2020 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 2020 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Seminoles played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida, and competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by head coach Mike Norvell, in his first season.

2020 Florida State Seminoles football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	3–6 (2–6 ACC)
Head coach	Mike Norvell (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Kenny Dillingham (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Adam Fuller (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Notre Dame y^		9	–	0					10	–	2
No. 3 Clemson y$^		8	–	1					10	–	2
No. 22 Miami (FL)		7	–	2					8	–	3
No. 18 North Carolina		7	–	3					8	–	4
NC State		7	–	3					8	–	4
Boston College		5	–	5					6	–	5
Pittsburgh		5	–	5					6	–	5
Virginia Tech		5	–	5					5	–	6
Virginia		4	–	5					5	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	4					4	–	5
Georgia Tech		3	–	6					3	–	7
Louisville		3	–	7					4	–	7
Florida State		2	–	6					3	–	6
Duke		1	–	9					2	–	9
Syracuse		1	–	9					1	–	10
Championship: Clemson 34, Notre Dame 10
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll.

The Seminoles finished the season with a losing record for the third consecutive season for the first time since the 1974–1976 seasons and their worst record since 1975.^[1]

Schedule

Florida State had games scheduled against Boise State, Florida, Samford, and West Virginia, which were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[2] which resulted in the ACC playing a ten-game conference schedule with one non-conference opponent and reduced stadium capacity. Florida State ended up playing nine games as the result of further cancelations of games against Clemson and Wake Forest. This was the first season since 1957 that the Seminoles did not play Florida.

The Seminoles were picked to finish in seventh place in the ACC,^[3] while Marvin Wilson, Hamsah Nasirildeen, Tamorrion Terry and Asante Samuel, Jr. were selected to the preseason All-ACC team.^[4]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	4:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	L 13–16	17,538	[5]
September 26	7:30 p.m.	at No. 12 Miami (FL)	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	L 10–52	12,806	[6]
October 3	4:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State*	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ACCRSN	W 41–24	13,589	[7]
October 10	7:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 26–42	10,409	[8]
October 17	7:30 p.m.	No. 5 North Carolina	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	W 31–28	18,016	[9]
October 24	12:00 p.m.	at Louisville	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCRSN	L 16–48	11,465	[10]
November 7	4:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ACCN	L 17–41	16,568	[11]
November 14	7:30 p.m.	at NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ACCN	L 22–38	4,032	[12]
December 12[a]	4:00 p.m.	Duke	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ACCN	W 56–35	14,872	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^{^[a]} The game between Florida State and Duke was originally scheduled to take place on December 5 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. However, due to COVID-19 management requirements in response to positive tests and subsequent quarantine of individuals within the Florida State program which led to the cancelation of the two prior games, the game was rescheduled for December 12 in Tallahassee.^[14]

Game summaries

Georgia Tech

See also: 2020 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	0	0	7	9	16
Seminoles	10	0	3	0	13

In Mike Norvell's debut, the Seminoles fell 16–13 to the Yellow Jackets in their fourth-straight season opening loss and the first win for the Yellow Jackets against the Seminoles in Tallahassee since 2009.^[15]

Miami (FL)

See also: 2020 Miami Hurricanes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	3	0	7	0	10
#12 Hurricanes	14	24	0	14	52

On September 19, it was announced that head coach Mike Norvell had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be quarantining as a result. Chris Thomsen, the deputy head coach, handled on-field coaching duties for the game.^[16]

The Seminoles fell 52–10 to the Hurricanes to mark their fourth-straight loss in the series^[17] and suffering their second largest loss to their rival.^[18]

Jacksonville State

See also: 2020 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Gamecocks	14	7	3	0	24
Seminoles	0	14	20	7	41

The Seminoles overcame an early fourteen-point deficit to defeat the Gamecocks, 41–24, in their lone non-conference game to secure the team's first victory of the season as well as Norvell's first win as head coach.^[19]

Notre Dame

See also: 2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	17	3	6	0	26
#5 Fighting Irish	14	21	7	0	42

