Noles News: FSU looking to win at Clemson for first time since 2013

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 continues to prep for its major matchup against the Clemson Tigers this Saturday, hitting the practice field once more on Wednesday:

The No. 4 Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 ACC) have not won in Death Valley in a decade and, as the betting favorite with lofty goals for 2023, are the team where the pressure lies. The speaker system inside the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility continued to roar throughout the morning as FSU preps for the hostile environment that awaits the squad in Clemson. Both sides of the ball worked on situational football, namely red zone and third down work. There was an emphasis all of practice on ball security after the two fumbles last week.

What should Florida State expect to see from the Tigers personnel-wise? As he’s done all season, Tim Scribble sat down with FSU’s upcoming opponent to break down their squad — this week, we welcome Ryan Kantor of Shakin the Southland to talk Cade Clubnik, Clemson’s receivers and offensive line, Will Shipley, what the Tigers bring on defense and of course, a game prediction.

Tim returned the favor with a quick appearance on their podcast:

Dabo Swinney reflected on some of the highs and lows (re: Florida State’s lows and highs, respectively) of his memories of the FSU vs. Clemson rivalry:

Swinney credits the 2003 edition of Clemson-Florida State with keeping his coaching career on track. The Tigers entered the game with a 5-4 record and had just taken a 45-17 beating from Wake Forest. Coach Tommy Bowden’s seat was growing warm as Clemson prepared to play No. 3 Florida State.

“We had a scrappy bunch, and somehow, some way, we found a way to make enough plays and won the ball game,” Swinney said. “Honestly, I’m probably not sitting here if it wasn’t for that game.”

He remembers the 2010 loss, when the Seminoles made a 55-yard field goal as time expired to win the game. He doesn’t like to remember 2013, when No. 3 Clemson lost to No. 5 Florida State 51-14 at Memorial Stadium.

“They smashed us,” he said. “That was one of the worst football nights of my life. We just could not get out of our own way.”

ESPN’s Bill Connelly named FSU and Texas as two of the biggest winners of the first quarter of the season, with Florida State’s SP+ ranking jumping from No. 15 to No. 13 with a increase from 8.9 projected preseason wins to 9.6 currently:

The Seminoles played a nearly perfect second half to turn a halftime deficit into a resounding 21-point win over LSU in Week 1, while the Longhorns scored their biggest true road win since 1969 with their victory over Alabama in Week 2.

Both have otherwise left mixed impressions. FSU destroyed Southern Miss but fell victim to injuries, wind and a feisty opponent in narrowly avoiding a shocking upset loss to Boston College. Texas, meanwhile, underachieved versus projections in still-comfortable wins over Rice and Wyoming. Still, both have improved their projected win totals by a healthy amount. And FSU’s will go through the roof this coming Saturday if the Seminoles can score their first win at Clemson in 10 years.

Keeping with the worldwide leader, David Hale and Andrea Adelson put together a fantastic piece on Jordan Travis’ journey to from being booed inside Doak Campbell to Heisman Trophy candidate and school record holder:

How close did Travis come to quitting football for good?

“I was close,” Travis said.

On the field, he was shaken. The boos, the bad throws, the back-and-forth QB battle — he’d had enough. Away from the field, he was dealing with health issues he’s still uncomfortable discussing publicly. It made it difficult to train or practice and left him unsure whether he could keep playing even if he’d wanted to.

On the field, Florida State was a mess. The Seminoles opened the season with four straight losses, and by the end of September, Milton, too, was hurt, and Norvell wasn’t sure he had anyone who could suit up at QB.

That’s when Travis made his choice.

It was the Tuesday evening before Florida State hosted Syracuse, and Tony’s phone rang. It was Travis.

“Dad, let’s go,” he said. “I’m ready to play football again.”

Travis arrived at practice the next day and pulled Norvell aside.

“I don’t care how I feel,” Travis told him, “I’m playing in this game.”

