Clemson Football: Most overrated and underrated ‘way too early’ teams in the ACC
By John Chancey
Overrated: Florida State Seminoles
No ACC team is receiving more hype for 2023 than Florida State. Some way too early top 25 lists have the Seminoles as high as the top 5.
Florida State turned the corner under head coach Mike Norvell in his third season in Tallahassee. They finished the season 10-3 with a last-minute victory against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cheez-It Bowl.
The Seminoles finished the season strong, and they return some key players like quarterback Jordan Travis and defensive end Jared Verse. They also brought in some decent transfers.
The Seminoles will be good in 2023. They will contend for a spot in the ACC title game.
It’s another thing altogether to believe that the Seminoles will be top 5 material. The strong finish for Florida State has obscured the blight of the 2022 season: a three-game losing streak against Wake Forest and Clemson in Tallahassee and on the road against NC State.
Wake was coming off an overtime loss to Clemson and could have been emotionally drained the following weekend. Instead, they held a two-touchdown lead over the Noles by halftime and won by ten. Outside of an opening touchdown pass to Mycah Pittman, the Deacons controlled the game.
NC State lost starting quarterback Devin Leary during the game against FSU. The Seminoles held a two-touchdown lead at halftime, then gave up sixteen unanswered points to the Wolfpack. A bizarre play call on the last play of the game sealed FSU’s loss.
Florida State’s strong regular season finish came against Georgia Tech, Miami, Syracuse, Louisiana, and Florida. They deserve credit for that, but some prognosticators are forgetting that against the best competition on their 2022 schedule, the Seminoles went 1-3, with the lone victory coming against LSU early in the season, and they only won that game by a point.
It is fair to argue that Noles will be good, but elite is a stretch right now.