Noles News: FSU football game week arrives, No. 1 soccer takes down Georgia

FLORIDA STATE — In less than six days the Florida State Seminoles will face off against the Duquesne Dukes in their season opener while hoping to rocket themselves into a 2022 year filled with trials and tribulations they look to overcome. An overall improvement under third-year head coach Mike Norvell should start with a bang this Saturday and prep the Noles for a primetime showdown against the LSU Tigers in New Orleans the following week. Florida State hasn't won a season opener since 2016 and the Dukes are set firmly in their sights.

Women’s soccer gave the Georgia Bulldogs a thank you note after their 3-1 victory in Athens, Ga and softball got a recap of great moments from last year.

Here are a few highlights from over the weekend:

Football

Smashing the rock symbolizes a goal or achievement overcome and emphasizes progress and work from a player who represents the mindset it takes to win. At the end of fall camp quarterback Jordan Travis celebrated his, and the whole team’s achievements by crushing the goals set in stone in one of the more suitable ways — a giant hammer.

Wrapping up fall camp, Mike Norvell will hold a game-week press conference today, along with assistants to preview the upcoming opponent and discuss the team's progress throughout the off-season.

Offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons continues to bring his spirit to Tallahassee by helping and giving back to the community. His foundation Big Man Big Heart has procured nearly $500k to help people with disabilities live a better and healthier life and will be hosting tailgates this season to promote that cause.

Recruiting

Benedictine High School’s quarterback and Florida State commit Luke Kromenhoek threw for four touchdowns in the first half to seal a 45-0 shutout against Jenkins (Savannah, GA) including this one from downtown:

Kromenhoek, who was offered last year and committed later, continues to show his abilities and reasons why FSU’s heads turned watching the 2024 recruit throw and make plays.

For all things recruiting, head on over to the Florida State Football: OFFICIAL Tribe ‘23 Recruiting and Portal Thread #7. Join the conversation, talk to the Three-Stars, and define what this season's win/loss ratio means for the ‘Noles moving forward.

Soccer

A 3-1 victory over UGA gave new FSU soccer head coach Brian Penske his first win in garnet and gold — from our Prince Akeem Joeffer:

Florida State outshot Georgia 13-9 (9-4 on goal).

The Noles won the possession battle 65%-35%.

We only have a small sample size of two games but already we can see that this team has the talent (provided they remain relatively healthy) to be a force in the tough ACC and nationally. With the short bench the Noles will have to rely on freshmen more than usual but none of them look like the moment is too big for them.

All Sports

Tomahawk Nation’s own Gwyn Rhodes recapped the softball team’s most memorable moments of last season highlighting some of the more spectacular plays in FSU softball’s top five moments from 2022.

Through six innings, both teams went back and forth heading into the late innings. Tied at five runs, with two runners on and two outs, Mack Leonard went up against Valerie Cagle. Now down in the count to the Tigers ace, Leonard brought everyone home on a shot over right field.

Leonard’s three-run homerun gave the final score to the Tigers as FSU claimed the ACC Tournament trophy.

Everything Florida State Seminoles, all the time.

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