Noles News: FSU head coach Mike Norvell named to Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award Watch List

Recruiting

Florida State Seminoles football 2024 commitments

QUARTERBACK: 4 star Luke Kromenhoek (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 4 star Kam Davis (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 4 star Micahi Danzy (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Camdon Frier (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Lawayne McCoy (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star BJ Gibson (GA)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Elijah Moore (MD)

TIGHT END: 5 star Landen Thomas (GA)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 4 star Jonathan Daniels (FL)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Tye Hylton (FL)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 4 star Manasse Itete (CA)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jayden Todd (GA)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 4 star DD Holmes (DC)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jamorie Flagg (FL)

LINEBACKER: 3 star Jayden Parrish (FL)

LINEBACKER: 3 star Timir Hickman-Collins (SC)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 5 star KJ Bolden (GA)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 5 star Charles Lester III (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star Ricky Knight III (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 3 star CJ Heard (GA)

KICKER: 3 star Jake Weinberg (FL)

Football

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell has been named to the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award Watch List, one of 26 coaches in consideration for the award:

Florida State is 6-0 this season, including 4-0 in the ACC, which are both its best marks since 2015. The Seminoles are ranked No. 4 in this week’s Associated Press and Coaches Polls and are in the top-5 of the national rankings for the seventh straight week. FSU’s 16 wins and 84.2 winning percentage since the start of the 2022 season are both the best in the ACC.

The Seminoles have won 12 games in a row dating back to last season, the third-longest active streak in the country, and scored at least 30 points in each, the second-longest active streak nationally. Florida State has displayed tremendous balance with contributions from all three phases. FSU leads the ACC in scoring offense, defensive touchdowns scored and net punting and ranks in the top-seven nationally in all three categories.

Norvell was a finalist for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award in 2019.

The full list of nominees:

Atlantic Coast Conference

Jeff Brohm – Louisville Cardinals

Mack Brown – North Carolina Tar Heels

Mike Elko – Duke Blue Devils

Mike Norvell – Florida State Seminoles

Big Ten Conference

Ryan Day – Ohio State Buckeyes

James Franklin – Penn State Nittany Lions

Jim Harbaugh – Michigan Wolverines

Mike Locksley – Maryland Terrapins

Big 12 Conference

Lance Leipold – Kansas Jayhawks

Steve Sarkisian – Texas Longhorns

Brent Venables – Oklahoma Sooners

Group of Five Conferences

Troy Calhoun – Air Force Falcons (Mountain West Conference)

Curt Cignetti – James Madison Dukes (Sun Belt Conference)

Jamey Chadwell – Liberty Flames (Conference USA)

Willie Fritz – Tulane Green Wave (American Athletic Conference)

G.J. Kinne – Texas State Bobcats (Sun Belt Conference)

Pac-12 Conference

Kalen DeBoer – Washington Huskies

Dan Lanning – Oregon Ducks

Lincoln Riley – USC Trojans

Deion Sanders – Colorado Buffaloes

Jonathan Smith – Oregon State Beavers

Southeastern Conference

Eliah Drinkwitz – Missouri Tigers

Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss Rebels

Nick Saban – Alabama Crimson Tide

Kirby Smart – Georgia Bulldogs

Mark Stoops – Kentucky Wildcats

ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked all the remaining undefeated teams in FBS (of which there are 11), slotting FSU at No. 7:

Last week’s ranking: 8th

SP+ and FPI rankings: 11th and ninth

Odds of reaching 12-0, per SP+: 16%

What they did in Week 7: defeated Syracuse 41-3

Next big test: Week 8 vs. Duke

Midseason MVP: QB Jordan Travis. I almost went with transformative cornerback transfer Fentrell Cypress II here, but that would have been overthinking. Despite a surprisingly inconsistent run game, and despite a recent injury to star receiver Johnny Wilson, FSU’s offense continues to churn — the Noles are 11th in points per drive and have scored at least 31 points in every game — and Travis gets obvious credit for that. He’s not doing as much damage as normal in the ground game, but he’s taking few sacks, and his 13-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio says quite a bit about his decision-making.

This is a remarkably balanced team — per SP+ FSU is 15th on offense, 16th on defense and first in special teams — and Travis’ steadiness in key moments against LSU, Boston College and Clemson was noteworthy.

