2023 Season preview: Florida State

The 2023 Pitt football season is less than two months away. The Panthers are coming off a 9-4 season, which was capped off with a dramatic 37-35 win over UCLA in the Sun Bowl. After starting the 2022 season with a disappointing 4-4 mark, Pitt surged down the stretch and won its final five games and finished No. 22 in the final AP poll. 2022 marked the second straight season Pat Narduzzi’s team finished the year ranked.

The Panthers’ success on the field translated to some notoriety off of it. Pitt boasted six NFL draft picks in April, including Calijah Kancey, giving the Panthers a second straight year with a first round pick. The talent lost is undeniable, but Pitt still returns some key players and ending the year with a five-game winning streak creates some optimism for the 2023 season.

Given we are in the month of July, we will start to slowly prepare for the start of training camp next month and the season opener on September 2nd. We will take a game by game look ahead at all 12 of Pitt’s regular season matchups.

Today we will look at Pitt’s first game in the month of November, a showdown against Florida State, in what can be one of the biggest games not only for Pitt, but could be in the race for the ACC. Pitt’s first-ever game when it joined the ACC was against Florida State back in 2013, a dominant win for the eventual national champion Seminoles. A lot has changed since then, with Florida State falling on hard times a bit during the Willie Taggart era, but Mike Norvell appears to be getting the program back on track and they enter the year as one of the favorites in the league.

Let’s take a closer look at the Florida State Seminoles.

Game details: Saturday November 4, 2023. Acrisure Stadium (68,400 capacity) Game Time TBA.

Opponent: Florida State University, established 1851

School location: Tallahassee, Florida

2022 record: 10-3 (5-3 ACC)

Postseason: 35-32 win over Oklahoma in Cheez-It Bowl

Head Coach: Mike Norvell, 4th season, 18-16. (56-31 in seven seasons overall)

Returning Starters: 11 (5 offense, 6 defense)

Last Meeting: November 7, 2020: Pitt 41, Florida State 17

All-Time Series: Pitt leads 6-4

Rivals Recruiting Rankings by year:

2023: 26th

2022: 17th

2021: 27th

2020: 20th

2019: 17th

Offense

2022 season ranks

Total: 10th (484.2 ypg)

Scoring: 15th (36.1 ppg)

Passing: 28th (270.2 ypg)

Rushing: 13th (214.1 ypg)

KEY Players

Jordan Thomas QB

Trey Benson RB

Johnny Wilson WR

Robert Scott LT

D’Mitri Emmanuel RG

Outlook: Florida State is one of the hot picks this offseason to potentially win the ACC. The reasoning behind those high expectations probably start with quarterback Jordan Travis. He had modest production in 2020 and 2021 before having a breaking out in 2022 with 3,214 passing yards and 24 touchdowns to just five interceptions. Travis has always brought a dual-threat element to his game and has over 1,600 career rushing yards 24 touchdowns there. Depending on your sports book of choice, he is considered one of the Heisman frontrunners as we sit here in August.

Joining Travis in the backfield is junior running back Trey Benson, who is coming off of a career year after not producing much in 2021 at Oregon. Benson finished with 990 rushing yards with nine touchdowns. He is also a dangerous return man and took a kickoff back for a score in 2022 as well.

The Seminoles also return matchup nightmare on the outside in Johnny Wilson. He checks in at 6’7” and 237-pounds and led the ‘Noles with 43 catches for 897 yards and five touchdowns. Wilson earned second team All-ACC honors for his 2021 campaign.

Florida State should have one of the better offensive line’s in the conference, as they bring back a pair of returning starters who garnered All-ACC recognition in 2022. Robert Scott was a second team all-conference pick and will reprise that role this year and has 29 career starts to his name. Also back is right guard D’Mitri Emmanuel, a third team All-ACC pick in 2022. Emmanuel was a key addition in the transfer portal out of Charlotte and has 38 games of starting experience in his three-year college career.

Defense

2022 Season ranks

Total: 14th (321.8 ypg)

Scoring: 20th (20.6 ppg)

Passing: 4th (165.4 ypg)

Rushing: 74th (156.4 ypg)

Key Players

Jared Verse DL

Tatum Bethune LB

Kalen Deloach LB

Renardo Green CB

Fentrell Cypress CB

Outlook: Florida State had one of the best defenses in the ACC last season both in terms of yards and points allowed, and there is no reason to think a drop-off is coming. The Seminoles have a pretty well-stocked roster and should be effective on all three levels defensively.

The defensive front will be anchored by Jared Verse, who is coming off of a mammoth 202 campaign in which he posted 48 tackles, 17 TFL, and 9 sacks. Verse will be one of the best edge rushers in the entire conference and will be a challenge for Pitt to keep out of the backfield.

The linebackers should also be a strength with a pair of seniors leading the charge. Tatum Bethune was one of the biggest impact transfers in the ACC last year and came in from UCF and made a quick impact with 84 tackles, 9.5 TFL, and three sacks. He will be joined back there by Kalen DeLoach, who has started 25 games during his time with the Seminoles.

The secondary was in a good place with Renardo Green anchoring one cornerback spot, but Mike Norvell made big-time use of the transfer portal to lure Fentrell Cypress to Tallahassee. Cypress was one of the top cover corners in the ACC a year ago with Virginia and should step right in to give Florida State a strong pairing on the back end.

Final Thoughts: After Jimbo Fisher left Florida State, things got bleak rather quickly. Willie Taggart went 9-12 during his time guiding the program and Mike Norvell’s first two seasons produced only an 8-13 record. Norvell finally got things rolling last season. The Seminoles started out 4-0, lost three in a row, before finishing strong with six consecutive victories.

The ‘Noles have one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country, a strong supporting cast, a veteran defense, and a roster that is always strong given their location. Florida State being picked as a dark horse College Football Playoff team seems a bit premature since they only have had one good season, but I can get why some prognosticators are on board with this team.

This will obviously be a tough test for Pitt and there is good reason to believe this will be one of the pivotal games in the ACC season, if not for both teams, than at least one of them. Pitt’s 2013 meeting against Florida State seems so long ago, and the Panthers were exposed greatly in that game. Pitt as a program has made significant strides since then and this should be a big game for both teams, not just because Florida State is coming to town.