Florida State Coach Mike Norvell Delivers Strong Message After Historic Loss

Florida State suffered a historic loss to Duke on Friday night to fall to 1-6, but head coach Mike Norvell isn't losing faith in his players -- and not giving up on this season.

The Seminoles lost to the Blue Devils 23-16 on Friday, the program's first-ever loss to Duke after 22 consecutive wins. The loss was the latest blow for a team that was ranked No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll rankings and won the ACC last season.

After Friday's game, Norvell said he still had faith in his players and knows that this season's sharp downturn is weighing hard on all of them.

"Those guys fought through it all," Norvell told reporters . "They're all hurting. This team cares about each other, [about] who we are, where we are, what we represent. We know the results are not anywhere near what they have to be here, but we still have the choice to continue to get better, to improve, to continue to lift the guys up."

Norvell added that he still has faith in his players and faith that the season can still turn around, even if the Seminoles would need to run the table just to become bowl-eligible.

"I'm an optimistic person because I'm around them every single day and I believe in who they are, I believe in the character that they have, I believe in the toughness and the fight that they will show," Norvell said. "No one wants to be where we are right now, but we are going to continue to fight and we're going to get better."

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