Florida State started out on fire against the Louisville Cardinals. They established a 14-0 lead with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter, and they seemed poised to put the game away fairly quickly after Louisville missed a field goal.
The wheels began to fall off for FSU after that. In the blink of an eye, the Cardinals tied the game as they scored back-to-back touchdowns after they stopped the Seminoles on downs, and both teams were even at halftime.
In the second half, Louisville continued their momentum by scoring a touchdown on each of their first two possessions to go up by 14 points. After a punt, the Cardinals put the game away for good by going up 35-14, and they ended up winning 44-20.
Here are five takeaways from FSU's loss
to Louisville.
Mike Norvell's bad play calling cost Florida State their momentum
FSU had the ball at the three-yard line with 2nd and goal to go. Although they were gashing Louisville with the run on the drive, Norvell called a pass on second down. After a one-yard run by Ousmane Kromah, he called a pass on fourth down that was short, and then Louisville scored on one play with a 97-yard run by Isaac Brown. The Seminoles never recovered from that terrible sequence of plays. A potential 21-point lead ended up sparking Louisville's run of 35 straight points.
Tony White’s defense came back to reality
Florida State had only allowed 14 points over their two-game winning streak coming into this game. However, Louisville gashed them for nearly 400 yards and six scores on the ground and more than 500 total yards total. The aforementioned Brown was the star of the night with 235 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The consistency that FSU had gained defensively didn't last that long.
They may not win another game in October
Next week, Florida State will travel to play the No. 4-ranked Miami Hurricanes. Anything can happen in rivalry games, but it's likely that they won't come away with a victory in the game. After a bye week, they'll host the Clemson Tigers, and although they aren't world beaters, there's a good chance they can drop that one also.
FSU is in danger of not making a bowl game
After playing Clemson, Florida State has back-to-back road games against the Boston College Eagles and Pittsburgh Panthers. They'll finish the season with two home games against the NC State Wolfpack and the No. 16 Florida Gators. There's potential for several more losses there. So, their chances of a bowl game are shrinking fast.
Norvell shouldn't survive past this season
This is year seven for Norvell, and he's staring at possibly having his fifth year with a losing record. Even if the Seminoles do make a bowl, it'll be with a subpar type of record. That simply isn't the standard, and he can't continue to be the head coach of FSU.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Five takeaways from FSU's loss to Louisville
