Florida State football, recruiting news: Is FSU college football’s biggest first half disappointment?

Football

• In his seven biggest disappointments from the first half of the college football season, CBS Sports’ Baton Simmons has Florida State pinned as one of those disappointments— are they the biggest on his list?

Florida State: The team that was a consensus pick to reach the playoffs in the preseason and a trendy national champion pick is sitting at 2-3 and hasn't been more than one touchdown better than anybody they've played to date. Sometimes it's just not your year. The injury bug bites you. The ball bounces the wrong way. The off-field troubles hit. But that's not the case with Florida State. As devastating as starting quarterback Deondre Francois' injury seemed at the time, James Blackman has played well enough to win and there haven't been significant injuries or roster attrition to think otherwise. The roster is full and the pieces are in place. Florida State just hasn't lived up to the expectations.

• In case you missed it, two Florida State starting receivers have been ruled out for Saturday’s game vs. Louisville. Here’s the full injury report.
• In their midseason crystal ball predictions, only one Sports Illustrated featured writer has an ACC team other than Clemson making the College Football Playoff.
• TV ratings for the first couple of weeks of the college football season have been released, and the FSU-Alabama game has left the rest in the dust.

Recruiting

• Noles247 has the latest update on No. 5 overall prospect FSU target Micah Parsons and other prospects from the East ($).

Alumni

Other Sports

• Florida State soccer lost a heartbreak on Thursday night, giving up two goals in the final 10 minutes of a 4-3 defeat— its third straight conference loss.