Corey Clark: We are all believers in this Florida State football team now

ORLANDO — You were hesitant. I know you were.

After four years of heartache and misery and then one good 10-3 season, I know you had hopes for this Florida State football team in 2023. Probably pretty high ones. But I also know you weren’t a believer. Not completely.

Because you had spent the better part of five years being burned. Repeatedly.

Well, now you can believe.

This Florida State football team is one of the most talented in the country.

This Florida State football team, for one week anyway, looked like maybe the best one in the United States.

How does that feel?

“I told them before today they’re built for a time like this,” FSU head coach Mike Norvell said after the 21-point win. “This stage, two Top 10 teams in the country.”

I mean, they just bludgeoned the No. 5 team in the country, 45-24. Until a meaningless touchdown in the final minute against freshman defensive backs, the Seminoles outscored the LSU Tigers 31-0 in the second half.

They had the ball five times after halftime.

Field goal. Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. Jaheim Bell soul-crushing touchdown.

It was the most impressive win by a Florida State football team, in my opinion, since the beatdown at Clemson in 2013.

LSU is a good team, folks. Probably not great. But good. And they got manhandled in the second half. By a more-experienced, more-skilled, and better-coached football team.

Brian Kelly said earlier this week that his Tigers were going to beat FSU’s ass (or words to that effect).

All that did was make him look like an ass on Sunday night.

Mike Norvell is for real. I believed that already. Now, I think, all of you likely believe it, too.

And we told you about Keon Coleman! He did what he did Sunday night (3 TDs, 9 catches for 122 yards) just about every day in practice.

I made the comparison earlier in the week on one of our many live TV shows/podcasts that I think Coleman is like a taller Rashad Greene. Well, I was wrong. I know this might seem like blasphemy, but I think he’s better than Rashad Green. And I LOVED Rashad Greene.

But that’s how good Coleman is.

And that’s good this offense is.

Think about that game we just watched: Johnny Wilson dropped two catches that cost the offense first downs. Bell dropped a big one too. Jordan Travis came up a yard short on a third-down run and the Seminoles had to punt, and he also threw a horrific interception in LSU territory.

The Seminoles still just put up 45 on the No. 5 team in the country.

Wilson had over 100 yards. So did Coleman. To go along with those three touchdowns. And Bell showed the entire Florida State fanbase why this coaching staff was so excited when he joined the program.

He is a beast. And the best tight end the Seminoles have had since Nick O’Leary.

And I know people want to always kill Adam Fuller and the defense. And that first half gave you some fodder. But the Seminoles, until that final play from LSU, had allowed 89 total yards in the second half.

They played incredibly well in the winning moments in the second half. And made Jayden Daniels look pedestrian in the final two quarters, which isn’t easy to do.

I mean, I don’t know how much more I can write about what we witnessed. I was excited about this season before Sunday night. Now, I’m genuinely fascinated about just how good this offense is going to be. Just how much winning the Seminoles are about to do.

I know you’ve been starved for a long time for a team like this. I truly think you’ve got your next great team.

As long as injuries are avoided, this is going to be the best FSU squad in a decade. So, as I wrote about before the game, enjoy what you have here. Enjoy what this team is.

The first half was about as helter skelter as you could imagine. Which, to be fair, should be expected in a any season opener, much less one of this magnitude.

LSU hit some big plays — some wide-, wide-open plays it should be pointed out. And Coleman introduced himself to Florida State fans — and the nation probably (because I doubt many people watched a ton of Michigan State football last year) — with two big-time touchdowns.

But there also were several hiccups.

Coleman let a punt roll down to the 1. And Wilson had those two drops. And the defense let some dudes get WIDE open. And it also had an inexplicable breakdown late in the half on a third-and-10 draw that most anyone who has watched a football game before could have predicted was coming.

But we’re not going to focus on all that. No chance. Not now. Not after this one.

Because Florida State, the one that the entire ACC hates because it has the audacity to want to compete for championships, the one that the entire nation hates because it was the best program in the sport for about four decades, well, I’m not going to write for sure that it’s back.

I’m not going that far. Not yet!

But holy cow was that the most impressive thing I’ve seen from a team in garnet and gold in a long, long time.

And the best part, as Norvell alluded to afterward, is they didn’t even play great the whole time. Travis was off early. And then awesome. Because he IS awesome. The defense struggled early, then found itself, and dominated the LSU offense.

The kicking game — notably kick coverage — was exceptional as usual.

And the Florida State Seminoles looked every bit the part of a team that can challenge for a national championship.

I know it’s September. I know injuries and bad luck and bad calls (and there were a few on Sunday night!), but Sweet Moses that was impressive.

“That second half was a glimpse to what I think this team can do and where I think it can go,” Norvell said. “But there’s a lot we have to clean up. … That was one game. That was our first step. And it was a big step.

“I don’t think we played our best game, but I think that second half we were able to finish the way we wanted to.”

Amen to that.

And they finished in a way we haven’t seen around these parts in 10 years.

Then again, as it looks right now, this is the best team we’ve seen around these parts in 10 years.

How good does that feel?

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

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