After Florida State wrapped spring practice in 2022, Travis met with Novell for the standard exit interview. The two talked about the progress Travis made throughout 2021, about how the team was in his hands now. Norvell accounted for some areas where he saw Travis could improve, and after years of small steps forward, Travis was intent on doing it. Still, Norvell got the sense his QB hadn’t entirely grasped the vision he had when they’d first met two years earlier.

As Travis stood up to leave the office, Norvell offered a prediction.

“I want you to get on the elevator down to the lobby,” Norvell told him. “When you get out, look to your left.”

That’s where Florida State’s three Heisman trophies reside — one from Charlie Ward in 1993, one from Chris Weinke in 2000 and one from Jameis Winston in 2013.

“I believe 100% you can put another one there,” Norvell told him. “I believe it with all my heart.”

Soccer

No. 3 Florida State women’s soccer (6-0-0, 1-0-0) is on the road to take on the Syracuse Orange (2-6-1, 0-1-0), with kickoff set for 7 p.m. tonight (broadcast available on ACC Network Extra):

FSU is off to one of the hottest starts in the country as they are one of two teams to hold a perfect record with no losses and no ties. FSU joins Liberty as the only team to have a perfect record this season.

The Seminoles have been unstoppable in the final 45 minutes of their first six matches. In the second half this season, FSU is outscoring their opponent 13-1 compared to just a 5-3 advantage in the first half. Under Head Coach Brian Pensky, the Seminoles have outscored their opponents 54-11 in the second half.

Through six games, the Seminoles have had eight different goal scorers to start the season. Jordynn Dudley, Taylor Huff, Beata Olsson, Leah Pais, Olivia Garcia, Onyi Echegini, Maria AlagoaJody Brown have all scored goals for the Seminoles this season.

The Seminoles have an all-time ACC record of 159-81-27 (.645). Florida State is 127-35-21 (.750) in league play since 2005. Since 2005, FSU is 74-11-7 (.842) against league opponents at home and 53-24-14 (.656) on the road. FSU has finished no lower than second place (including ties) in the ACC 14 times (2005-10, 2012-15, 2019-22) over the last 18 years, claiming five regular season titles (2009, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2022).

Baseball

All Sports

Florida State junior Jamie Connel won the Battle At The Beach in Destin while freshman Azariah Rusher finished as the runner-up in the first fall on-court action for the Florida State men’s tennis team:

Connel went 3-0 in singles play in the tournament, opening with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Georgia State’s Gabriele Datei. A 6-2, 6-0 straight-set victory over Luc Hoejimans of Tulane earned Connel his second win. No. 102 Connel’s 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Middle Tennessee State’s Shu Matsuoka crowned him as the tournament’s champion.

Rusher, a Del Ray Beach native, earned his first win as a Seminole on Friday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Georgia State’s Edward Tynes. Rusher would go on to record two more singles wins in the weekend en route to being the runner-up, with a 6-0, 6-1 victory on Saturday and a 6-2, 6-4 win over Middle Tennessee State’s Karim Al-Amin on Sunday.

Associate Professor of Philosophy Courtney Fugate, a researcher from Florida State University’s Department of Philosophy (part of the College of Arts and Sciences), has received a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to explore and archive the works of the renowned 18th-century German philosopher Johannes Nikolaus Tetens:

Tetens is considered among the great philosophical thinkers of the 1700s, alongside Immanuel Kant, Johann Heinrich Lambert and Moses Mendelssohn. However, Tetens’ work differs from his contemporaries’ due to his engagement with various perspectives and topics simultaneously, as he once attempted to create a “grand synthesis” of all 18th-century knowledge and insight into human nature and its development.

Over the next three years, Fugate and a team of graduate researchers will build a comprehensive collection of Tetens’ work in English and German through digital humanities and historical-philosophical research, including the identification, transcription, translation and categorization of his original writings. This work will also provide other scholars with tools and resources to pave the way for new research areas in 17th- and 18th-century German philosophy.