With some halftime adjustments, Mike Norvell and his Florida State Seminoles announced themselves as a juggernaut to the college football world en route to a 45-24 blowout of the LSU Tigers.

The dominant win sparks a lot to talk about for the Seminole Wrap crew — Brian Pellerin, Jon Marchant and Ben Meyerson — both in the short-term and long-term picture of Florida State’s season.

However, you won’t hear much from Brian as he serves a 10-minute suspension thanks to last week’s bet on the game, where he took his alma mater LSU to win.

This week, the crew looks at what made Florida State so successful against the Tigers, what adjustments really made the difference in the second half and what it all means for the long-term picture of the Noles’ ACC championship and College Football Playoff dreams.

Mike Norvell vs. Brian Kelly

2023 was the third consecutive year Mike Norvell and FSU opened the season against Brian Kelly and each time things only got worse for the former Notre Dame head man.

In the 2021 matchup, a lesser-talented Noles team took Kelly’s Irish to the wire and nearly pulled off the upset in an OT loss. Last season, the Noles went into the Superdome for Brian Kelly’s first game with the purple and gold and should’ve run the Tigers out of their home state short of a couple poorly executed plays down the stretch. And this year, Norvell checkmated Kelly at every turn, leaving the man who promised to “Beat the heck out of Florida State” nearly speechless postgame in explaining why he couldn’t slow down the Noles attack.

For three years, Brian says Norvell has coached circles around a man considered one of the best in the sport.

The Seminole Wrap team explains this week why Norvell was simply playing chess to Kelly’s checkers.

Keon Coleman arrives

If you had any doubts about the type of wide receiver FSU got in transfer Keon Coleman, allow us to point you back to last night’s highlights.

He can play big. He can play small. He can make guys miss in space. Coleman is a No. 1 wide receiver and Ben is ready to name him the second-best WR prospect in the NFL Draft next to Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr.

The crew dives into what allowed him to succeed this game and what it opens up for the rest of the FSU offense to have Coleman and Jaheim Bell’s skillset now in the mix.

FSU Dominates Offensive & Defensive Fronts

The other top headline from the game was Florida State’s ability to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Noles were able to push LSU around upfront, but really controlled the game most with the defensive line.

Outside of two long runs late in the 2nd quarter, LSU was unable to find any success in the ground game — 25 carries for 38 yards.

Jon shares his perspective on what gave Florida State the edge against the LSU rushing attack and the key personnel adjustment that opened up the Florida State running game in the second half.

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