Danny Kanell outlines expectations for Thomas Castellanos, Mike Norvell pairing after Alabama upset

There may not have been a bigger surprise in all of college football’s opening weekend than Florida State‘s 31-17 drumming of then No. 8-ranked Alabama in Tallahassee. It was a stunner.

The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but Mike Norvell‘s team responded in a major way. The Seminoles scored 24 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead with 9:45 remaining in the third quarter and never looked back. Thanks to its big-time win, Florida State has jumped back into the top-15 of the AP Poll Rankings at No. 14.

Nobody was more thrilled about the win than former Florida State quarterback and current CBS Sports HQ contributor Danny Kanell, who was on the field for the massive upset. He joined Greg McElroy and the ‘Always College Football‘ podcast on Wednesday to discuss the pairing of quarterback Tommy Castellanos and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

“What you got is what Mike Norvell hoped for,” Kanell said. “We’ve heard this before, though, about Gus Malzahn. It hasn’t been only Cam Newton. There have been other quarterbacks that you felt have been the perfect quarterback for what Gus Malzahn wanted to do and it hasn’t always worked out great. So I think there was a nervous optimism about what we were gonna get. Even the Florida State fanbase, I’d say, was split on the Gus Malzahn hire.”

Castellanos shined in his Florida State debut

“There were some fans who were like, ‘Really, that’s who we’re bringing in here?’ Does he still have his fastball? Has he lost it? Thomas Castellanos… split fanbase. ‘Did you see what he did at Boston College? Quit on his teammates.’ Yeah, he played good against us but got benched at Boston College. So, from Florida State fans it wasn’t all rosy. Not everybody knew what they were gonna get. But I thought what you got exactly (for the optimistic people and I hope Mike Norvell was one of them because he knew what he was doing) what you hoped for.”

Castellanos had a huge game for the Noles in his program debut. He completed 9-of-14 passes for 152 yards in the air, but made his mark on the ground with 16 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown as part of a high-powered Seminoles rushing attack under Malzahn.

“So the question is, what does it mean for Florida State this season?” Kanell said. “I was not expecting a lot from them this year. I was thinking 7-8 wins and now you have to consider them a contender in the ACC. At minimum, and if it works, then why can’t they beat Clemson and Miami?”

“They play Clemson on the road and Miami in just a month, and those games are massive. I’m not saying they’ll beat both of them, but before, not many people were giving them a chance like they were against Alabama. I think you’ve got to look at them and say they’ve got a chance.”

The Seminoles opened the season strong and will look to parlay that performance into another dominant win over East Texas A&M on Saturday. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:00 PM on ACC Network.