The 4th ranked Florida State Seminoles are hosting the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Noles home opener tonight. Kick off from the sold out Doak Campbell Stadium is scheduled for 8:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.

FSU leads the series 14-8-1 and won the last meeting 42-13 in the 2017 Independence Bowl, played in Shreveport, La. It was the only meeting between the schools in a bowl game.

FSU’s Heisman Trophy candidate Jordan Travis posted a career-high four passing touchdowns in the 45-24 win vs. No. 5 LSU. Travis leads nation in QB rating vs. Power 5 opponents (202.99), and leads the ACC in total offense, passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing yards per attempt, and touchdown responsibility.

In this game against Southern Miss, I expect Jordan Travis, who is already FSU’s career leader in rushing yards for a QB (1,772 yards), will overtake Charlie Ward’s completion record for 9th place, Dexter Carter’s rushing record for 18th place, Deondre Francois’ passing yardage for 9th place, and Antoine Smith’s 25 rushing TD’s for 8th place, in the FSU record books.

Additionally, if he accounts for 246 yards, he will overtake Jameis Winston’s 8002 yards of total offense for 4th place, and if Travis throws 3 TD’s he will overtake Gary Huff’s 49 passing TD’s for 5th place, in the record books

The Golden Eagles quarterback, redshirt sophomore transfer Billy Wiles, is coming off an opening day performance with 21-for-28 completions for 267 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in their season opener against Alcorn State. Wiles played briefly at Clemson before transferring to Southern Miss last spring.

Golden Eagles running back Frank Gore, Jr. is the feature back and finished last year with 1,382 rushing yards. A total of 66.7 percent of their total offense came back for Southern Miss this fall, and the Golden Eagles return almost 87 percent of its rushing offense from a season ago. The Golden Eagles return eight starters on the offensive side of the football from a season ago. Southern Miss finished 78th nationally in rushing offense (141.8) and 96th in passing offense (207.5) in 2022.

The Golden Eagles defense allowed an average of 372.2 yards per game for 58th in the nation. Free safety Jay Stanley returns as the Eagles top defender. Stanley started in all 13 games and tallied 60 tackles (27 solo) with 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He led the team with five interceptions and added seven breakups. His starts also included forcing three fumbles and recovered one.

SOME GAME DAY TRIVIA

• Southern Miss coach Will Hall served as the associate head coach/tight ends coach for Mike Norvell at Memphis during the 2018 season. The Tigers went 8-6 and reached the AAC championship game and played in the Birmingham Bowl that year.
• Hall also participated in the Bobby Bowden football camp as a youth from 1992-1998, and also worked the camp in 2003.
• FSU assistant coach Patrick Surtain, Sr. was a four-year letterwinner for Southern Miss from 1994-97, and is a member of the Southern Miss Team of the Century.

According to DraftKings, the Seminoles are a 31 point favorite with the over/under set at 53.

Join us here in each quarter-by-quarter live game thread and show your support, while sharing in all the emotions, excitement, and frustrations, that being a true NOLE is all about.

Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Game Threads:

• Please move to the FIRST QUARTER THREAD 15 MINUTES BEFORE KICKOFF
• At the end of the first quarter, please move to the SECOND QUARTER THREAD
• After halftime, the cool kids will be meeting at the THIRD QUARTER THREAD
• When the third quarter ends, please move to the FOURTH QUARTER THREAD

Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Pre-Game Coverage from Tomahawk Nation

• Line of Scrimmage: Breaking down Southern Miss vs. FSU with Steve Helwick of Underdog Dynasty
• Depth Chart: FSU releases depth chart for matchup with Southern Miss
• 2023 Florida State Schedule Preview: Breaking down Seminoles’ home opener vs. Southern Miss
• College Football Week 2 Picks: DFS Plays: Texas and Alabama take center stage
• How To Watch: Florida State vs. Southern Miss: How to watch, stream, TV info, game notes, odds
• Whiteboard Review: How FSU Sparked its Running Game vs. LSU
• Florida State Football: Five plays that shaped FSU’s win over LSU
• Podcast: Florida State announces itself as juggernaut by dominating LSU
• Making the grade: What the analytics say about Florida State’s offensive line against LSU
• FSU Practice Notes: “It’s the Little Things:” Notes, observations from Wednesday’s Florida State practice
• FSU Practice Notes: Back to Work: Notes, observations from Florida State’s first practice after statement win
• FSU moves to No. 4 in AP Top 25
• Jordan Travis, Keon Coleman, Bless Harris named ACC Players of the Week
• FSU vs. LSU was ESPN’s second-most watched Sunday Labor Day game on record
• TN Staff Predictions: Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
• NEW RECRUITING THREAD #12 is up- NoleThruandThru and Josh Pick keep you up to date on the LATEST FSU RECRUITING NEWS @ Tomahawk Nation’s hub for all things relating to Florida State football recruiting - OFFICIAL Tribe ‘24 Recruiting and Transfer Portal Thread #12

How to Watch

Date
Saturday, September 9

Time

8:30 p.m.

Watch

ACC Network

Stream

ESPN, Hulu, FuboTV

Listen

Seminoles Radio Network

Odds/lines are subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.