Offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. said FSU had the right third-down concepts prepared but didn't execute them, pointing to a fourth-and-1 toss to Ousmane Kromah near midfield that got stuffed and handed SMU a short field for a touchdown. "The quarterback knowing where people are gonna be, guys knowing exactly their depth on routes, we've just got to do a better job of that overall," he said.

Without sack yardage and the game's final play, FSU averaged just 0.67 yards on six third and fourth-down carries, and Harris put the blame on execution rather than play-calling. "It's an everybody thing," he said. "And we'll get better."

Defensive coordinator Tony White said his unit had nine plays out of 67 snaps where a single missed call or miscommunication accounted for nearly half of SMU's total yards. On the opening touchdown, White said it came down to a simple communication bust. "There's one guy not playing the call and it's a touchdown," he said.

On the go-ahead drive's third-and-10, White explained that linebacker Mikai Gbayor got tripped up in man coverage after a pre-snap motion, springing quarterback Kevin Jennings loose to find Dramekco Green in space. On the Yannick Smith touchdown, White said his defense ran the exact same blitz call that produced Nehemiah Chandler's earlier interception, just with a cornerback playing too far off the ball to react in time. "We need to have toes on the sticks," he said.

Defensive lineman Mandrell Desir's pre-snap Myles Garrett-style crossover dribble went viral during that same third-and-10, and White addressed it head-on. "I'm never going to take away from a player being him, and he's made a lot of plays for this university," White said. "Now, some things are unnecessary. He can put his damn hand down and go, and he can make some plays that way."

Desir had been shifted into a different role on the line just before kickoff after twin brother Darryll was ruled out, and White said the staff will "cut out all the crazy stuff" while still wanting Desir to play with confidence.

FSU's defense ranks among the nation's worst in the categories that decided the SMU game: 118th in yards per play allowed (6.8), 132nd in third-down defense (58.1 percent), and 105th in pressure rate, with sack rate at 97th. There is a genuine bright spot, though: FSU's red zone defense ranks a respectable 24th nationally at just a 20 percent touchdown rate once opponents get inside the 20.

The offense isn't much healthier, sitting 97th in yards per pass attempt (6.5) and 100th in third-down conversion rate (34.5 percent), though the run game is a relative strength at 40th nationally in yards after contact per carry (3.84) and 52nd in yards per carry overall (5.0).

On3's national hot seat rankings placed Norvell, now 39-35 overall and 22-27 in ACC play at FSU, alongside Clemson's Dabo Swinney and North Carolina's Bill Belichick among the sport's hottest seats entering Week 2. Buyout estimates vary by outlet, from roughly $49 million to as high as $57 million, but multiple sources put the all-in cost of an actual coaching change, including a new staff and roster turnover, at around $100 million.

FSU is 8-18 since its 13-1 ACC title season in 2023, and the same report named Oct. 17's trip to Miami and the following bye week as the checkpoint that will matter most for Norvell's job, along with the open question of who at FSU would even lead a coaching search.

On3's Crain & Cone crew floated Virginia's Tony Elliott, fresh off an 11-3 season, and LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who just held Clemson to 40 rushing yards, as ambitious options if FSU moves on. They also mentioned UNLV's Dan Mullen, a former Florida head coach with Mississippi State ties, as a lower-cost fallback.

The most talked-about name remains Jimbo Fisher, FSU's 2013 national championship coach, who was in the building Monday night as an ACC Network analyst while some fans chanted his name. It's purely speculative at this point, nobody at FSU has said anything about a change, but it shows how quickly the conversation has moved past this season.

Ira Schoffel's column credited athletic director Michael Alford for the ACC lawsuit settlement and the new standalone football facility, but faulted him for not preparing FSU for the current era of roster spending and for the optics of taking on hundreds of millions in stadium debt while the on-field product has cratered.

The piece also named FSU president Richard McCullough and board chair Peter Collins directly, arguing that whoever they hire next, and whether they can actually fund that hire properly, matters more right now than anything happening at practice this week.

After firing three assistants following the 2024 season, Norvell hired longtime mentor Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator, but Malzahn's abrupt retirement before spring practice pushed play-calling duties back onto Norvell himself, and the results through two games have been worse than Malzahn's up-and-down lone season.

