Florida State College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Florida State College Football Preview 2024

Bottom line, in the weirdest of big-picture ways, there might actually be a way to turn the awful way that 2023 ended into some sort of a positive.

You want a well-motivated team? You want a bunch of players with 500-pound chips on their shoulders? You want a Florida State program that’s about to come into a season ready to do some damage?

Oh yeah, get ready for the 2024 FSU Revenge Tour.

Don’t blow off that Florida State won the ACC Championship, and who cares about losing in a bowl game that's not a part of the playoff? It's still all about the snub, but ...

This goes against the narrative, but yeah, it took a perfect storm of bad luck for Florida State to miss out on the College Football Playoff, starting with the injury to star QB Jordan Travis against North Alabama.

If Georgia had beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship, or if Oregon had beaten Washington in the Pac-12 Championship, or if Texas had lost to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship, or if Jalen Milroe hadn’t made that miraculous throw to beat Auburn, FSU would have been in the CFP.

It might not have been pretty, but it would’ve at least taken a cut.

But what happened, happened, and if Florida State needs that oomph to try sticking it to the CFP, that little extra edge just might work.

It should take a wee bit to be fantastic with a ton of new elite talents stepping up and into bigger roles, but head coach Mike Norvell has a loaded team that should once again be the best in the ACC.

Several of the big games are at home, and the team could suffer a loss, or even two, and still get into the expanded College Football Playoff. This time, the committee won't keep out the ACC Champion.

Florida State Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The Florida State offense went from rocking and rolling to not being able to do a thing over the last three games. Dealing with a great Louisville D and all things Georgia Bulldog had something to do with it.

Even with the late-season issues, the offense was still No. 1 in the ACC in scoring.

QB Jordan Travis is gone, but in comes DJ Uiagalelei, the former Clemson star recruit who went to Oregon State for a year. The experience and next-level skills are there, but the consistency and 59% career completion percentage have to be stronger.

However, when it comes to motivation to come up with something big, this is the right quarterback for FSU to have.

The offense reloaded at receiver after losing Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson, and TE Jaheim Bell. Hakeem Williams should be a flash on the outside, Ja’Khi Douglas averaged over 17 yards per catch, and Malik Benson comes in from Alabama to try to crank up his career.

- The offensive line was good, but this one might be better with a little time. This year’s version should be great once the new parts get comfortable.

Darius Washington is a next-level talent at left tackle, and center Maurice Smith and OT Jeremiah Byers will be all-stars. The interior went to the portal to fill out the guards, with Richie Leonard (Florida) and TJ Ferguson (Alabama) both bringing 335-pound bulk to blast away.

Leading rusher Trey Benson is off to the Arizona Cardinals, but Florida State is still full of good backs, starting with Lawrance Toafili, a quick senior who averaged 6.7 yards per carry and was second on the team with 463 yards.

Roydell Williams averaged five yards per pop in his four years with Alabama, Jaylin Lucas was a good kick returner and back for Indiana, and freshman Kam Davis comes in as one of the nation’s top running back prospects.

NOTE: The previews were published early this summer. We tried to catch the changes, but if we missed anything, please let us know at @ColFootballNews and we'll fix it right away.

Florida State Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The Florida State defense was even better than the stats. It was 11th in the nation in pass defense, was sixth in third down D, and allowed 19.3 points per game. And that’s factoring in the 673 yards and 63 points allowed in the loss to Georgia when the Noles fielded a shell of their normal team. Nothing stops - this defense will be special, too.

- The pass rush will still be great, even though Jared Verse is a Los Angeles Ram. Patrick Payton came up with seven sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss, and he’s every bit the pro prospect Verse was. Offenses can’t lock in on him with Marvin Jones Jr. coming in from Georgia to work the other side.

The tackles have to be replaced, but Joshua Farmer is a big body in the interior who came up with seven tackles for loss, and former Miami transfer 6-5, 330-pound Darrell Jackson Jr. will grow into a space-eater after having to sit out the regular season last year.

The linebacking corps loses top tacklers Tatum Bethune and Kalen DeLoach, but DJ Lundy was third with 54 tackles and Omar Graham should be one of the team’s leading tacklers in place of Bethune in the middle.

- The corners are among the best in the nation. Fentrell Cypress made 40 tackles and broke up eight passes, but teams will stay away from him. Azareye’h Thomas broke up ten passes and should thrive when tested.

Safety Shyheim Brown is another strong NFL prospect. The All-ACC talent is coming off a 53-tackle season, and Miami transfer Davonte Brown and Alabama’s Earl Little will fill in the roles around him.

Key To The Florida State Football Season

Stop quarterbacks who can throw a football well.
The Florida State defense turned things up several notches in the ACC Championship game, holding Louisville to just 111 passing yards and Jack Plummer to 39% completion rate.

That was it with stopping the teams that could consistently complete a forward pass.

The Georgia debacle in the Orange, the saved-by-the-missed kick win over Clemson, the survive-and-move-on win over Boston College, and the fight against a Graham Mertz-less Florida.

Those four and the win over Heisman winner Jayden Daniels at LSU were the five times anyone hit 56% of more of their throws, and every passing attack but Florida’s went off for big yards.

