Corey Clark: Short week no problem for a Florida State football team that might really be special

I thought this might be a chance for the Florida State football team to send a message.

Yes, it was Southern Miss. And yes, you were 31-point favorites.

But this game, six days after that resounding win in Orlando over LSU, was a chance to make a statement to your fans, the country, and yourself, that what happened against the Tigers wasn’t lightning in a bottle. It’s just a full-on lightning storm.

This is just what you are. A team that can overpower and embarrass opponents.

Well, statement made.

Take that, Brett Favre. 1989 will never be forgotten!

Florida State, despite not even playing all that crisp in my opinion on offense, still raced out to a 31-3 halftime lead and an eventual 66-13 win on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Jordan Travis threw 14 incomplete passes in the first half, albeit most of those were drops or 50-50 balls that his receivers just couldn’t come down with. That was disappointing. Johnny Wilson’s performance was certainly concerning.

But isn’t that what is so encouraging and exciting about what we’re watching?

The Seminoles kind of sputter, only go 3-of-10 on third downs in the first half, and yet put up 300 yards and 31 points in two quarters. That’ll work!

In fact, that’s kind of scary, right?

Florida State, playing a capable team, one that won a bowl game last year, doesn’t even play its A-plus game, or even its B-plus game in the first half, and still has a 28-point lead heading into the locker room.

The Seminoles did exactly what they were supposed to do. They outclassed an overmatched opponent and took all the drama out of the game by midway through the second quarter.

“Our guys came out and played with passion,” FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. “They played with effort, played with physicality. … I liked our guys’ mindset.”

And you know what I loved the most about Saturday night? (Other than those cool new stroke-inducing LED lights!) It was Mike Norvell going for it on fourth down so much.

When you have an offense like this, and you have the ball somewhere near midfield, go for it. You get four downs for a reason. You don’t HAVE to punt because it’s fourth-and-5. Trust your offense. Go pick it up. Go score.

Also: Get the ball to Keon Coleman.

That play he made in the second quarter, two plays after he was drilled five yards out of bounds (with no flag), was the stuff of instant legend. He’s awesome. Like legitimately one of two or three best receivers in the country.

The ‘Noles need to get Wilson right. It wasn’t ideal that he was in street clothes in the second half, after not playing the final two drives of the first half. But it was also great to see guys like Darion Williamson and Deuce Spann make big-time plays when the game was still in doubt.

As for the defense?

No notes!

It was great. The Seminoles allowed one play in the first half, and that was after a ridiculous roughing-the-passer call on Patrick Payton kept the drive alive and wound up giving the Eagles the only points they had in the first 30 minutes.

“Our guys played at a very high level,” Norvell said. “I thought they were exceptional.”

Southern Miss isn’t Southern Cal.

I get it.

But in 2023, you need to enjoy all the games like this you can get. Florida State’s first-and-second-team defense dominated the Golden Eagles. They treated that offense like it was Hattiesburg High School.

That was so, so impressive.

Because it’s easy — human nature even — to let up when you know you’re playing an inferior team. Or when you get a big lead. Or when you know your offense can go out there and score 60.

But the standard is the standard. And the Florida State defense went and obliterated that Golden Eagles offense like a national championship depended on it. And who knows? Maybe it does! Because these are the types of games where identities are truly forged.

Short week. At home. Against a huge underdog. Coming off the biggest win in forever.

And you pummel them like it’s the 1990s again.

It’s one game. This team is 2-0. And about to ranked No. 3 in the country.

“We’re two weeks in, but I’m very proud of this team,” Norvell said. “I really like this team.”

Me too, Coach.

I’m not predicting a national championship or anything. Not yet anyway! But Florida State has played a Top 5 team and a bowl team in back-to-back weeks and blown the brakes off both of them. There is nobody in the country that has looked like this so far in September.

We’ve still got a long way to go in this year (heck, in this month), but what an impressive start to this season.

Senior defensive back Jarrian Jones, who had a pick-six in the second half and broke the rock in the locker room after the game, said if the Seminoles play well, he doesn’t think a team in the country can beat them.

It’s early. But he might not be wrong.

“We got a squad,” Jones said.

Then he smiled. And said it again.

“We got a squad.”

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com.

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

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