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With FSU tied at 24 and the ball with 6:30 left after Ashlynd Barker's interception, the Seminoles' last real possession went backward: a stuffed Kromah run, an incomplete tight end screen to Landen Thomas, and a third-down sack. "That was an unfortunate last drive," Norvell said Thursday, still visibly frustrated three days later.

Norvell said Daniels had the option to pull the ball on a read-option and likely would have picked up a solid gain, calling it "one of those bang-bang decisions" the offense needs to clean up, and that SMU's five-man rush on the sack "got us" once FSU's protection broke down almost immediately.

Norvell offered his bluntest public assessment yet of Ashton Daniels, who fell to 6-21 as a starter with the loss, saying he's seen Daniels "execute the offense at speed" in practice but that it hasn't translated when other factors are live in a game. He also said Daniels should have pulled that read-option on the final drive rather than handing off.

Behind Daniels on the depth chart are JUCO transfer Malachi Marshall, who completed under 50 percent of his passes at the FCS level in 2024, and Kevin Sperry, neither of whom has shown enough to force a change. One columnist also tied Daniels' struggles back to roster construction, noting FSU spread its quarterback room NIL budget thin across multiple players rather than committing to one difference-maker.

Offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. said the second-half move of Nate Pabst from right guard to right tackle, with Paul Bowling sliding in at guard, wasn't the staff "giving up" on struggling right tackle Chimdia Nwaiwu, but it was the right call in the moment. Through two games, Nwaiwu has allowed a team-leading five pressures and two sacks on 50 pass-blocking snaps.

Pabst didn't allow a single pressure in 50 snaps at guard but gave up two in just 13 snaps at tackle, a small sample that still points to guard being his long-term home. Norvell said the staff will keep looking for its "best group" up front, with Nwaiwu and reserve Jonathan Daniels both on notice.

Za'Kari Johnson made a gameday visit to Miami's game against Florida A&M on Thursday, and before it even started, he told reporters, "Miami has always been my dream school." It's a notably stronger statement than anything he said after last weekend's Texas A&M trip, when he insisted he was still "rocking with Florida State."

FSU has been burned by a high-profile flip before: blue-chip 2027 safety commit Mekhi Williams, the longest-standing pledge in the class at the time, flipped to Wisconsin in June. Johnson is one of six four-star pledges carrying FSU's 2027 class, alongside Ta'Shawn Poole and Sam LeJeune.

A new website, SaveFSUFootball.com, launched this week with a detailed case for moving on from Mike Norvell and a plan to help pay for it. The site is asking 250,000 FSU fans to each contribute $102 toward Norvell's buyout, aiming to raise $25.5 million, roughly half of what the site pegs as a $51 million total.

The donation function isn't live yet, and buyout estimates continue to vary by source, with On3 previously reporting a more specific $45.6 million figure. The site also argues FSU is at a financial disadvantage compared to Big Ten and SEC peers due to lower ACC revenue distributions, making outside fundraising more relevant than it would be elsewhere.

After going viral for mimicking Myles Garrett's pre-snap crossover before getting bulldozed on the third-and-10 that led to SMU's game-winning field goal drive, Desir took to social media to tell critical fans to "stay on that side." One widely shared post pointed out that Desir is making roughly $800,000 this season while finishing with just two pressures and a 4.2 percent pressure rate against SMU.

It's not Desir's first offseason dust-up with fans: he and twin brother Darryll drew criticism last spring for a since-abandoned transfer portal flirtation before both returned on a larger NIL package. Tony White has publicly stood by Desir's flair, but hasn't addressed the social media response directly.

Bill Connelly's S&P+ ratings have FSU at No. 45 nationally through two weeks, with the offense checking in at No. 51 and, more surprisingly, the defense at No. 41. Alabama sits at No. 12 overall and rates ahead of FSU on both sides of the ball.

One quirk worth knowing: the model still weighs preseason recruiting and last year's results fairly heavily through the first couple of games, so FSU's ranking should become a purer reflection of on-field play as the sample size grows.

Despite the power outage and a result nobody in Tallahassee wanted, Monday's SMU-FSU game still pulled in 4.1 million viewers on ESPN, making it the ninth most-watched game of Week 1 nationally, ahead of several ranked matchups.

The most-watched game of the week was Notre Dame's win over Wisconsin at Lambeau Field (7.4 million), while the Clemson-LSU opener in Death Valley drew 5.8 million.