Florida State Key Player

Hykeem Williams, WR Soph.
It was tough to break into the wide receiver rotation with so many star parts in place. Williams caught five passes for 80 yards and a score - seeing mostly garbage time - but now it’s his turn to be a devastating deep threat on the outside. At least that’s the goal.

The 6-2, 210-pounder from Fort Lauderdale was one of the nation’s top recruits last season. The team needs him to be the next FSU WR star up, and he has the ability to do it.

Florida State Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Marvin Jones Jr., EDGE Jr.
The son of the Florida State legend of the same name is 6-5, 257 pounds, and can fly. All of the pieces are in place to be a special edge rusher - especially on the other side of Patrick Payton - but he only made 16 tackles with two sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss in his two years at Georgia. There’s too much talent and upside to not need more than a few games to do that for FSU.

Top Transfer Out: Bless Harris, OT Sr.
Florida State won the transfer portal in a blowout, and there weren’t a slew of big losses that can’t be replaced.

Harris was expected to be a great get for Florida State from Lamar, but the 6-5, 326-pounder got hurt and wasn’t right in 2022. He got a few starts in 2023, but now he’s the starting left tackle at TCU.

Florida State Key Game

at Notre Dame, Nov. 9
The October 5th game against Clemson is massive, but that’s at home. Going to Miami is dangerous, playing Florida is always a fight, and getting by North Carolina and going to Ireland to face Georgia Tech could be an issue.

But Florida State is better than all of those teams, and it should be in the ACC Championship without a problem as long as it doesn’t trip over itself. The trip to Notre Dame is something bigger.

If the Irish get by Texas A&M to start the season, the schedule plays out perfectly to be unbeaten when the Seminoles roll into South Bend in early November. No, it won’t mean as much as it did in, say, 1993, but it has the potential to be college football’s Game of the Year.

10 Best Florida State Football Players

1. Patrick Payton, DE Jr.
2. Darius Washington, OT Sr.
3. Fentrell Cypress, CB Sr.
4. Shyheim Brown, S Jr.
5. DJ Uiagalelei, QB Sr.
6. Maurice Smith, C Sr.
7. Roydell Williams, RB Sr.
8. DJ Lundy, LB Sr.
9. Joshua Farmer, DT Jr.
10. Marvin Jones Jr., EDGE Jr.

Florida State 2023 Fun Stats

- 4th Quarter Scoring: Florida State 130, Opponents 40

- Rushing Yards: Opponents 2,131, Florida State, 2,103

- Touchdowns Scored: Florida State 61, Opponents 32

Florida State Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

(Before you blow your top, Florida State types, there's a positive payoff coming.)

Shhhhhhhh. It’s been a tad lost in the kerfuffle - mostly because most of those who do this had ZERO interest in dealing with a bunch of screamy-aggrieved Florida State fans - but …

2023 Florida State didn’t beat anyone who was all that great. (And … duck for cover.)

I know, I KNOW, that’s not what we’re supposed to say. Florida State was wronged, it was a conspiracy, ESPN rigged the system, and all of that. However ...

That win over LSU was big to start the season, and probably the best one all year. Alabama rocked the Tigers, too. The Tide also stuffed a whale of an Ole Miss team and beat that upstart Georgia squad when it mattered the most. FSU didn’t have anything nearly that good.

Clemson was meh, and it probably wins if it had a kicker who wasn’t called off his couch to take over the gig - the game went to overtime after the Tigers missed a late 29-yard field goal.

FSU survived Boston College on Eagle penalty No. 18 - and there were kicker problems there, too.

Give the Seminoles credit for a giant performance by the defense in the ACC Championship win over Louisville, and I’m not minimizing the talent of that bunch - 13-0 is 13-0 - but there were six wins over teams that finished with losing records, and …

Yes, there is a positive point to all of this.

Last year’s team was very, very good - but again, the schedule made it all look a bit better than it was. This year’s team will need a little time to get up to speed. It probably won’t start 13-0, and everyone will undervalue it because it won't have that same record, hype, and vibe. However, the final result should be a whole lot better.

There will be a misfire somewhere - like at Miami, or on the wrong day at home against Clemson, North Carolina, or Florida - and that Notre Dame trip will be a thing.

But Florida State will be the best team in the ACC, it will win the ACC Championship, get a top four spot and a bye in the expanded CFP, and by December this bunch should have the right makeup to do damage in the playoff.

Set The Florida State Win Total At … 10

Likely Wins: Boston College, Cal, Charleston Southern, at Duke, Memphis

50/50 Games: Florida, Georgia Tech (in Ireland), at Miami, North Carolina, at Notre Dame, at SMU

Likely Losses: No apparent sure-thing losses

2024 Florida State Football Schedule

Aug 24 vs Georgia Tech (in Dublin)
Sept 2 Boston College
Sept 7 OPEN DATE
Sept 14 Memphis
Sept 21 Cal
Sept 28 at SMU
Oct 5 Clemson
Oct 12 OPEN DATE
Oct 18 at Duke
Oct 26 at Miami
Nov 2 North Carolina
Nov 9 at Notre Dame
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 Charleston Southern
Nov 30 Florida

Missing: Louisville, NC State, Pitt, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest