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Mark Ingram sends message to Mike Norvell after Florida State upset of Alabama

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh09/05/25griffin_mcveigh
Mark-Ingram-emphatically-makes-prediction-Georgia-9.5-win-total-2025
Panelists Brady Quinn (left) and Mark Ingram speak during FOX's Big Noon Kickoff football pregame show at Texas Tech University, Saturday, November 9, 2024 at Jones AT&T Stadium. | © Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Result of Week 1 in college football belonged to Florida State. Mike Norvell got a statement win, and then some, for his program by crushing Alabama. Reactions have been poured in, especially from former Crimson Tide players — who might be starting to ring the alarm bells on Kalen DeBoer.

Not too many of them got to speak directly to Norvell about the game, though. Now-FOX analyst Mark Ingram did get an opportunity and delivered a nice message to the Florida State head coach. As the interview was ending, Ingram told Norvell to go out there and keep producing results.

“Appreciate you, Coach,” Ingram said via The Triple Option. “Keep doing your thing, man. Go beat everyone else how you beat us, please. It would make me feel a lot better about myself.”

If Norvell can deliver on what Ingram wants, Florida State is going to be playing more than 12 games this season. His bunch dominated the game nearly from start to finish. The lone blemish was Alabama’s opening drive, one where a long touchdown drive was produced. From there, almost nothing could be done by the Crimson Tide — offensively or defensively.

Winning by the score of 31-17, the two-touchdown margin broke a long streak. Florida State had not beaten a power conference opponent by at least 14 points since the first weekend of November in 2023. A road game of Pitt was the last time, spanning 14 games.

All kinds of doors have now been opened due to the win. Not only has the narrative around Florida State changed but enough was done to get people to believe again. Conversations about the College Football Playoff will take place moving forward.

Two lesser opponent matchups pop up next on the schedule. Nobody truly expects Florida State to struggle with Texas A&M-Commerce or Kent State. Even with last season’s 2-10 record, Norvell did too good of a job upgrading the roster for those games to presumably be competitive.

From there, the tough games start to pick back up. Eight ACC games will be wrapped up by the final week of the regular season when the Sunshine Showdown rivalry gets renewed. But before playing Florida, tough opponents such as Miami and Clemson are there.

Plenty out there will be rooting for Florida State to find success. Apparently, Ingram is going to be one of them, even though they took care of Alabama.