Faster than Florida State went from unranked to the top 10, the Seminoles fell the last two weeks.
After a second straight loss — Saturday’s 28-22 home loss to No. 3 Miami — Florida State (3-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is clinging to the 25th and final spot in this week’s AP poll.
The Seminoles will look to stop their slide Saturday when they host Pitt (3-2, 1-1) for an ACC game in Tallahassee, Florida.
“Our football team is, I would say, very disappointed, angry,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “…We showed a lot of production ability and we showed a lot of potential of what we can do. But it always comes down to applying it throughout a game.”
Florida State was ranked as seventh before this two-game skid.
Although the final score of the loss to the Hurricanes would lead one to believe it was a competitive game, the Seminoles trailed 28-3 with just over 10 minutes left.
Of the team’s 404 yards, nearly half of them (188) came in the fourth quarter as Florida State rallied for 19 points to put away a kick recovery after pulling away for a victory.
After quarterback Tommy Castellanos threw just one interception in the first three games, he had a pair of picks in each of the last two games.
With six team turnovers in the last two games, Florida State is now tied for 112th out of 136 FBS teams with nine turnovers for the season.
“This (loss) is on me,” Castellanos said after the Miami game. “I told the (team) I had to play better and be better.”
The good news for Florida State? After playing three teams currently in the top 20 in their first five games, none of the seven teams left on its regular season schedule are ranked.
The bad news is Pitt is coming into Saturday’s game. The Panthers head south, fresh from a 48-7 win over Boston College in Freshman QB Mason Heinttschel’s first start.
A Pitt offense that had sputtered at times and struggled with turnovers — the Panthers had a 7-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio in their first three games against FBS opponents — was smooth as Silk on Saturday with an 18-year-old at the helm after moving on from previous starter Eli Holstein.
Heinttschel completed 30 of 41 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns, tied for the most by a rookie in his first full game since at least 1995.
“It’s a dream come true for sure,” Heinttschel said. “That’s why I came to Pittsburgh.”
Heinttschel was the first true freshman Pitt QB to start a game since Kenny Pickett in 2017. Head coach Pat Narduzzi sees some points of comparison between the two.
“We think he (Pickett) has ability,” Narduzzi said. “Again, one game doesn’t define you. He’s got a lot of work to do. We have a big game this week against Florida State in Tallahassee.”
The Seminoles’ defense – which has six interceptions and ranks fifth in the ACC in passing defense (195.8 yards per game) – and a tough road atmosphere will further test Heinttschel.
Pitt leads the all-time series 6-5, but Florida State won the final road game in 2023.
– Field level media
