FSU at 2023 ACC Kickoff: Schedule, how to watch, info

The 2023 ACC Kickoff is here, with several schools already having taken their turn at the podium as well as ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips.

On Tuesday, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Louisville Cardinals, Miami Hurricanes and Syracuse Orange all took time with the media in Charlotte, talking about preseason expectations ahead of the season — you can find those transcripts below:

Georgia Tech: Brent Key, LaMiles Brooks, Jordan Williams, Sylvain Yondjouen

Louisville: Jeff Brohm, Ashton Gillotte, Bryan Hudson, Jawhar Jordan

Miami: Mario Cristobal, Kam Kinchens, Matt Lee, Tyler Van Dyke

Syracuse: Dino Babers, Oronde Gadsden, Garrett Shrader, Marlowe Wax

Phillips spoke on a variety of topics, including the conference’s TV deals, financial concerns and NIL:

I’m well aware of the narrative and stories surrounding the ACC and our members as well as the frustrations of some of our schools on our financials, but these are not new. The initiatives I just mentioned combined with future endeavors are designed to ensure that the ACC remains a healthy and vibrant conference that competes at the highest level, and is capable of winning nine national titles like this past year, if not more.

In certainly one of the most turbulent times in history for both media and college sports, I and the ACC have never felt better about our relationship than we do today. Our commitment to collaborate on way the ACC from a revenue and exposure standpoint has been unwavering.

While there are legitimate discussions and stories regarding revenue and our membership, it’s important that all of us never lose perspective on just what we are doing together.

The last two years the ACC leads all conferences in NCAA titles. All 15 schools won an ACC regular season or championship title this past year. Academically there are no better collection of schools, and our student-athlete experience and support beyond athletics and academics is second to none.

So revenue generation continues to be a priority. But let me be clear also, this league is third right now in revenue as we go forward into wherever the next TV deals are for other conferences where, we’ve looked at it. We’ve had multiple TV consultants. Third is certainly a good position, but we want to gain and gain traction financially in order to close the gap with obviously the SEC and the Big Ten, who have leapfrogged everyone.

So, again, I feel really strongly about this league, and I think people are missing it when they’re not paying attention to the results of how well the conference has done. So it will continue to be a priority and certainly has the attention of everybody from our board on down.

Florida State is up today, with head coach Mike Norvell, quarterback Jordan Travis, defensive end Jared Verse and linebacker Kalen DeLoach set to speak. It’s Norvell’s third year at the event (2020’s was canceled), with Travis also having made the trip alongside his head coach the last three years.

Verse and DeLoach are making their first appearances.

Travis enters the 2023 season as a Heisman Trophy candidate after a stellar 2022 campaign in which he led Florida State to its first 10-win season since 2016 and a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma. Travis finished the 2022 season 226-of-353 passing for 3,214 yards with 24 touchdowns and only five interceptions while adding 417 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground as well as one receiving touchdown. He was PFF’s highest-graded FBS quarterback and the highest-graded offensive player in the ACC. He is the only player in program history with at least 20 touchdown passes and seven rushing touchdowns in a season, and his 32 touchdowns responsible for rank as the third-highest single-season total in program history. The West Palm Beach native became only the fourth player in FSU history – joining Heisman Trophy winners Jameis Winston, Chris Weinke and Charlie Ward – with at least 3,000 total yards and 30 total touchdowns in a season. His 3,631 yards of total offense ranked fifth on FSU’s single-season list, while his passing yards total was seventh, his passing touchdowns were tied for 10th and his completions were 14th.

Travis led the ACC and ranked third nationally with his average of 8.35 yards per play, ranked first in the conference and fifth in the country with an average of 9.10 yards per pass attempt, led the ACC and ranked eighth nationally with an average of 14.22 yards per completion and led the ACC and was 14th in the country with a pass efficiency rating of 160.1. His average of 247.2 passing yards per game, 24 total passing touchdowns and 64.0 completion percentage all ranked third in the ACC, while his 194 points responsible for and average of 279.3 yards of total offense per game were fourth in the conference.

