Last season, the Florida State football program went undefeated, won their conference title game, and housed an elite defense led by pass rusher Jared Verse. However, despite their massively successful 2023 regular season, the College Football Playoff committee opted to omit the Florida State Seminoles from the four-team postseason field, making them the first Power Five team in the CFP era to go undefeated and win their conference championship game and not have a chance to compete for a national title. Florida State remains the class of the ACC heading into next fall, but one SEC-centric talking head believes they are in for a down year in 2024.
During ESPN’s flagship show, First Take, SEC media personality, and college football expert Paul Finebaum predicted that Florida State was the most likely preseason AP Poll top ten team to end the season unranked. In 2017, the Seminoles finished outside the end-of-year AP Poll after starting as a preseason top-ten team. They started the season as the third-ranked team but finished with a 7-6 record.
Paul Finebaum: Predicts Down Season For Florida State Football
Sec Nation (Florida State Seminoles football recruiting) (Florida State Football)
Each season, at least one preseason top-ten team fails to finish the season ranked. Last season, the USC Trojans opened the season as the sixth-rated team in the country. However, they went 8-5, narrowing missing out on the postseason AP Top 25. In 2022, the Texas A&M Aggies entered the year ranked sixth but finished the season an abysmal 5-7, failing to reach bowl eligibility. This year, national college football insider Paul Finebaum pegs the Florida State football team as the most likely to finish the season unranked. Additionally, Finebaum believes the Seminoles have no right to be ranked as a preseason top ten despite last year’s 13-1 record.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum believes #FSU will finish the 2024 season unranked.
“First of all they have no business being in the top 10.”
“I think they used up too many tears crying about not getting in the playoffs. That may slow them down a little bit this year.” #Noles pic.twitter.com/K2Unq9mf0t
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) August 13, 2024
“Florida State. First of all, they have no business being in the top ten. They have a difficult schedule. Florida State has Miami and Notre Dame within a three-week period on the road. They end the season with Florida, which is a debatable team. I think they are going to get caught in the run-of-mill ACC game this year, which they did not encounter last year. They lost the guts of their defense. They have a quarterback who has certainly been around and remains a question mark. They also have a hangover. I think they used up too many tears crying about not getting into the playoffs, and I think that may slow them down this year.”
Most notably, Florida State football has lost most of their defensive playmakers from last season. Defensive lineman Jared Verse, who led the teams in sacks, went in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Meanwhile, interception leader Jarrian Jones and leading tackled Tatum Bethune went in the most recent draft. However, Patrick Payton will return for the Seminoles next season after a 14.5 TFL, seven-sack campaign. Hyper athletic linebacker DJ Lundy will also return after entering the transfer portal this offseason.
Florida State Football: Change At Quarterback Position
For the first time since 2019, the Florida State football program will operate without quarterback Jordan Travis. The fifth-place finisher in Heisman Trophy Award voting in 2023, Travis went in the fifth round of the subsequent NFL draft following his six-year college career. Florida State will now turn to former five-star mega prospect and two-time transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. As the top-ranked pro quarterback in the 2020 class, Uiagalelei played behind future first-overall pick Trevor Lawrence during his freshman season with the Clemson Tigers. Uiagalelei took over as the starter in 2021 but struggled significantly, tallying 2,246 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and ten picks.
Following an improved 2022 season, where he threw 22 touchdowns against seven picks, Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal after Clemson started fellow passer Cade Klubnik in their bowl game loss to Tennessee. Uiagalelei transferred to the Oregon State Beavers for the 2023 campaign, accumulating 2,638 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and seven picks. Uiagalelei will now take over for powerhouse Florida State football for the 2024 season.
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