Florida State's game against Memphis on Saturday should have been the point at which, following a disastrous start, the Seminoles came out on fire and played with passion. They should have imparted the sense that, no matter what else has happened, the entire season hinged on the outcome of this one contest against Mike Norvell's former team.
It was the perfect opportunity to turn things around. Memphis is a good team, and certainly one of the best in the Group of Five ranks, but it's also a team that Florida State should be able to beat within the friendly confines of Doak-Campbell Stadium.
But if Week 3 was a test of character, Florida State failed miserably. In front of fans sporting brown paper bags on their heads -- a telltale sign of franchises-turned-sour -- Florida State dug its own hole even deeper with a 20-12 loss. Norvell's squad is now the first preseason top-10 team to ever start 0-3 with all three losses coming against unranked teams.
This wasn't a case of the Seminoles throwing everything they had against a college football Goliath and coming up just short. Outside of a few flashes, Florida State spent 60 minutes spinning its tires in the mud with completely uninspiring football in all three phases.
Maligned quarterback DJ Uiagalelei didn't have his best game -- an all-too-familiar theme for the 2024 Seminoles -- but he certainly didn't get any help from the 10 players around him. Receivers dropped wide open passes in crucial situations in the first half. The offensive line (made worse by a pregame injury to offensive tackle Darius Washington Jr.) may as well have been a revolving door by allowing Memphis' defense to get through for four sacks.
Florida State averaged a paltry 1.5 yards per rush. Lawrance Toafili's 24-yard scamper was FSU's only rush of 10-plus yards, and it gave Florida State almost all of its 37 yards rushing as a team.
The 'Noles did make some plays defensively. Linebacker Justin Cryer's diving interception late in the fourth quarter led to the field goal that cut Memphis' lead to one possession. Edge rusher Patrick Payton and defensive lineman Joshua Farmer -- who were virtual no-shows in Florida State's first two games -- each got home for a sack.
But that same defense got put behind the 8-ball with some crucial mistakes. Near the end of the second quarter, Florida State return man Lawayne McCoy muffed a punt when one of his own teammates bumped into him. Memphis recovered, kicked a field goal as time expired and then marched down the field to open the second half and scored a touchdown that gave it a decisive 20-3 lead.
Thirteen of Memphis' 20 points came off of Florida State turnovers. Despite all the sloppy play on the field, perhaps the worst indictment of the Seminoles thus far is that there's no reason to believe they will turn this around.
Florida State lacks an apparent leader to pick the team up when its back is against the wall. If such a player, or even coach, existed, then the Seminoles wouldn't be in this position. A lot of the above issues would have been corrected after a season-opening loss to Georgia Tech.
They clearly weren't. Florida State is stuck in the same malaise that overcame the program when it was left out of the College Football Playoff field last season, and there's no one to drag the Seminoles out of it.
Norvell is now 3-9 in games not started by quarterback Jordan Travis. Two of those wins came late last season when Travis' devastating injury galvanized the team and pushed them to an ACC Championship Game win against Louisville.
Travis' playmaking ability often masked a lot of Florida State's other struggles. Uiagalelei doesn't provide that same dynamic, and he doesn't have the structure that he needs to stand firm and deliver the ball.
As a result, Norvell's Seminoles are off to an 0-3 start for the second time in four years. That also means Norvell is singlehandedly responsible for two of three 0-3 starts in Florida State's proud history. The other? Bobby Bowden's first year, in 1976.
This is Norvell's fifth year with the program. These problems aren't early growing pains; they're endemic in a culture that has spiraled out of control -- or one that doesn't exist at all. More than anything, it's further evidence of Norvell's inability to rally his team and build a roster that's bought in to maintaining his vision.
Instead of proving the College Football Playoff committee, and the rest of the nation by extension, wrong, Florida State has punted on a season where any promise evaporated once the pads went on.