Verse was named a first-team All-American by The Athletic after recording 48 tackles, including 17.0 for loss with 9.0 sacks, three quarterback hurries, one fumble recovery and one blocked field goal in his first season with the Seminoles. He received the most All-ACC votes on defense while being named a first-team all-conference performer. The Dayton, Ohio, native was the only player in the ACC and one of two Power 5 defenders nationally with four games of 2.5 tackles for loss in 2022.

Verse led the ACC and ranked 17th in the country with his average of 0.75 sacks per game, and his average of 1.4 tackles for loss per game was second in the conference and 10th nationally. He played 12 games and had at least 0.5 tackle for loss in every game he finished, including a season-best 2.5 in four different games. In FSU’s 24-23 win over LSU, Verse registered 2.5 tackles for loss, including a career-high-tying 2.0 sacks, and one blocked field goal. He also recorded 2.5 tackles for loss, with 1.5 sacks, as part of a season-high seven tackles in FSU’s 35-32 Cheez-It Bowl win over Oklahoma.

DeLoach is in his fifth season at Florida State after signing with the Seminoles out of high school in 2019. He started all 13 games in 2022 and recorded 65 tackles, including 7.5 for loss with 3.0 sacks, seven pass breakups and five quarterback hurries. His pass breakups total was the highest on the team, and he also tied for the team lead in quarterback hurries. He ranked third among Seminoles in tackles and tackles for loss, and his sacks total was fourth on the team.

The Savannah, Georgia, native’s career-high-tying eight tackles in FSU’s Cheez-It Bowl win over Oklahoma included matching his career best with 2.0 tackles for loss. He recorded seven tackles, 1.0 for loss with 0.5 sack, and one pass breakup in Florida State’s win over LSU in New Orleans and also made seven tackles in the 44-14 win over Boston College while also adding a career-high two pass breakups against the Eagles. In his career at Florida State, DeLoach has played in 42 games with 25 starts and has recorded 144 tackles, including 14.0 for loss with 4.0 sacks, nine pass breakups and one interception.

Norvell was recently one of 21 coaches named to the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Preseason Watch List as he leads a consensus top-10 team heading into the 2023 season following last year’s 10-3 campaign that included wins over SEC Western Division champion LSU, in-state rivals Miami and Florida, and a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma. FSU was ranked 10th in the final Coaches Poll and 11th in the final AP poll. Florida State was the only team to lead its conference in both total offense and total defense and was one of two teams nationally to average at least 270 passing yards and 210 rushing yards per game. The Seminoles, along with Alabama and Georgia, were one of only three teams to rank in the top-15 in yards per play on offense and defense. Those three teams were also the only ones ranked in the top-20 in total defense, scoring defense, total offense and scoring offense.

Florida State led the country with an average of 7.46 plays of at least 20 yards per game and ranked second nationally with an explosive play differential of +7.41. The defense was fourth in the country in passing defense, and FSU was one of six teams nationally to rank in the top-25 in kickoff return and punt return average. Florida State led the ACC in passing defense, third-down offense, yards gained per pass, yards gained per play, yards gained per rush, total offense per game, yards per completion, yards allowed per pass, rushing offense per game, yards allowed per play, total defense per game and scoring offense per game.

2023 ACC Kickoff schedule, stream, TV info: Wednesday, July 26

TV

ACC Network

Stream

ACCN/WatchESPN

Schedule

10 a.m. ET: Pittsburgh Panthers

Head coach Pat Narduzzi, quarterback Phil Jurkovec, defensive back MJ Devonshire, and offensive line Matt Goncalves

11 a.m. ET: Duke Blue Devils

Head coach Mike Elko, quarterback Riley Leonard, defensive tackle DeWayne Carter, and offensive line Jacob Monk

12:45 p.m. ET: Virginia Tech Hokies

Head coach Brent Pry, tight end Nick Gallo, defensive tackle Josh Fuga, and wide receiver Ali Jennings

1:30 p.m. ET: Florida State Seminoles

Head coach Mike Norvell, quarterback Jordan Travis, defensive end Jared Verse, and linebacker Kalen DeLoach

2:30 p.m. ET: Virginia Cavaliers

Head coach Tony Elliott, quarterback Tony Muskett, defensive end Chico Bennett, and running back Perris Jones

The North Carolina Tar Heels, Clemson Tigers, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Boston College Eagles and NC State Wolfpack will take the stage on Thursday, July 27.