Mike Norvell emphatic that Florida State is 'not even close to living up to expectations'

Mike Norvell was pretty adamant about Florida State not living up to expectations recently, especially this season. Now at 5-6 following a 21-11 loss to NC State on Friday, the Seminoles need to beat Florida next week to become bowl eligible.

It’s a far cry from winning the ACC and seeing their 13-0 record come up just short of the College Football Playoff two years ago. FSU went 2-10 last year, not living up to expectations to say the least.

This year is no different, especially only improving by three wins and beating Alabama to start the year. It looked like it’d be different, but it’s the same old story for Norvell and company right now. 

“Hell no, we haven’t,” Norvell said postgame. “We’re not even close to living up to expectations. No, no, we have not lived up to expectations. Fully capable football team, and that’s not good enough. And it’s not been good enough for the six losses that we have, and it’s extremely frustrating.”

Florida State trailed 14-3 going into the fourth quarter but never really got the offense going and couldn’t hold the Wolfpack. Norvell and the Seminoles are not in the postseason yet and they also watched NC State celebrate becoming bowl eligible in 2025. As he snapped back during this presser, Norvell expected more.

“However many yards, differentials, improvements, all the crap that I could … you’ve got to make plays to win the games,” Norvell said. “We’ve got to do a good job coaching them, we’ve got to do a good job as players … and we have not done a good enough job to play to what I believe we’re capable of.

“And you sit there and you look at a stat sheet and you can say, ‘Well, you know, you out-gained them, you did this, you did this … it’s still got to come down to doing enough to win the game. And we have definitely not filled any expectation of what I have.”

Norvell’s leading rusher on Friday was QB Thomas Castellanos. He talked a big game in the summer and backed it up in Week 1. But since then, the Seminoles are 4-6.

He went 16-of-32 passing for 203 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and 76 rushing yards. Gavin Sawchuk had just 35 yards rushing.

It might be particularly frustrating for Norvell considering the defense only gave up 286 yards of offense. But his offense committed four turnovers and that was all she wrote.