Gene Frenette: FSU making progress, but challenge for Mike Norvell is getting to next level
When Florida State nearly blew a game it dominated in the season opener against LSU, needing a Shyheim Brown blocked extra point to preserve a 24-23 victory, maybe that was the breakthrough the Seminoles needed to spark a revival.
For the first time since 2016, when the ‘Noles finished 10-3 and beat Michigan in an Orange Bowl nail-biter, it feels like No. 23-ranked FSU (4-0) is building some momentum to become relevant again.
The way they dug themselves out of a hole at Louisville — losing quarterback Jordan Travis to a lower leg injury and having backup Tate Rodemaker rally the team from two fourth-quarter deficits — was another sign that the Seminoles’ days as an afterthought might be over.
Gene's previous 3 columns:
Back in town: Pedersons have fond memories of Philly, but Jacksonville now is their town
New era: Jaguars ushering in "different" era with smackdown of L.A. Chargers
Last week's menu: With QB Richardson off his game, Vols have great chance to stop Gators' torture
Now it’s still early, and the toughest part of their ACC schedule begins Saturday at home against No. 22 Wake Forest (followed by at North Carolina State and home to No. 5 Clemson), but the patience FSU has shown with head coach Mike Norvell is finally paying dividends.
FSU is starting to show real progress on both sides of the ball. The offense is tops in the ACC in total yards (503.8 average) and 15th nationally.
Whether it’s Trey Benson returning a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, Arizona State transfer receiver Johnny Wilson making big plays or Travis improvising, the ‘Noles now seem equipped to win shootouts if necessary, which may be the case in the Wake Forest game.
There are still concerns on defense, particularly with the health of the D-line, and these next three games will be a litmus test of how far along Norvell’s program has come from some pretty dark days.
It’s taken a long time for the ‘Noles to ascend back up from the end of the Jimbo Fisher tenure and the disastrous Willie Taggart era. A five-year record of 26-33 and 16-24 league record felt like a death sentence for a three-time national champion.
The next step for FSU is becoming a legitimate ACC contender again. That mystery will be solved in the next couple weeks.
Caldwell’s key leftovers
The Jaguars franchise is still feeling the impact of former general manager Dave Caldwell, now working remotely from his Jacksonville Beach home as the Philadelphia Eagles’ senior personnel director and advisor to GM Howie Roseman.
Caldwell, who was fired in Nov. 2020, still has 17 players he acquired on the Jaguars’ roster, including 11 draft picks. Six of Caldwell’s players are currently starters — outside linebacker Josh Allen, guard Ben Bartch, defensive lineman Davon Hamilton, offensive tackles Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor and running back James Robinson — along with punter Logan Cooke and long snapper Ross Matiscik.
While Caldwell may be gone, the roster he left behind still has 34 percent of his players on the two-deep chart. So he hardly left the cupboard bare.
Jaguars moving up odds board
The Jaguars’ 38-10 rout of the Los Angeles Chargers produced some interesting movement on NFL betting lines.
Linebacker Devin Lloyd’s three pass breakups and interception elevated his odds to win Defensive Rookie of the Year from 14-1 to 6-1, second behind Detroit Lions’ pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
The odds for Doug Pederson to earn Coach of the Year honors went from 16-1 to 13-2, still behind favorite Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles at 13-4. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence went from 50-1 odds to win league MVP to 33-1 after his 3-touchdown day.
Retirement on hold
Aaron Judge’s 61st home run that tied Roger Maris’ American League single-season record Wednesday wound up ricocheting off a wall into the hands of Toronto Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann.
That prompted Buschmann’s wife, sportscaster and former University of North Florida soccer player Sara Walsh, to tweet: “Bad news is I’m down here in Florida battling a hurricane, but the good news is I can announce my retirement.” Well, not exactly, because hubby gave the ball to the Blue Jays' bullpen pitchers, who turned it over to Yankees’ reliever Zack Britton to hand over to Judge.
