Florida State Football 2023 Preview: Way too early season prediction, key matchups, players to watch, roster, and more

The Garnet and Gold of Florida State are signature colors in the NCAA landscape. For years, they demanded the respect of opponents. Since 1990, only the University of Florida, USC, and Alabama can rival the three national championship wins Florida State has under its belt.

Their streak of 36 winning seasons came to a crashing halt in 2018. They plummeted to four-straight losing seasons until 2023. Is Florida State really back under Mike Norvell? Today, we give a way-too-early prediction for the 2023 Florida State Season.

After years of mediocrity, FSU catapulted to a 10-win season in 2022 behind Jordan Travis at QB and a Transfer Portal-bolstered defense. The hype is up, the pressure is on, and the 2023 season is the most-awaited one in Tallahassee since 2014.

Here is our way too early season prediction:

The Florida State Seminoles will win the ACC for the first time since 2014 at the height of the Jimbo Fisher/Jameis Winston era. They will defeat a fantastic LSU team, winning a spot as the Number 4 team in the country and a shot at the National Championship.

Key matchups for the 2023 season

Florida State v LSU

Florida State is one-half of the opening weekend Main Event. They will meet the LSU Tigers for the second straight season, this time in Orlando, Florida.

LSU is as good as they have been since Joe Burrow left, headed by Heisman hopeful Jayden Daniels. Last season, FSU dominated 55 minutes of the game just to let it almost slip away in collapsing fashion. A blocked PAT gave them a narrow victory over LSU.

We will know everything we need to know about Florida State by the end of September. They make a trip to Clemson, South Carolina, to have their annual date with the Tigers. If FSU makes it out of September with three wins, they will almost certainly be primed for a Top 5 finish.

Their in-state rivals, Miami and Florida, have been down the past few seasons. They have to take advantage and sweep them for the second-straight season.

Players to watch

Jordan Travis is getting rave reviews as both a college quarterback and an NFL draft prospect. He went nuclear in 2022, doubling his passing totals and keeping his dual-threat production on the ground, all while protecting the ball at the best clip of his career.

The pressure is on to maintain, or even improve upon his 2022 totals. If he is capable of doing so, not only will the Seminoles run away from opponents, he could force himself into a Heisman candidacy.

On the other side, Florida state was blessed with its best player deciding to return. Jared Verse transferred from little Albany a season ago and was better than anyone could've imagined.

He immediately played himself into first-round discussions until he was injured mid-2022 season. He is expected to explode this season.

Roster analysis

Nobody in college football is returning more of its production than FSU. From Trey Benson, a physically imposing star in the backfield, to Fabian Lovett, a plugging run stuffer. Don't forget the aforementioned Jared Verse and Jordan Travis. Florida state is loaded. Johnny Wilson is their best returning receiving threat.

If that weren’t good enough, Mike Norvell’s staff arguably won the transfer portal for the second straight offseason. They bolstered their trenches with Braden Fiske from WMU and Jeremiah Byers from UTEP. Jaheim Bell was the most-explosive prize in the portal, and he will wear garnett and gold this upcoming year. Keon Coleman comes over after a breakout season for the Michigan State Spartans. That is an overload of ammunition for the Florida State Seminoles.

Coaching staff and strategies

Norvell’s staff elected to transform their roster through the portal last offseason, and to say it was a success is an understatement. The talent around Jordan Travis led to a huge jump in production for both the ground and pass game. After starting 4-3, they rattled off seven-straight victories to end the season.

Florida State v NC State

Mike Norvell called the offense this past season after new Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham left. It went about as well as imagined. Norvell’s creative design that got him the FSU gig in the first place oozed through. It was like watching a Garnet and Gold rehash of his Memphis days. He fits perfectly with Jordan Travis' skillset, and they get to retain nearly 87% of this past offseason's offensive production. They were a top 5 team in the country on third downs, maintaining drives. This turned into points and took the pressure off a much-improved defense. That defense believes its offseason additions will improve its 75th-ranked run defense.

Expectations and goals

There are still plenty of doubters and plenty of good arguments against the FSU program. Their winning streak came after the three toughest opponents of the season (who they all lost to). They beat really bad Miami and Florida teams, trounced the bottom feeders of the ACC. They have yet to win the ACC or make a championship game.

All of those doubts make up the Seminoles' 2023 season goals. Win the ACC championship and return to the college football playoffs for the first time since 2014.

Conclusion

They must beat either LSU or Clemson. Beating both could propel them to the top of the rankings, much like Tennessee’s victory over Alabama last season. If they fall to both, the season will effectively end before September does. Mike Norvell has pressure on him and his program to win, now that the “rebuild” is over. They will play against LSU in Camping World Stadium on September 3, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. EST