What is the story about?
Florida State opened the 2026 season with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State on Saturday, overcoming execution issues and a slow start to begin the year 1-0.
The Seminoles outgained the Aggies by 100 yards and never really were in danger of an upset, leading by two scores for the bulk of the game, but didn’t truly pull away from danger until the fourth quarter when a 90-yard drive capped by an Ousmane Kromah touchdown pushed FSU’s lead to 17 once more.
What takeaways — positive and negative — are there
from Florida State’s season-opening win? Our staff breaks it down below.
What did you like from FSU?
- Jordan: I’m sure everyone will say the running backs, but I’ll go with the skill positions as a whole. Obviously, Kromah and Singleton Jr. were the story, but Duce made a couple of nice grabs, and Danzy had the best passing play of the game in the first quarter. It’s a shame FSU appears to not have the OL to make the most of them, but more on that later.
- Jon: The fans showing out more than anything. Great attendance.
- Matt: Sam Singleton. Also a solid attendance.
- Frank: The defensive line and linebackers mostly holding NMSU to less than 50 yards rushing, and Chris Jones.
- NoleThruandThru: FSU has a good kicker and kickoff specialist!
- Jacob: Run game was pretty good. 200+ yards there.
- Tim: On the offensive side of the ball, the running back room could be fun. Duce is still Duce, gotta feed him the ball. Defensively. Chris Jones looks to be a solid linebacker. Mikal Gbayor flashed. And maybe a glimmer of the end of the Norvell era.
- Perry: With the caveat that you shouldn’t necessarily have to show tenacity in a Week 0 buy game, it was encouraging that FSU didn’t crumble when New Mexico State was really putting the pressure on. Florida State shook off plenty of mistakes (emphasis on the plenty) and held steady.
What are your current biggest concerns?
- Jordan: The trenches were totally unimpressive tonight. Even though the OL leaned on NMSU later in the game, they struggled to create open lanes early and often needed magic from the backs to create positive runs. On defense, the front rarely got home, leading to the problems on third down. Nobody jumped out on either spot in the trenches and it was meh at best.
- Jon: The lines on both sides. NMSU getting pressure with just 4 guys against 6-7 blockers doesn’t bode any confidence.
- Matt: We get zero pressure from the DL. We continue to play awful situational football. Our QB throws late.
- Frank: The secondary and Rawls were the reason this game was closer than it should have been.
- NoleThruandThru: Just about everything else outside of the kicker and kickoff specialist. Although I did see some good blocking from the WRs. They were better than the OL in that regard.
- Jacob: I have a few. The offensive line is the primary one. Felt like we couldn’t block to save our lives. Corrnerback and safety play has also got to step up.
- Tim: That nothing has changed. Procedural penalties, bad offensive line play, spot-dropping secondary, head scratching offensive play calling.
- Perry: The secondary was disgusting, especially on third down. Norvell said in postgame that a lot of that was due to the Aggies having a plan to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands as soon as possible, but that doesn’t explain the multiple busts in coverage. If that New Mexico State receiver didn’t drop the easist touchdown of all time off a trick play, things could have gotten real spooky.
How would you rate Ashton Daniels’ performance on a scale of 1-10?
- Jordan: 5. I actually thought he commanded the offense well by checking plays at the line and allowing FSU to use tempo. But he was not as athletic as I expected and his INT was exactly the opposite of the good decision-making Norvell talked about during the spring. He may be decent enough to gain empty yards with the skill players around him, but there is no reason to believe he will not make 3 horrible decisions per game.
- Jon: 5. He made some bad decisions that will cost us games against better teams later on in the year. Some of his better players need to get judged on the curve of NMSU
- Matt: 4. The INT was an atrocious decision at a point in the game where you have a chance to create some distance. Several reads were late that missed big opportunities. He made a few nice throws in the red zone, which was nice. But it’s New Mexico State. Come on.
- Frank: 6. His interception was dumb but he did throw some with nice touch, when he had tine.
- NoleThruandThru: 6. I just don’t think he’s that good, so I’m trying to keep that context in mind. He made a few good throws and the touchdown was a good decision. However, he’s too slow through his reads and needs to keep the ball more often on choice runs… and his interception was an AWFUL decision.
- Jacob: 4. I wasn’t wowed with any play like I was with TC. I understand it’s not exactly apples-to-apples, but with a recieving core this good, it’s concerning the lack of production.
- Tim: Maybe a 4. I think he was asked not to use his legs much and the playbook wasn’t deep. However he reads the secondary slow and hesitates on decision making.
- Perry: 6. I’m concerned that I’m agreeing with Frank here, but really, with a vanilla playbook, he pretty much played exactly how he was supposed to — the interception being the biggest caveat. He took off when he was supposed to, began to throw it away after his interception and his performance on that 90-yard drive was legitimately impressive. The thing is, being slightly above average meaning he matched expectations spells out concern for future games when the talent advantage won’t be there.
Who was the MVP of tonight’s matchup?
- Jordan: Sam Singleton Jr. or Ousmane Kromah. SSJ’s ability to flip the field with impressive KO returns helped close this game out. Kromah just makes magic whenever the ball is in his hands, which is never enough.
- Matt: I guess Singleton.
- Frank: Trey Hedden. Oh you mean for FSU? Then it would be Kromah with 115 yards rushing and a crucial TD.
- NoleThruandThru: Sam Singleton. Good to see him in a featured role.
- Jacob: Kromah is my pick, dude had some good rushes and scored. Can’t complain about him on a night that was otherwise forgettable.
- Tim: The fans. They packed Doak, cheered hard, and supported the program.
- Jon: Echo everyone else with Singleton.
- Perry: Samuel Singleton Jr. and the entire running back room. If you’re of the belief that this team will go how the rushing attack goes, then you at least have something positive to pin your hopes on.
Did tonight’s game change your opinion on how next week’s game vs. SMU will go?
- Jordan: No. The -2.5 line is ridiculous and anyone that follows either team knew what will happen on Labor Day. Even if FSU looked good, the QB discrepancy would be the difference in the game. Now, though, nobody will have to get fooled when the Mustangs outclass Florida State for the second time in three years.
- Jon: No.
- Matt: No. It affirmed my belief that we will be blown out.
- Frank: Yes. I am now 100% sure Norvell was using this game as prep for SMU and did not want to give too much film to their next opponent.
- NoleThruandThru: Yes. It’s going to be even worse than I thought.
- Jacob: We’re cooked. I’m thinking SMU will drop 40+ on us, unfortunately. There’s no two ways about it pending some serious changes from both sides of the ball.
- Tim: Only in that I expect SMU to win by a larger margin
- Perry: I went from thinking that FSU might possibly pull off a home upset to worrying that FSU might not win an ACC game until November.