Most important player for remaining unbeaten: RB Trey Benson. It’s strange to consider the FSU run game a weak spot when both Benson and deputy Lawrance Toafili are averaging 7.1 yards per carry, but FSU ranks 111th in rushing success rate and 106th in opportunity rate (the percentage of carries gaining at least 4 yards). The Noles also rank fourth with five rushes of 40-plus yards, but big plays are unreliable, and the run game ground to a halt against Clemson in a narrow win. Duke and Miami, among others, could push FSU behind schedule quite a bit if the Noles can’t find a bit more consistency here.

The full rankings:

1. Michigan Wolverines
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Washington Huskies
4. Georgia Bulldogs
5. Penn State Nittany Lions
6. Oklahoma Sooners
7. Florida State Seminoles
8. North Carolina Tar Heels
9. Air Force Falcons
10. James Madison Dukes
11. Liberty Flames

The Seminoles are in the process of prepping for a matchup against the No. 17 Duke Blue Devils, a primetime matchup featuring the second-ranked opponent for Florida State this season.

Jordan Silversmith has some observations from a day defined by the defense:

Mike Norvell said his team “came out with the right approach” for Tuesday’s practice — the Florida State defense played miles ahead of the offense on the day. The defensive line set the edge along the line of scrimmage the entire day, which forced FSU QBs to pull the ball down countless times. The Seminole defense seems to be rounding into top shape going into primetime. The offense struggled at moments but continued their positive trend in the run game as Caziah Holmes busted multiple explosive plays on the ground.

How did the Florida State offensive line perform against Syracuse? Tim Alumbaugh takes a look in this week’s edition of Making the Grade:

Soccer

Basketball

As FSU women’s basketball gets set for the 2023-24 season, sophomore guard Ta’Niya Latson has earned a spot on the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List:

In her astounding freshman campaign, Latson was a finalist for the Drysdale Award after establishing the ACC’s single-season freshman scoring record with 659 total points. The Miami, Fla., native led the ACC averaging 21.3 points per game.

Among the list of 20 selections for the award, Latson is the youngest by class as the only sophomore. She is one of two selections from the ACC, joining junior Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron.

The list will be narrowed down to 10 selections toward the end of January, and just like Latson last year, players have a chance to play themselves onto the list throughout the season.

Latson leads an upstart Florida State team earning preseason praise for the talent it has returning, including bringing back junior forward Makayla Timpson and graduate guard Sara Bejedi. Graduate transfer guard Alexis Tucker adds a key offensive piece from UC Santa Barbara, as well as the top-ranked junior college player last season in physical forward Sakyia White.

All Sports

Florida State women’s tennis is on the road this week, heading to Gainesville for the the 2023 ITA Women’s Southeast Regional Championships:

The Seminoles look to continue their hot start to the 2023 fall season as they achieved a magnitude of success at the Bedford Cup and the ITA All-American Championships.

Freshmen Laura Putz and Maelie Monfils won the Women’s Open doubles at the Bedford Cup in Tampa. The duo won 6-2 against Grace Schumacher and Ireland SImme of USF, 6-4 versus Carla Calmiche and Amber Mcginnis of FAU and 6-4 over Annabell Davis and Anslee Long of UNF. Putz and Monfils both went on to win her first collegiate singles matches, as Putz won 6-4, 6-3 over Isabel Oliveira of UNF and Monfils 6-3, 6-3 over Sara Rakim of FAMU.

Sophomore Cade Cricchio also secured her first victory of the fall season, as she defeated Ireland Simme of USF 6-2, 7-4.

While at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina, senior Vic Allen defeated No. 49 Sofiya Chekhlystova of Penn State 7-6 (5), 6-1. Allen and Ellie Schoppe went on to win 8-3 in doubles against Eliza Askarova and Alexandra Stairculescu of the Delaware. Schoppe also secured a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 victory over the 119th-ranked Alina Mukhortova from Wisconsin.

Anna Arkadianou defeated 69th-ranked Shelly Bereznyak of Ohio State 6-3, 6-1. Arkadianou enters this weekend ranked 55th in the nation, along with Allen No. 65, Schoppe No. 95 in singles and 34th in doubles with sophomore Millie Bissett.