Night games at Notre Dame Stadium since 2011 have featured only the marquee, big-name, ranked opposition: Michigan, USC, Texas, Stanford … and, of course, No. 1 Clemson this Nov. 7.
From a name perspective, the 2020 Florida State Seminoles still carry such cachet, which is why this Saturday’s kickoff at Notre Dame Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on NBC. Break out the highlights of the No. 1-versus-No. 2 showdown on Nov. 13, 1993 won by the Fighting Irish, or the controversy from reigning national champion and No. 2 FSU’s 31-27 win over No. 5 Notre Dame at Tallahassee in October 2014.
The matchup oozes with memories of eminent talent … but this year also with how one of the mighty have fallen so hard.
In the 13 seasons from 1987-99, Florida State set the NCAA record for most consecutive finishes in the Associated Press top four, highlighted by national titles in 1993 — despite losing 31-24 to No. 2 Notre Dame in November — and 1999. The Seminoles also posted a remarkable 11-2 bowl record during that time, with all but one a major.
In 2000, they finished “only” No. 5, but then the slippage began to really show 2001-09 under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Bobby Bowden. They never finished in the AP top 10 his last nine seasons, and were 7-6, 7-6, 9-4 and 7-6 his final four campaigns (2006-09) before he stepped down at age 80.
Enter Jimbo Fisher, who in his third season in 2012 guided the Seminoles to their first ACC title in seven years (which had once been an automatic) en route to a 29-game winning streak. It was highlighted by the 2013 national title (14-0), followed by a 13-0 start in 2014 with Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston at quarterback, before losing to Oregon in the College Football Playoff.
It was a top-five program again — yet here we are in October 2020 with the Seminoles just 19-22 in their last 41 games, notably a 52-10 shellacking at Miami Sept. 26.
Even prior to that debacle versus the Hurricanes, FOX college football analyst Urban Meyer, a three-time national champion at Florida (2006 and 2008) and Ohio State (2014), prophesied immense hardships for first-year Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell because of the fracture within.
The Seminoles are on their third head coach in four years after Fisher bolted and Willie Taggart (2018-19) was bought out for $18 million while producing a 9-12 ledger, including a 42-13 loss at Notre Dame in November 2018.
This year it began with a 16-13 loss at home to Georgia Tech, which finished 3-9 last season and was projected for last place in 2020 in the 15-team ACC. It was the fourth straight year the Seminoles dropped their home opener.
“The Florida State I remember, [it was] Bobby Bowden with all those first-round draft picks,” Meyer said. “It would be unthinkable to not win 11 games. … [Norvell] is in quicksand right now. I hope he gets himself out, because if it keeps going in reverse, they won’t win five games.”
If that rough debut was not enough, Norvell then tested positive for COVID-19, which shelved him against Miami.
In the preseason, we described the Seminoles’ current infrastructure as a “grease fire.” It reared itself in June when potential first-round defensive tackle Marvin Wilson called out Norvell on social media after the head coach told The Athletic that he had engaged in conversations with his new team about racial injustice in America.
“Man this [poop emoji] did not happen, mane [sic],” Wilson tweeted. “We got a generated text that was sent to everybody. There was no one-on-one talk between us and coach. This is a lie and me and my teammates as a whole are outraged and we will not be working out until further notice.”
Eventually, it was smoothed over, but then in August another tempest brewed when several players, specifically among the receiver crew, publicly proclaimed doubts again on social media about the program, including how it was dealing with the coronavirus.
D.J. Matthews tweeted, “All the Lies smh [shakin’ my head],” and eventually entered the transfer portal.
Warren Thompson posted on Twitter about how he has been “lied to multiple times about the conditions of other players’ health as well as mine. … The lies from our leaders have backed myself into [a] corner putting my overall well being in jeopardy. The neglect to respond to this issue is very concerning and why I’ve [drawn] attention to it.”
A few days later he retracted his statement and apologized. Still, from a public perception standpoint, some internal damage had been done, and that suspicion grew following the surprising loss to rebuilding Georgia Tech. Then the first half of the Miami game Sept. 26 provided more ammunition, if not validation, that the program was beyond just fractured.
Miami scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions while building a 38-3 halftime lead with 333 yards of total offense en route to a 52-10 victory. In that first half, FSU also yielded nine tackles for loss, including five sacks, and had eight penalties for 78 yards (finished with “only” 12 for 113).
Falling behind this past Saturday 14-0 to Football Championship Subdivision opponent Jacksonville State created potentially the most embarrassing defeat in the program’s history — until third-team quarterback Jordan Travis was inserted and directed five consecutive touchdown drives in the 41-24 victory, during which Norvell was back on the sidelines.
Few elements can galvanize or resuscitate a program more than a successful, effective quarterback transition. Much more work needs to be done internally in Tallahassee to believe the Seminoles will be “back” this year, but they at least shouldn’t be completely demoralized flying up north as a 21-point underdog as they would have been with a loss to the Gamecocks.
Still, FSU was without three defensive starters, including standout future NFL safety Hamsah Nasirildeen for an unspecified reason.
What once was a marquee showdown is now more about Florida State avoiding bad theatre.
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