime had the same effect.
• Matt: Allowing Bama to gain 15 or so yards on two different third-and-longs in the second quarter that allowed short fourth downs to be converted. At that point in the game, FSU had all the momentum. Even just hold them to 8 or 10 yards on third down and it forces a punt, and FSU might have been able to put the game away early.
• Frank: The timing of the second delay. Not even one minute earlier? Come on, man. The missed penalties on key plays, while expected, were killers.
• Jacob: Bama’s two-play touchdown drive, with Ryan Williams getting the long reception and scoring. Showed that Bama is still trouble when you’re least expecting it, and that this was probably going to be a loss no matter how big FSU was up.
• Tim: You could point to the end of the second quarter, but I think it’s when Alabama climbs to being down 21-13. Once the Tide realized they could do whatever they want to this defense, it was all over.
• Jordan: Clearly the run when Alabama scored three touchdowns in the span of three minutes of game time.
• Perry: When Florida State was unable to go touchdown-for-touchdown in the third quarter, punting for the first time. The second that the Seminoles couldn’t keep up with the scoring, putting things on the defense, it was over.

Scale of 1-10, how would you grade FSU’s offense? Defense?

• Tony: Offense 8.7 — 36 points on the road. Defense 2.5 — did good the first quarter, then forgot how to stop anything after that.
• Jon: Offense 8. Daniels had some bone-headed plays, but at the end of the day you scored 36 points in Tuscaloosa. Can’t ask for much more. Defense was a 10 in the first quarter and a 1 the rest of the way.
• LastNoleofKrypton: Offense 8, defense 3.
• NoleThruandThru: I’d give the offense a solid 7. They actually played well enough tonight to win, had the defense even played above average. The defense gets a 3 from me. Leave Tony White in Tuscaloosa. What a disappointing unit.
• Curt: Offense was a 7. Even against a more talented defense, the ground game remained good, a number of receivers stepped up and Ashton Daniels hit some open receivers. He also threw three picks and consistently held onto the ball way too long, limiting the ceiling of that number. Defense was a 2. No turnovers forced, basically no resistance after two three-and-outs to start the game.
• Matt: Offense: 7. Too many turnovers and missed opportunities to go higher. Defense: 2. In a word, yikes.
• Frank: Offense, 8. Those first few drives when FSU threw short passes on first and second down? Yeah, that was cool. Defense, 4. The biggest disappointments are the players FSU paid good money to come back because FSU thought they were worth it. Just disappointing. I would sit Rawls for at least the first series next week for being an a-hole.
• Jacob: 7 out of 10 for the offense. Again, pleasantly surprised. Three interceptions by Daniels brings this down. I was expecting this to be much lower scoring and for it to be close. Ultimately, it was close. It’s tough for me to feel all that bad about it since it’s Alabama and you’re going to Tuscaloosa. Those weather delays certainly didn’t help. Defense: 2 out of 10, because you let them score 50 and it was 21-6.
• Tim: Offense, 7. Daniels made mistakes, but Duce, Boggs and Danzy all had moments. Kromah is Kromah (hope Singleton is OK), and the offensive line wasn’t terrible. Defense, 1? Can we rank negative? This defense is awful. Crazy to say with how bad I think this team is, but it could have potentially been 3-0 with even a decent defense.
• Jordan: Offense an 8. Defense … yeesh. About as bad as it gets in the second half.
• Perry: I’ll give the offense an eight too, even though its frustrating knowing that it could be really humming with better eyes under center. There was enough on that side of the ball for FSU to have pulled off a stunner, if only the defense had stopped the Alabama offense once after the first two drives of the game.

Glass quarter-full, who or what was the bright spot of the game?

• Tony: Chris Jones’ performance in the first quarter and a half.
• Jon: At most nine more games.
• LastNoleofKrypton: You have to give it up to the receiving corps as a whole and the offensive line. You did enough to win this game.
• NoleThruandThru: Sam Singleton may go down as the most puzzlingly underutilized running back in FSU history. I genuinely feel bad for him. He’d be a 1,500-total-yard guy at a competent program with a good offensive line.
• Curt: The receiver depth. Duce breaking out was big, but it was also encouraging to see Danzy and Boggs make strides (hopefully for a new QB here soon).
• Matt: It was nice to finally see Duce get some targets.
• Frank: The bright spot for me was that the team came in prepared and not intimidated by 100,000 fans, and effectively shut them down for almost two quarters. Unfortunately, we all knew FSU did not have the depth or talent to compete with Bama for four quarters.
• Jacob: The playmakers. Robinson and Kromah were good, a touchdown each. I appreciate what they did for us tonight.
• Tim: The wide receivers. Lots of yards for the group (would have been better if not for uncalled DPIs).
• Jordan: Loved seeing Duce get involved. Not sure why that hasn’t happened more. On that note, the explosive pass plays were impressive. Not sure what else after that.
• Perry: I’m with Jacob, seeing FSU actually utilize its guys was a frustrating reminder of the potential that this team could have. The offensive line also really impressed me, it held up better than anybody would have thought after the first two games of the season.

Do you move on from Ashton Daniels after tonight?

• Tony: Yes. His awareness rating would be a 0 — never knows when to just throw the ball away, usually resulting in a silly sack or an awful interception. He had some moments of throwing deep balls, and that touchdown run plus two-point conversion in the fourth. But it’s time to hand Marshall the keys and see what he can do.
• Jon: Might as well see what you have in Marshall. Daniels isn’t getting this team to a bowl game.
• LastNoleofKrypton: You have two weeks to get Malachi Marshall ready for Virginia.
• NoleThruandThru: I’ve been on team Marshall since he signed with FSU, so yeah, I would definitely move on to see what you have in Marshall. However, Norvell will likely say he saw enough good from Daniels to justify keeping him as the starter. The main thing on my mind is that I cannot wait until Garrett and the rest of the GM staff get canned. Fire them into the sun. This roster management is just atrocious.
• Curt: As alluded to above, yes. An FCS opponent is the perfect time to see what your No. 1 JUCO QB has to offer.
• Matt: Yes. He has clear limitations and is now something like 6-23 as a starter. I don’t know if Malachi is the answer, but I’d at least like to find out.
• Frank: Go with the 175-pound Marshall kid, and if he gets broken you can bring back Daniels.
• Jacob: This is genuinely tough. If you’re Norvell, you’re going with whoever has the best opportunity to win. He made some good plays. If you’re looking to evaluate for next year, since this is likely not the year, it may be best to have him in against Central Arkansas just to see what he can do. Go from there.
• Tim: Me? Yes. Mike? No. This game showed AD’s strengths; Norvell just has to decide to lean into them.
• Jordan: This season will clearly be a wash. UL just beat SMU and FSU faces them on the road. Might as well see if you have anything, because you know what Daniels is and, most importantly, is not.
• Perry: If you’re Mike Norvell, and you want to save your job, you have to. Daniels does just enough to not kill you, but he doesn’t do enough to help you win a game. He hit big plays at big moments (his touchdown run was especially impressive) but the small mistakes and the slow processing time compounded are keeping Florida State from fully gunning. It might not really matter in the grand scheme, considering opponents are able to score and move the ball at will, but you might as well go full Big 12 and try to put up 50 each week to overcome your defensive flaws.

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