Florida State (1-0) faces its first major test of the season on Monday, hosting the No. 19 SMU Mustangs in the Seminoles’ ACC opener.
Head coach Mike Norvell met with local media on Friday, saying FSU is well aware of that challenge ahead of it.
“I love this stage, Monday night, only game on. Those are great games to be a part of,” Norvell said. “This is going to be a championship-caliber game. SMU has shown that these last few years. They’ve competed at a really high level. They’ve been in the playoff
two years ago. This is a very talented team.”
“This is going to be a big challenge for us, and we’re excited for it.”
He said that because of the extra days in between games, it gave the Seminoles more time to address mistakes made in last week’s win over New Mexico State.
“I thought guys handled practice well, doing a good job with the physicality of it, doing a good job of really trying to emphasize greater communication,” he said. “We’ve been pumping some crowd noise in, really defensively just for third down situations, making sure that we’re clean in our communication, understanding leverages, things that we need to do throughout each defensive call. I thought guys responded well throughout the week, got a little bit more prep time until Monday but I like what I’m seeing.”
Norvell also spoke on SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, saying that FSU is prepping for an experienced dual-threat quarterback who can hurt the defense in a multitude of ways — though adding that the amount of film on Jennings helps give a glimpse into methods to making him uncomfortable.
“Whether it’s coverage variations, whether it’s different things that you could show within trying to create pressure…it’s a full menu of three years of video, but you got to make sure that you play to the strengths of what your guys can do.”
The head coach also spoke on the offensive line, changes to SMU’s defensive staff and personnel, the Mustangs tight end room and more.
The full interview is available below.
