Staff Predictions: Florida State vs. Jacksonville State

Florida State Seminoles football is taking on the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in its lone non-conference game of the season. FSU is seeking its first win of the season, while JSU is playing its first game of the season.

Will it be a nice easy afternoon for FSU, or will there be shades of 2009?

CoachAB: If you listened to the Seminole Wrap you heard my scout of Jax State. I’ve had time to connect all the dots and predict a FSU win.

FSU 42, Jacksonville State 21

Jon Marchant: I just want this team to look like a real boy and not a lifeless wooden replica of one. I don’t know why I’m dropping a Pinocchio analogy except I’m tired of this team lying to us. Even with all of their issues I want to believe this won’t be a repeat of 2009 and FSU will easily handle the Jacksonville State fightin’ Geppetto’s. I want to believe I will get to watch a fun and happy football team spear another team like a cricket on a fish hook under a pleasant and lazy Saturday sky. But I’m not holding my breath, because Pleasure Island is a lie and like Pinocchio and this team I’m dead inside.

If this prediction seems overly melodramatic that’s because it is. I fully trust this staff, including Jiminy Cricke- I mean Norvell, and Fuller too for that matter, but roster turnover and changing culture takes time. I believe that one day this team, under this coaching staff, will be brave, truthful, and unselfish. But today’s not that day. Until then, the smoking, gambling, vandalism, and drinking will have to do.

FSU 34, Jacksonville State Geppettos 24

Juan

Take the Jaguars for granted at your own Perrilloux. The Seminoles should do ok against this team. I think. I hope.

I had given up hope, you know. The concept seemed naive, vain, convenient. A crutch for the uninformed.

But I learned. I went on listening tours. I met counterparts who educated me on Tibetan Buddhism. I learned hope is not a crutch, it is not an ethos, but merely a component of a wider, overarching mindset that will lead one down a righteous path. It is that which one makes of it.

I have been on dozens of flights over ten hours long, careening around this earth as it continues its careening journeys around the sun. We are but specks hanging on the side of this galaxy’s Ferris wheel gondola, making endless circles within our own endless circles. One ponders their purpose as they look out the window of an Airbus A350, much as a speck does reaching the apex of a Ferris wheel.

Look down upon the poles, look down upon the carnies. Look down, at your peril.

FSU 45, Peril 13

LastNoleOfKrypton

Tate is going to throw 3 touchdowns and Travis Jay is going to house one. It may seem crazy to predict this FSU team to score 49 points but life is hard enough why be so down?

FSU 49, Jax. State 13

TimScribble:

It’s been 321 days since FSU won a game. If they don’t win today, FSU could approach one full year without a win with the upcoming schedule. Hoping to see a heavy dose of Chubba and Tate. Hoping to not see a close game. Hoping for a win.

FSU 34, JSU 21

NoleThruandThru:

This team just bums me out, man. I’m predicting a win that doesn’t feel as good as a win should. Prove me wrong, ‘Noles!

FSU 34, JSU 28

Evan Johnson:
I think it’d be fun if FSU were the answer to the trivia question, “what team won no games but made a bowl”. Unfortunately it sounds like the coaching staff is going to give other quarterbacks a chance and while that doesn’t solve the defensive problems and won’t give the offense an overwhelming advantage I think a non-broken quarterback can move the ball well enough to secure the win.

FSU 28, JSU 24

FrankDNole:

I’m going to go for a quick swim in the morning, then shower and head to the club for brunch. I’ll probably have my usual eggs benedict, bacon, a cheese danish, and a couple of bloody mary’s. Then head home, take a quick nap, and then get ready to watch my NOLES take out 2 years of frustration in a totally lopsided game where FSU will play 3 different quarterbacks.

FLORIDA STATE 45- J. State 20

ricobert1:

The Gamecocks last year were a middle-of-the-road FCS team with a blue-chip QB who could run and sling it (by the way, this makes 0 games on FSU’s schedule this year where they have the better QB). On defense, they like to pressure vs the run and pass but are prone to giving up chunk plays. Last year’s team beats this squad by 35. But this is 2020, and the development debt from a Year 0 staff during a pandemic means this team is worse seemingly at every position and player. The line is -26 with an O/U of 54, or an implied outcome of 40-14. The 14 allowed seems ambitious, given Zerrick Cooper’s ability throwing and running and our defense’s desire to allow those. But the 40 points FSU should score seems impossible; FSU has scored 13 and 10 points in 2 games this year. But suddenly Terry is going to start playing like Terry and Blackman is going to, well, start playing like someone else? 40 points is more than 3x FSU’s scoring average this year. I expect FSU to mess around and try their hardest at a winless campaign.

Jacksonville State 33, FSU 31

Austin Cox:

Sadly, I was nearly spot-on last week with my FSU-Miami prediction, a lopsided victory for the Canes. This week almost surely will look a lot different for the Noles as Mike Norvell will aim for his first win as head coach.

A huge storyline for this game will be the bubbling potential youth movement on Florida State’s roster. There are still plenty of upperclassmen contributing at a reasonable level, but several of the freshmen have showed flashes and no doubt need to see the field more often. It will be fascinating to see how Norvell and the staff balance executing a winning game plan while also getting their young players (including freshman quarterbacks Tate Rodemaker and Chubba Purdy) some game reps.

Look for the team to possibly rally around Norvell’s return to the sideline, which would be a good sign for the team’s morale and belief in their head coach moving forward. However, the strong quarterback-head coach duo of Jacksonville State should worry fans to a certain degree.

Yesterday, I wrote about the strange pit the collective mindset of the fanbase has fallen into. FSU fans may feel like they are sinking even further when the Gamecocks hang around and keep this a game for three quarters. Florida State will nurse their lead with a couple field goal drives in the fourth quarter and will hold off their FCS challengers.

Florida State 36, Jacksonville State 26

Perry Kostidakis

Please — just give me a crumb of serotonin.

FSU 42, JSU 21