To say Florida State showed up when it last traveled to Notre Dame is correct, technically.
The Seminoles were sentient and in the stadium. On the field, though, they were barely present, miserable in every way. They were cold. And they were no match for Notre Dame in a 42-13 loss on Nov. 10, 2018, at that point stuck in a backslide that eventually resulted in head coach Willie Taggart’s dismissal a year later.
Two seasons later, Florida State (1-2, 0-2 ACC) will come to Notre Dame Stadium Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC) having offered little hope of a result too different than the prior one. The December 2019 hiring of former Memphis head coach Mike Norvell produced one Norvell positive COVID-19 test before it produced a win.
The Seminoles opened with a 16-13 loss to Georgia Tech — predicted to finish last in the ACC — and then were noncompetitive in a 52-10 loss to Miami Sept. 26 with Norvell sidelined due to his positive test. Saturday’s 41-24 win over Football Championship Subdivision opponent Jacksonville State was a step forward, but nothing Florida State did in that game was going to erase the horrors of the first two.
“When you sit there and go through a game like that, I hurt for everyone,” Norvell told reporters from isolation after the Miami loss. “It’s sickening to have to live through that. But the only way to live through that is how to choose to respond.”
Perhaps this weird season and this start to it isn’t the fairest time to draw a firm conclusion on the Norvell hire, but it hasn’t produced anything different on the field than the program’s 18-20 record from 2017-19. Signs of life are as infrequent as snow in Tallahassee.
“We’re still at the beginning stages,” Norvell said. “But I know what we’re doing and what we’re teaching is the right way. It does win.”
