Florida State defends Doak after their bye and takes on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
With the season fast approaching, and college football rolling full-steam ahead with current scheduling and formatting, fans are eager to hit the stands and cheer on their favorite team. 2022 is a do-or-die season for Mike Norvell’s tenure at Florida State. While there was much to be proud of in FSU’s 2021 campaign, the 0-4 record, including a shocking loss to Jacksonville State, has left many speculating whether Norvell is the man for the job. Winning more than 6 games this season might be what it takes to demonstrate that the CLIMB is more than just rhetoric on Norvell’s part. To generate a buzz and momentum on the trail, the Seminoles must showcase their growth in wins this season.
It’s now or never; for the Seminole faithful, it’s time to preview our upcoming season’s opponents.
Game Eight: Georgia Tech
Head Coach: Geoff Collins (HC Record 24–35)
Mascot: Yellow Jackets
Conference: ACC
2021 Record: 3-9
History vs Florida State:
Florida State and Georgia Tech share an interesting geographic rivalry that dates back as far as the 1950s, yet doesn’t hit a frequency in their series that one might expect given the proximity between them. Florida State leads the all-time series 14-11-1 but had never won a game against Georgia Tech until they joined the ACC in 1992. With Georgia Tech already leading the series 7-0-1, the Seminoles went on a rampage in the Bowden era where they won every season between 1992 – 2003. Georgia Tech earned the final two wins in the Bowden era in 2008 and 2009. Since then, Florida State went 2-1 against Georgia Tech in the Fisher era, and most recently Mike Norvell lost to Georgia Tech at home to debut his career in 2020.
Georiga Tech Storylines to Follow
Roaring Hot Seat
One glance at Geoff Collins’s career record is all it takes to know that he is in the most precarious position of any head coach in the ACC. Transitioning from a highly successful run at Temple, Geoff’s record at Georgia Tech makes his career record look even worse. He holds a 9-25 record as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets. This means, in his career, 25 of his 35 losses as a head coach stemmed from his time at Georgia Tech. Even accounting for the transition away from the Triple Option era established by Paul Johnson, Collins has never been able to establish a recruiting pitch to the plethora of talent in-state thanks to the win/loss record. In the cruel rotation of the coaching carousel, Geoff Collins appears to be the next in line for departure.
The 2022 Gauntlet
Talk about a rambling wreck, we need to talk about Georgia Tech’s 2022 football schedule. Versus Clemson to start 2022, Ole Miss on September 17th, at UCF the following week, at Pitt the weekend after that, at Florida State on October 29th, at Virginia Tech a weekend later, versus Miami the weekend after, at North Carolina the next weekend, and wrapping the season with the Georgia Bulldogs.
OOF!
Redemption for Norvell
Mike Norvell took over the Seminoles on December 8th, 2019 and there was optimism Norvell would be able to take over a Seminoles roster and have them primed for the 2020 campaign. Then, COVID happened. Derailing any sense of momentum and development, the entire nation had to adjust and take on training at home, over Zoom calls. Not an ideal start for a head coach heading into the P5 foray for the first time, the schedule was later revised and the Seminoles were set to debut at home against Georgia Tech. With a year already under his belt, Geoff Collins shocked Seminoles and the Seminoles in Doak, with Georgia Tech coming out on top in a 13-16 Seminole loss.
Since that game, Norvell has had the program on a steady upward trajectory (albeit not at a rate the Seminole faithful are used to), while Geoff Collins has continued to struggle at Georgia Tech. This is a rematch that should favor the Seminoles, especially coming off of a bye week. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has its 2022 schedule to contend with.
Gameday Details
Florida State hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday, October 29th, 2022 at Doak Campbel Stadium. The game time and broadcast are TBD. Seminoles can purchase tickets to the game at Seminoles.com.
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-Ed Kennedy
