FSU's Mike Norvell 'disappointed with the outcome' of Seminoles performance vs. Memphis

Florida State football head coach Mike Norvell hoped a bye week would give the Seminoles a chance to reset ahead of a showdown with Memphis .

While the Seminoles raised their energy levels, the team produced another poor performance in a 20-12 defeat at Doak Campbell Stadium Saturday. At 0-3 for the first time since 2021, Norvell said he knows things must change in the team's approach and he was disappointed with Saturday's showing.

"I was extremely disappointed with the outcome, I was extremely disappointed with the way we played at times," Norvell said. "The things that we work and emphasize throughout the course of the week, preseason, offseason, things that are critically important to being successful are not showing up as consistent as we need them to be."

It was another poor start from the FSU offense that included drops, miscommunications, poor throws from DJ Uiagalelei and a lack of protection from the offensive line. Outside of a brief showing in the second half, the Seminoles offense again fell flat.

Uiagalelei went 16-of-30 for 201 yards and one touchdown and an interception. He showed what he could be at his best with an impressive start to the second half, including a 67-yard pass to Malik Benson that set up a score. He also directed a long drive that led to a field goal, but there were few moments of inspiration outside of those drives.

With miscues in the first half, Norvell said he told his team to relax and let the game come to them in the second half. It briefly worked, but the same mistakes popped up as the Seminoles struggled to find a game-tying drive.

FSU finished the first half with only 67 yards of total offense. The brief second-half explosion boosted numbers to 238 total yards by game's end. For the second week in a row, the running backs were limited in use, touching the ball 15 times and recording 53 yards. Lawrance Toafili led the unit with 30 yards.

"Offensively today, it was pretty easy to see it was a very disappointing performance," Norvell said. "We weren't able to get much going. In the second half, we were able to move the ball and had a couple of explosive plays, but still had too many negatives.

"We had a couple of turnovers, missed opportunities, dropped balls, just mistakes that don't allow us to play winning football."

The defense showed improvement, but Norvell said there were too many times when the Seminoles couldn't get off the field. Memphis was 7-of-17 on third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth downs as FSU continued to struggle in critical moments of defensive drives.

"I thought the defense had good moments, still too many times we aren't getting off the field in third down situations," Norvell said.

After three straight losing performances, Norvell still thinks the Seminoles are better than the results.

"I do believe that we are a much better team than what we are showing," Norvell said. "It still comes down to me being able to get that out of these guys and for that to show up on game day.

"I'm disappointed that I've not been able to get more out of what I believe this team is."

Norvell: 'The things we are doing have to translate to the game'

While Norvell feels good with his team's preparation leading into games, he said it hasn't translated from the practice field to game s.

"The things we are doing have to translate to the game," Norvell said. "The things were being asked to do and the things I know we can do have to translate to the game. We will continue to evaluate that in every aspect, we've played three games and haven't won any of them."

While he didn't mention a change at quarterback, Norvell said everything will be elevated - from personal to schemes - as the Seminoles search for answers.

Norvell said he knows what it takes to play winning football, and said he needs to put his team in the best position moving forward.

It's a theme he has repeated this season.

"I know what it takes to win games, I know what it takes for a team to go out there and be able to execute and play at a high level. We all have to do a better job of what we are doing throughout the course of the week," Norvell said.

"We can't continue to come into games and see things that are absolutely not a part of who we are show up."

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU's Mike Norvell 'disappointed with the outcome' of Seminoles performance vs. Memphis