Prior to the game, Jordan Travis was named the starter at quarterback, making him the third player to start at the position throughout the first four games of the season.^[20]

The Seminoles were beaten by the Irish, 42–26, in their first and only meeting as conference foes.^[21]

North Carolina

See also: 2020 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Tar Heels	0	7	14	7	28
Seminoles	7	24	0	0	31

Entering the game as a double-digit underdog, Florida State built up a twenty-four point halftime lead and survived a second-half rally to defeat the Tar Heels, and alum Mack Brown, by a score of 31–28, giving Mike Norvell his first win over a ranked team as head coach of the Seminoles.^[22]

Louisville

See also: 2020 Louisville Cardinals football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	7	7	2	0	16
Cardinals	21	10	7	10	48

The Seminoles were beaten by Louisville, the former school of quarterback Jordan Travis, by a score of 48–16.^[23]

Pittsburgh

See also: 2020 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	10	14	7	10	41
Seminoles	14	3	0	0	17

In only their second meeting since Pittsburgh joined the conference, the Seminoles lost to the Panthers by a score of 41–17, in a game that featured three turnovers by the Florida State offense and seven sacks by the Pitt defense.^[24]

NC State

See also: 2020 NC State Wolfpack football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	0	3	6	13	22
Wolfpack	7	14	14	3	38

Starting their fourth quarterback of the season due to injury, the Seminoles fell to the Wolfpack, led by former Florida State quarterback Bailey Hockman, by a score of 38–22.^[25]

Duke

See also: 2020 Duke Blue Devils football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	7	14	0	14	35
Seminoles	28	0	14	14	56

Playing their first game in nearly a month due to issues pertaining to the pandemic, the Seminoles built up an early lead and survived a comeback attempt to defeat the Blue Devils 56–35 on Senior Day.^[26] Jordan Travis broke the school record for rushing yards in a season by a quarterback.^[27]

Coaching staff

Florida State Seminoles coaches

Head coach Mike Norvell Assistant coaches Kenny Dillingham – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks Adam Fuller – defensive coordinator John Papuchis – special teams/defensive ends Chris Thomsen – deputy head coach/tight ends Odell Haggins – associate head coach/defensive tackles Alex Atkins – offensive line Ron Dugans – wide receivers David Johnson – running backs/recruiting coordinator Chris Marve – linebackers/defensive run game coordinator Marcus Woodson – defensive backs/defensive passing game coordinator Josh Storms – strength and conditioning

^[28]

Watchlists

Award	Player
Lott Trophy[29]	Marvin Wilson
Bednarik Award[30]	Marvin Wilson Hamsah Nasirildeen
Doak Walker Award[31]	Jashaun Corbin
Biletnikoff Award[32]	Tamorrion Terry
Thorpe Award[33]	Hamsah Nasirildeen
Outland Trophy[34]	Marvin Wilson
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[34]	Marvin Wilson Hamsah Nasirildeen
Wuerffel Trophy[35]	Jaiden Lars-Woodbey
Maxwell Award[36]	Marvin Wilson Tamorrion Terry
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award[37]	James Blackman

Honors

Weekly awards Player Award Week Awarded Ref. Asante Samuel Jr. ACC Defensive Back of the Week Week 1 [38] Marvin Wilson ACC Specialist of the Week Week 1 [38] Lawrance Toafili ACC Rookie of the Week Week 4 [39] Mike Norvell Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week Week 6 [40] Hamsah Nasirildeen ACC Defensive Back of the Week Week 14 [41]

Yearly awards Player Award Ref. Asante Samuel Jr. All-ACC First Team [42] Marvin Wilson All-ACC Second Team [42] Robert Scott Freshman All-American [43]

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2021 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	47	Asante Samuel Jr.	CB	Los Angeles Chargers
4	134	Janarius Robinson	DE	Minnesota Vikings
4	144	Joshua Kaindoh	DE	Kansas City Chiefs
6	186	Hamsah Nasirildeen	S	New York Jets