FSU went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 45 early against SMU, a call that turned into a turnover on downs and a 14-7 deficit shortly after, the kind of decision that's drawing direct criticism of Norvell's own play-calling.

Tony White arrived with no prior ties to Norvell and a 3-3-5 scheme, bringing NFL-experienced assistants Terrance Knighton and Evan Cooper from Nebraska, where the defense had finished top-20 nationally in 2024.

Through two games, FSU has yet to record a sack against a Power Four opponent, and safeties CJ Richard Jr. and Ma'Khi Jones, both offseason transfers brought in specifically to fit White's scheme, have each played 59-plus snaps with a PFF coverage grade below 60.

The FSU athlete commit took his first trip to College Station over the weekend, watching the Aggies handle Missouri State 50-0 and meeting with head coach Mike Elko. "They've been trying to get me to flip," Johnson said of A&M's pitch, but he closed the visit clearly: "Right now, I'm still rocking with Florida State, but Texas A&M's kind of cool."

Johnson said Miami has picked up communication recently and he remains in touch with Auburn, but his only currently scheduled visit is back to Tallahassee for FSU's Oct. 3 game against Virginia, which he expects will be an official visit.

Top247 defensive tackle Prince Che, the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2028 class, saw four games in 10 days, including both of FSU's home games, plus Georgia Tech-Colorado and LSU's season-opening win, driving to every stop before flying to future visits. He called FSU's defense encouraging against SMU but said "the offense could've done better."

Che listed Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida, Notre Dame, LSU and Texas as the programs currently standing out, with Tennessee a recent addition to the mix; he'll shift to a one-visit-per-week pace starting with this weekend's Texas-Ohio State showdown in Austin.

Wide receiver Keon Coleman opens Sunday for Buffalo against Houston, and defensive end Jared Verse's Browns travel to Jacksonville to face cornerback Jarrian Jones and the Jaguars, while cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Asante Samuel Jr. suit up together for Pittsburgh against Atlanta.

The week kicks off Wednesday night with Joshua Farmer and the Patriots at Seattle, and closes with Thursday's international game in Australia, where Braden Fiske's Rams face off against Tatum Bethune and Renardo Green's 49ers.

FSU trailed by seven strokes entering the final round but fired a five-under 283 to win the Folds of Honor Collegiate at three-under for the tournament, edging Texas A&M for the program's first title at the event and its first season-opening win since 2016. Haruhi Nakatani closed with a clutch par on 18 to finish six-under for the tournament, claiming both the team title and a share of medalist honors, her first collegiate individual win.

Alexandra Gazzoli carded the round of the day for FSU, a two-under 70 with an eagle on the sixth, while Sophia Fullbrook added a steady even-par 72 to finish ninth individually, her 10th career top-10 as a Seminole.

In his first tournament as a Seminole, Shawn Coultoff closed with a 2-under 69 to finish tied for ninth at 4-under, the best debut finish by an FSU golfer since 2022. Wilmer Edero matched his second-round 69 to finish tied for 31st, while Nils-Levi Bock and Carson Brewer rounded out the individual lineup.

Walker Cup hero Tyler Weaver was named to the PGA Tour University Top 25 rankings this week, opening his senior season at No. 2 nationally after his performance in Ireland.

One night after losing to Auburn, FSU beat Louisiana 3-1 at Tully Gymnasium, out-hitting the Ragin' Cajuns .118 as a team and improving to 4-3. Kyleene Filimaua posted her fourth double-double of the season with a match-high 20 kills and 10 digs while hitting .340, and Nenu Kpea added 12 kills and a match-high four blocks.

FSU dropped the first set before reeling off three straight, capped by a 5-3 closing run in the fourth. The Seminoles host FIU on Sunday and North Alabama on Monday, both at Tully Gymnasium.

FSU men's basketball announced its 18-game ACC slate Wednesday, opening conference play at home against Syracuse on Dec. 29 before a road trip to Cal and Stanford. Head coach Luke Loucks called the league "deep" and said the Seminoles "need to pack the Tuck every game."

The schedule includes home dates against North Carolina and Notre Dame, plus both Clemson and Miami twice, with the regular season closing at home against Miami on March 6 ahead of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.