Four-star 2028 quarterback Chandler Dyson made his second Tallahassee visit of the year for the SMU game, calling it "electric" despite the power outage delay and saying FSU remains in his top five. The Warner Robins, Georgia product got brief facetime with quarterbacks coach Austin Tucker before kickoff and plans to return again later this season.

Ole Miss and Georgia Tech are also in Dyson's mix; he visited Georgia Tech's loss to Colorado the Thursday before making the trip to Tallahassee.

FSU's highest-ranked commit, four-star safety Ta'Shawn Poole, made his first trip back to Tallahassee since pledging in July and stuck through the SMU loss despite the delay. His highlight was Ashlynd Barker's interception, since Poole is expected to play the same rover spot. "I just took notes from this game," he said.

Poole has return visits planned for the Clemson and Central Arkansas games and says he's still hearing from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, the two finalists he beat out for his commitment, though Alabama hasn't yet gotten him on an official visit.

A new set of ACC recruiting rankings for the 2027 cycle has FSU sixth in the conference at an 87.969 composite score, behind Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Cal, and Georgia Tech, but ahead of Louisville, North Carolina, and NC State.

Miami's class is the clear outlier, ranked No. 3 nationally with four five-star commitments, which makes this week's Za'Kari Johnson visit to Coral Gables all the more worth watching.

FSU is 19-3-4 all-time against NC State, unbeaten in the last 22 meetings dating back to 1999, including a 19-game win streak from 2001 to 2023. The No. 18 Seminoles (4-1-1) closed non-conference play with a 1-1 draw against Rice, in which Wrianna Hudson scored her second goal of the season and goalkeeper Kate Ockene made eight saves.

NC State arrives 7-0-1 and unbeaten, but Friday will be the Wolfpack's first game against a ranked opponent all season, a real step up in competition.

Head coach Brian Pensky has led FSU to five ACC titles in his first four seasons, and the Seminoles have qualified for the ACC Championship all 31 years of the program's history, the only team to do so. FSU has scored 13 goals from seven different players this season, led by junior Sam Erbach's three goals and three assists.

Friday is Military Appreciation Night at the Seminole Soccer Complex, with $4.50 tickets available for military and first responders using the code HEROES.

Former FSU golfer Lottie Woad will represent Team Europe at the 2026 Solheim Cup in the Netherlands, becoming just the third Seminole ever to compete in the event, joining Matilda Castren and Karen Stupples. Woad turned pro in July 2025 after a decorated three-year career at FSU that included a school-record 70.42 stroke average and five All-American selections.

Woad qualified automatically through her No. 7 world ranking and is one of 12 players on Anna Nordqvist's European squad, which also includes Charley Hull and Leona Maguire. The matches run Sept. 11-13 in Cromvoirt.

FSU's NFL alumni got their season underway this week, headlined by cornerback Renardo Green, who intercepted a pass and added three tackles in the 49ers' 27-7 win over the Rams in Australia. Braden Fiske started for the Rams and recorded two tackles, while Tatum Bethune was inactive with an injury.

In Wednesday's opener, the Seahawks beat the Patriots 13-10, with Joshua Farmer playing nine defensive snaps for New England without recording a stat.

FSU softball released its eight-game fall slate, opening Oct. 2 against Chipola before hosting Florida A&M, Troy, Gulf Coast State, and Auburn, then closing with two games at LSU in Gulf Shores and a season-ending trip to Florida. The Seminoles return All-Americans Ashtyn Danley and Jazzy Francik, plus newcomers headlined by Stetson transfer Nicole Edmiaston, who set school records with 23 home runs and a .900 slugging percentage.

FSU baseball announced three fall events at Dick Howser Stadium in October, hosting Jacksonville and North Florida before the Garnet & Gold All-Star Game on Oct. 30, in addition to its annual fall matchup with Auburn in Pensacola on Oct. 10.

Men's basketball assistant Chris Kent is leaving to become head coach of the Austin Spurs, the San Antonio Spurs' G League affiliate, after helping FSU to an 18-15 record and a school-record five straight ACC road wins last season. Luke Loucks promoted Justin Lindner, a former FSU player, to assistant coach and hired Sam Logwood, formerly of the Sacramento Kings, as director of video and scouting.

FSU lacrosse added two-time national champion Sam Forrest and Lauren Dickson as assistant coaches, plus Parker Brown as director of player development, ahead of the program's second season this spring.