Seminoles’ season hits rock bottom after Stanford loss

Florida State didn’t just lose to Stanford — it hit every branch on the way down.

For the first time in program history, the Seminoles are 0-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, dragging a nine-game conference losing streak like a waning ghost of what the program once was. A team that once talked rings now talks about “progress.”

Less than two years ago, the Florida State program was thriving.

The Seminoles were 13-0, playoff darlings, swagger restored, the logo gleaming again like a championship promise.

Today? The same logo feels heavy — weighed down by penalties, panic, and the memory of what used to be inevitable.

Florida State’s 20–13 faceplant at Stanford wasn’t one bad play — it was death by a thousand dumb ones.

Twelve penalties for 87 yards. Two red-zone stalls. A delay of game on the very first snap. They fought to the last play and still managed to come up short — inches on the field, miles in identity.

Quarterback Tommy Castellanos showed flashes, throwing for 242 and running for 70, but “flashes” don’t win games. The defense held Stanford to 20 points but gave up all the wrong ones. That has been the theme for nine straight ACC heartbreaks.

Mike Norvell talked about the Stanford game being “a lack of execution.” Maybe.

The real problem isn’t the playbook. It’s identity.

This isn’t a broken team. It’s a lost one. The talent’s there — four- and five-stars all over the field, upgraded facilities, NIL money flowing. On paper, they look ready. But football isn’t played on paper, and lately FSU looks like a team trying to remember the lyrics to its own fight song.

“I do believe in the talent on this team; I think we’ve shown that. I believe in the coaches on this team ... and I absolutely believe in myself,” Norvell said in a news conference Wednesday.

“I’ve been through hard and challenging times, and you know what? The results are not what anybody wants them to be. But I do feel, and I do believe that this team will rise up and overcome, and we’ll break through the stretch that we’re on.”

Former players and fans are calling for accountability. You can feel it brewing — the “process” is wearing thin.

The bye week comes like a mercy. But what this team needs can’t be found in film study or another slogan. They need to find their reflection again.

Because right now, Florida State looks like a team that forgot who it was supposed to be.

The 13–0 squad of 2023 was about redemption.

This one’s about denial.

This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 6:00 AM.