The Florida State Seminoles’ 2025 campaign has been a roller coaster ride that’s quickly derailing. After starting the season with swagger and a statement win over then-No. 8 Alabama, the Seminoles looked poised for an ACC title chase. They dominated East Texas A&M and Kent State to reach 3-0. As such, Florida State football climbed the AP rankings and appeared to have rediscovered their national relevance under head coach Mike Norvell.
Then came the crash.
Another heartbreak in a season gone sideways
FSU has now dropped three straight games. It started with an overtime collapse at Virginia, a rivalry defeat to No. 3 Miami, and now a crushing 34-31 loss to Pittsburgh. The latest setback was the most alarming. It exposed recurring problems in discipline, defensive cohesion, and late-game execution. Injuries to key offensive weapons didn’t help, too. Still, the frustration extended well beyond the trainer’s room. The Seminoles sit at 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the ACC. Now, their promising start has become buried beneath a pile of self-inflicted wounds.
Norvell didn’t sugarcoat it after the game.
“Just still too many mistakes,” he said. “We had our opportunities, found ourselves in situations to capitalize, and didn’t do enough to overcome the negative plays and self-inflicted mistakes that cost us big.”
For a fanbase that expected progress, that admission hit hard. The question now isn’t just what went wrong in Pittsburgh but who bears the most blame.
Here we will look at and discuss the Florida State Seminoles most to blame for crippling their loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Defensive lapses
The spotlight begins with the defense and defensive coordinator Tony White. He took responsibility postgame for a unit that looked out of sync from the first snap. His decision to rotate personnel aggressively in a new defensive scheme backfired. Miscommunication and poor assignments plagued the Seminoles all evening.
Florida State allowed Pittsburgh’s freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel to look like a seasoned veteran. He torched FSU for over 320 passing yards, added 64 rushing yards, and kept drives alive with his legs. On the opening possession alone, the Seminoles surrendered three fourth-down conversions before Pitt punched in an early touchdown.
The defensive front, which was led by Ja’Bril Rawls and Justin Cryer, managed four sacks. That pressure, though, wasn’t enough. Heintschel repeatedly escaped containment. He turned broken plays into first downs, especially on third-and-longs. Worse, the middle of the field was a disaster. Linebackers struggled to contain running back Desmond Reid, who finished with eight receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He just exploited coverage mismatches over and over again.
White’s postgame acknowledgment of his mistakes was candid. However, it doesn’t erase the fact that FSU’s defense looked unprepared. Yes, there were flashes of hope. In particulat, Edwin Joseph and Earl Little Jr each grabbed interceptions in the first half. That said, those only masked deeper issues. When your opponent’s true freshman quarterback controls tempo for four quarters, something is fundamentally broken.
Special teams meltdown adds fuel to the fire
As if defensive confusion weren’t enough, special teams contributed heavily to the Seminoles’ undoing. A blocked punt late in the second quarter by Pitt’s Josh Guer set up the Panthers deep inside FSU territory with 1:51 left before halftime. Sure, Joseph’s interception saved the defense from conceding points. Still, the sequence epitomized the Seminoles’ lack of attention to detail.
Then, in the fourth quarter, came one of the most baffling calls of the night. A fake punt attempt on 4th-and-6 just never stood a chance. The play was blown up before it began, with Caziah Holmes immediately stuffed. The delay-of-game penalty that followed saved the Seminoles from immediate embarrassment. However, the damage to their momentum was already done. In games this close, such miscues are often the difference between relief and regret.
Offensive execution falters at key moments
Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos delivered a respectable stat line. He had 16-of-23 passing for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Numbers, though, can be deceiving. Florida State’s offense looked sharp in spurts yet repeatedly stalled when it mattered most.
The running game was actually productive against a Pittsburgh defense ranked second nationally against the run. Gavin Sawchuk averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Meanwhile, freshman Ousmane Kromah provided a spark in the third quarter. He averaged 7.9 yards per attempt. Holmes added a rushing touchdown, and the trio combined for 166 rushing yards.
However, the turning point came with Kromah’s costly fumble late in the fourth quarter. That set up a Pitt field goal that put the Panthers ahead 27-24, which they wouldn’t relinquish.
The loss of star tight end Duce Robinson late in the second quarter compounded the offensive struggles. Without Robinson, FSU’s passing game narrowed. Micahi Danzy, however, stepped up admirably. He caught seven passes for 133 yards and both of Castellanos’ touchdown throws. Still, even Danzy’s breakout performance couldn’t overcome the absence of other playmakers.
Accountability starts at the top
Ultimately, this defeat and much of Florida State’s recent slide reflect the program’s identity crisis under Mike Norvell. His teams show flashes of brilliance but are too often undone by inconsistency and questionable decision-making.
Norvell is right that the team is making “too many mistakes.” On the flip side, that accountability now extends to him. Three straight ACC losses and a 3-3 record after a 3-0 start will inevitably spark discussions about his job security. Firing Norvell would be expensive, but continued mediocrity might prove costlier in the long run.
Defensive coordinator Tony White must also shore up the middle-field coverage and simplify assignments. Special teams coordinator John Papuchis needs to eliminate high-risk calls that serve no purpose. Of course, Norvell himself has to find a way to restore confidence to a locker room teetering on collapse. The Seminoles still have time to salvage the season, but the path forward just got very narrow.