Hurricanes’ turn at rock bottom
It happened to Florida in 2014 during an insufferable seven-game losing streak to end a 4-8 season. The Gators fell to then FBC program Georgia Southern 26-20 in late November, putting Will Muschamp on a scorching hot seat that ended with his firing the following year.
Florida State had the embarrassing 20-17 setback to 27-point underdog Jacksonville State last year, thanks to inexplicable coverage on a 59-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the game’s final play.
But for Miami first-year coach Mario Cristobal, losing 45-31 to Middle Tennessee State and veteran QB Tyler Van Dyke being benched for a poor showing was a jaw-dropper. Whether UM bounces back or continues to struggle, getting dominated by a 25-point underdog in that manner won’t soon be forgotten.
Whatever honeymoon period Cristobal was enjoying surely came to a halt with that reality-bites moment. Cristobal has too rich of a contract (10-year, $80 million) to have any job security issues, but this is the kind of defeat that stalls/kills hope.
Three years ago, Manny Diaz’s first season ended with a three-game losing streak that began with an alarming 30-24 loss at FIU, then followed by a loss at Duke and getting shut out 14-0 by Louisiana Tech at the Independence Bowl. Diaz never recovered from that terrible end to his first year.
It’ll be interesting to see if this debacle is just a minor bump on the Cristobal road, or something that reminds UM of how difficult it’s been to rebuild a proud program.
Jones, Patriots regressing
It’s quite obvious Mac Jones, the former Bolles School quarterback who suffered a high ankle sprain Sunday when Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell fell on him, is struggling more than he did last year as a rookie starter.
Jones had a respectable touchdown-interception ratio of 22-13 in 2021 when he was under the tutelage of long-time offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, now the Las Vegas Raiders head coach. But his production has diminished significantly in his first three games (only two TD passes and five picks), and part of the problem might be who’s in charge of the offense.
It's possible BIll Belichick mistakenly thought his offense could function adequately with Matt Patricia, who has spent nearly his entire coaching career on defense, as the play-caller. Belichick also hired Joe Judge, primarily a special-teams coach before he had a two-year run as the New York Giants head coach, as his quarterback coach.
While the Patriots are moving the ball decently (10th in the league in total offense at 364.7 yards), they’re 25th in scoring (16.7 ppg) and look significantly inferior to the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
Patricia and Judge as the primary offensive architects isn’t working. With the injured Jones sidelined indefinitely and middling veteran Brian Hoyer being his temporary replacement, the Patriots are in trouble. The dynasty has given way to a franchise that looks no better than average.
Listen to McIlroy
When his playing days are over, if he has any interest, Rory McIlroy would probably make a fine PGA Tour commissioner or simply a czar of golf. He brings more clarity and common sense to this Tour-LIV Golf spat than just about anybody.
Here’s what he told the BBC in an interview this week: “I’ve probably said a few things that are maybe too inflammatory at times, but it just comes from the heart and how much I hate what this is doing to the game. If we can send rockets to the moon and bring them back again and have them land on their own, I’m sure we can figure out how to make professional golf cohesive again.”
McIlroy makes perfect sense when he says LIV golfers deserve to have world ranking points, but the Greg Norman tour must also concede that only playing 54 holes is something LIV should reconsider.
Both Norman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan would do themselves a lot of good to take pointers from McIlroy’s olive branch attitude.
Pigskin forecast
Jaguars over Philadelphia Eagles by 1 (national perception change); Indianapolis Colts over Tennessee Titans by 1 (ground game revival); Kansas City Chiefs over Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 3 (Patrick Mahomes paybacks); Los Angeles Chargers over Houston Texans by 7 (wound licks); Florida over Eastern Washington by 31 (hurricane survival kits); Florida State over Wake Forest by 3 (Jordan Travis highlight reels); Alabama over Arkansas by 1 (upset scare). Last week: 3 right, 3 Tua Tagovailoa game activations.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540
Gene Frenette Sports columnist at Florida Times-Union, follow him on Twitter @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Frenette: FSU's Norvell, Jaguars odds up, Cristobol down, Patriots regress
