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🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹
Happy Monday, Seminole! What a week.
Florida State followed the Alabama statement by hanging 77 on East Texas A&M, climbed into the AP Top-10, rallied around Ethan Pritchard, and stacked momentum across soccer, volleyball, hoops, baseball and the recruiting trail.
Here’s your one-stop wrap of everything that mattered — and what’s next.
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🏆 This Week in Garnet & Gold
🏈 Scoreboard fireworks: Noles demolish East Texas A&M 77–3, scoring on the first 10 possessions and racking up 729 total yards. Duce Robinson sets a program mark with 160 receiving yards in the 1st quarter.
📈 Top-10 status: Florida State climbs to No. 10 in the AP Poll (No. 12 Coaches) after back-to-back statements.
🩺 Health & depth: Roydell Williams out for a period; Randy Pittman Jr. sidelined a couple weeks. Gavin Sawchuk steps to RB1; Jaylin Lucas/Ousmane Kromah co-starters; Micahi Danzy elevated at WR.
🌟 Freshman flash: True frosh QB Kevin Sperry debuts 4-of-5, 61 yards, 2 TD with a 22-yard scramble.
🤝 Family first: Team rallies around LB Ethan Pritchard with tributes and a postgame rock-break by his dad.
⚽🏐 Fall sports rolling: Women’s Soccer wins 7–0 and 5–0; Volleyball sweeps South Carolina in Tampa.
🏀 Hoops heater: Men’s hoops adds back-to-back top-100 pledges Collin Paul and Brandon Bass Jr.
💸 Admin note: The ACC fines FSU $50K for the Bama field-storm. Worth every decibel.
🏈 Game of the Week: FSU 77, East Texas A&M 3
How it unraveled: Ruthless from snap one — 10/10 scoring drives, 49–0 at half, nearly 90 Noles seeing the field.
Tommy Castellanos: 8-of-11, 237 yards, 2 TD, plus 78 rush yards.
Duce Robinson: 5 for 173 and 2 TD — a first-quarter clinic.
RB room party: Sawchuk (2 rush TD + 1 receiving), Singleton (82 & TD), Danzy (53-yard end-around TD), Kromah (43-yard TD catch), Lucas (64-yard explosive that set up points).
Defense: Smothered everything but the band; starters exited early, reserves finished the job.
Injuries: Squirrel White (arm brace) exits precautionary; Shyheim Brown/James Williams leave early; bye week timing helps.
🔢 Numbers That Tell the Story
77–3 — Enough said.
10/10 — First ten drives = first ten scores.
729 — Total yards.
160 (Q1) — Duce’s first-quarter yardage (program record).
~90 — Players who logged snaps.
📋 Depth Chart & Health Watch
RB: Sawchuk to RB1; Lucas/Kromah co-starters; Holmes/Davis next men up while Roydell heals.
Pass-catchers/returns: Danzy up behind Squirrel; Squirrel at PR (OR Lucas); Lucas at KOR (OR Singleton).
Front/secondary tweaks: Daniel Lyons to starting DT; Mandrell Desir climbs the two-deep; KJ Sampson backing Darrell Jackson; CB rotation settles with Quindarrius Jones plus Lester/Arnoux behind the starters.
TE: Randy Pittman Jr. out a couple weeks → more Amaree Williams/Landen Thomas.
🎧 Coaches’ Corner — What They Loved (and Didn’t)
Gus Malzahn: Praised the Week-1→Week-2 jump, clean explosives, and four QBs executing (three with TDs). On Sperry: “Didn’t flinch.” Emphasis now: red-zone precision and situational mastery.
Tony White: One word: respond. Loved how the twos and threes executed without full prep reps. Next step: turn PBUs into picks, tighten tackling angles, finish the ball.
🔁 Recruiting — Momentum & Moves
✅ Committed: 2027 DB Jemari Foreman picks FSU over multiple P5s after a wild Doak weekend.
👀 Flip watch (Rival Raid): After UF’s stumble, renewed heat on Kendall Guervil, Carsyn Baker, CJ Bronaugh, Heze Kent, Kaiden Hall.
🧭 Linebacker board: DQ Forkpa (’26), Gregory Batson (’27), Chris Carbin (’26/GT commit) impressed; FSU firmly in it.
🏀 Hoops: Collin Paul (No. 76) + Brandon Bass Jr. (No. 98) give Luke Loucks length, shooting, and versatility for the future.
🌍 Around the Programs
⚽ Women’s Soccer: 7–0 vs Stetson, 5–0 at FAU (weather-shortened). Streaks stretch to 29-0-4 in regular-season non-conference since 2019. Louisville opens ACC play Thursday at home.
🏐 Volleyball: Sweep of South Carolina in Tampa behind Iane Henke’s heaters and a .340 team clip; Oklahoma up next in Norman.
🏀 Women’s Hoops: Non-con is a gauntlet (UConn, Indiana, Florida, Georgia) — early measuring sticks for Coach Wyckoff.
⚾ Baseball: JUCO RHP Jordan Martinez commits for 2027 — four-pitch mix, athletic delivery.
🏟️ The Doak Factor: Season tickets crest 30,900; “Game Day Live” debuts; garnet end zones back where they belong.
📅 On Deck (Kent State)
🧰 Focus: heal (Squirrel/Pittman/Roydell), detail work, academics, lift/run, advanced scouting.
📣 Recruiting: capitalize on Top-10 buzz; push LB/JACK/OT boards, monitor possible flips, keep ’26 skill momentum hot.
🗓️ Next: Kent State at Doak, Sept. 20 — bank another clean, deep-rotation performance before the ACC grind.
✍️ Sign-Off
Two weeks, two statements — and a locker room that handled triumph and tragedy with maturity. The ranking is nice; the standard is the point. Enjoy the bye, enjoy the Top-10 glow, and get ready for another primetime stride.
Stay locked, stay loud, and — Go Noles! 🔱🔥
