Game Preview: Florida State Seminoles at Stanford Cardinal

How the turn tables.

Three weeks ago, Florida State was a top ten team, looking to break out and dominate the rest of its schedule. Now, people are calling for Mike Norvell's job after three straight losses to Virginia, Miami, and Pittsburgh.

Florida State hasn't won an ACC game in over 390 days by the time Saturday's game rolls around. All of a sudden, a game against Stanford has become incredibly meaningful.

Win big, and Norvell takes some pressure off his back heading into the bye week. Win by one score, Norvell probably doesn't gain much favor within the fanbase. Lose, and there's a small chance that it's the last game of Norvell's tenure.

If there was any ACC team that FSU could get right against, it's this bad Stanford team. But it will be at 10:30 p.m. EST on ESPN. Most of the fanbase will be asleep by halftime. Hopefully, the team doesn't do the same.

Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell walks down the field. The Miami Hurricanes lead the Florida State Seminoles 14-3 at the half on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. | Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Seminole Headlines

Rising Heat on the Coaching Staff

There was already a vocal minority of the fanbase after the 3-0 start that wasn't pleased with Mike Norvell still. That minority has grown in size and in loudness after three straight losses, and there's now a lot of heat on the coaching staff.

It doesn't help that there was a heated interaction between Norvell and Tony White after the Pitt loss, there was apparently another heated interaction between Norvell and Terrance Knighton, and now the world is crashing down on them.

Even if moving onto a new coaching staff may seem like the best option, I'm never going to root for a loss for that to happen. If the staff wants to somehow rebound and save the season, they need a dominant win here.

Injury Updates to Key Players

Duce Robinson left Saturday's game against Pitt with some kind of injury, but Mike Norvell has been pretty confident that Robinson will return for this game. And they need him. FSU's passing attack was essentially nonexistent once he left the game.

He's been Castellanos' most-trusted target all season, especially with Randy Pittman out. He's been banged up for most of the season, and missed last week's game, but Norvell feels good that some combination of Pittman, Squirrel White, and Jayvan Boggs will be back.

Pittman is the most important of those three, as Tommy Castellanos hasn't targeted White or Boggs much this season, and Pittman has been elite as a blocker in the run game.

And, speaking of blocking, not much has been made of Micah Pettus yet. He was on the depth chart, but he wasn't seen on the sideline last week for what seems to be a concussion. FSU NEEDS Micah Pettus back as soon as possible.

If FSU's Pass Rush is Ever Going to Progress, This is a Great Opportunity

So far, Florida State's pass rush has been nonexistent. The defensive line has only accrued 8 sacks in 6 games. Safety Ashlynd Barker still leads the team in sacks with 3. That's just not good enough, and that's allowed teams like Pitt to throw all over FSU's defense despite having a true freshman at quarterback.

Luckily, Stanford's offensive line is not great. They've allowed 16 sacks and a whopping 76 pressures. The starting tackle duo of Niki Prongos and Kahlil House has combined to allow 7 sacks and 30 pressures alone. If pass rushers like James Williams and Jayson Jenkins can't generate pressures and sacks against Stanford, it will only emphasize how brutal this unit has been.

Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal general manager Andrew Luck (center) celebrates after defeating the Boston College Eagles at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Three Burning Questions

Stanford's Defense is Bad, Just How Bad Are They?

Stanford is allowing over 30 points per game, 418 yards per game, 6.3 yards per play, and has just five takeaways in six games. They do have 12 sacks, led by Clay Patterson with three and Hunter Barth with 2. No one else has more than one. Patterson is their best pass rusher, as he has 14 pressures, which would rank first on FSU, too.

They're allowing 114 rushing yards per game on 4.1 yards per carry, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if FSU doubles that in this game. Linebacker Hunter Barth has missed 14 tackles this year, six more than anyone on FSU's roster, for reference. If FSU can just execute the plays being called, they should have no issue moving the ball.

Stanford's Offense is Bad, Just How Bad Are They?

News flash, Stanford isn't a good football team. Their offense has been okay when passing the ball, with Ben Gulbranson completing 59.2% of his passes for 1,445 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. However, their rushing attack has been less than ideal.

Gulbranson has been sacked a lot (20 times), which affects their overall rushing statistics, but their leading running backs have combined for 595 yards on about 4.6 yards per carry. It's solid, but then their offense gets put out of position with how often the QB is under pressure. CJ Williams is their best target out wide, hauling in 35 passes for 404 yards, but Bryce Farrell is their best deep threat.

But this offense has really struggled to score, averaging just 18.8 PPG. They're 85th in the country in red zone scoring, just ahead of FIU and Kent State. That's never good company to be in.

Is This Going to be the Last Game of Mike Norvell's Tenure?

As much as people want him gone, FSU would have to lose this game for the administration to even consider it. They bye week next week would give them some time to think about it, if needed.

However, FSU would have to try to lose this game. Stanford only has two wins this season: by one at home against 2-4 San Jose State, and by ten at home against 1-5 Boston College. Even if FSU hasn't been great the last few weeks, they've still been a lot better than those teams.

Game Forecast

Florida State is favored by 17.5 points with an over/under of 53.5 points, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

I really have no faith in FSU Football at this point. I should be like how I was last year, where I didn't pick FSU to win until they proved me otherwise. I really shouldn't do it. It's a West Coast game, very late at night on the East Coast, and they're coming off three straight losses.

But Stanford is so bad. There's really no reason for FSU to lose this game. If they do, it's time to clean house. I'll take the 'Noles in a blowout, and no, I can't believe I just said that either.

FSU 40, Stanford 20

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