TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State’s defense is coming off its best performance of the season, but coach Mike Norvell said the Seminoles now have to prove they can do it again as they head to Louisville on a short week.
Florida State sacked Virginia’s quarterback 10 times in Saturday’s 38-7 win. Norvell said the Seminoles’ defense set the tone with its physical play.
“I thought our defense overwhelmed them with physicality, speed, just emotion. To have 10 sacks, I don’t know the last time that we’ve had 10 sacks here but it was impressive to see,” Norvell said.
The 10 sacks were Florida State’s most in a game since 1997. The Seminoles held Virginia to 205 total yards and repeatedly got stops in key situations. Virginia went three-for-15 on third down and zero-for-four on fourth down.
“We had five three-and-outs. That’s dominant style of defense,” Norvell said.
Wide receiver Micahi Danzy said the performance looked like what Florida State expects to be on both sides of the ball.
“It felt like old Florida state being dominant on just both sides of the ball. So we push it forward, we gained our confidence, its an away game, and we’re going to go out there and dominate, too,” Danzy said.
Florida State heads to Louisville on Friday night, and Norvell said last week’s defensive showing doesn’t automatically carry over.
“What does that mean moving forward? We got to go earn it. We got to earn it this week,” Norvell said.
Florida State is also trying to end a road skid. The Seminoles are looking for something they haven’t done in nearly three years: win a true road game. Florida State has lost 10 straight true road games, with its last win coming at Florida in 2023.