One reason SMU never made sense in the ACC is that its facilities and history pale in comparison to what a major conference can offer technically.

Those fears came true when the Mustangs opened their first-ever conference game in front of a tight crowd that could only hold 32,000. For an appearance, Eric Dickerson rode in in the back seat of a Mustang sports car while a pony that looked like a stuffed animal sprinted onto the field in front of him. It was small league and difficult, but for a desperate team getting into the conference for nothing, it made sense.

But somehow Florida State took the pathetic to a new level. They played like a team that had no place at the top of college football. Instead of bullying the new conference member, the Seminoles reached a new low on Saturday night for their worst loss of the season, which was already in the gutter.

Winning is contagious, but so is losing, and the rot in the locker room is strong.

Some forget that FSU was only down by half and received the kick early in the third quarter. The course was set for a comeback or at least a game.

Fans should have known better.

On the second play of the quarter, Kyle Morlock dropped a wide-open pass that deflected right into the hands of an SMU player, setting up DJ Uiagalelei’s second interception of the game. Three plays later, the Mustangs reached the end zone.

In response, the offense committed two drops and two holding penalties in five plays on the next drive, effectively equivalent to a three-and-out.

The defense continued to melt down, somehow giving up a touchdown in six plays as SMU committed a 20-yard penalty kill. Everything they did well last week was undone on Saturday. If that wasn’t the end of Adam Fuller’s unit, SMU scored a touchdown on its next drive, gaining yards only on the ground or through penalties. For the fourth time in five games, a team lined up, punched FSU in the mouth, and the Seminoles did nothing about it.

The stats paint an even bleaker picture of terrible execution: 10 penalties, three interceptions, three fumbles, 3 of 12 on third down and just 25 minutes of possession. While Uiagalelei threw multiple touchdown passes for the first time this year, he managed an inefficient 12-of-30 for just 222 yards.

Should I continue?

The worst thing is that the mistakes were made by the veterans and not the young players who need to be freed. Kyle Morlock had the interception in the second half. Lawrance Toafili missed the block on third-and-goal. Darion Williamson called the 15-yard facemask penalty, taking Byron Turner’s spot for the dumbest foul of the season. Tonight has shown what many people didn’t want to believe: the problems don’t just lie with Uiagalelei. While Mike Norvell appears broken by the snub, so are the other older players.

Speaking of Norvell, what’s going on?

His play call stinks. He used two timeouts because his team wasn’t ready, he lacked creativity and he lacked answers. At his post-game press conference, I thought he seemed to have tears in his eyes, but instead of expressing his emotions, he resorted to his usual coaching answers.

“It is extremely disappointing. It’s embarrassing. Ultimately, as a football program, we have to make a decision about what we’re going to look like when we’re out there.”

Isn’t he the one who runs the football program?

“This program means a lot to the guys in this locker room. Unfortunately we don’t represent it very well, but we will fight to get better.”

Could he give a specific example?

For the second time in a row, he was dazed and confused and somewhat surprised by his team’s difficulties. To those outside the program, those would be understandable feelings unless he oversees the team. He’s now paid $10 million for finding solutions, not for sounding like the boy who “cried wolf.” His sayings grow old and his messages fall on deaf ears. Nine months ago, every fan joined the Norvell bandwagon believing he would be the answer to follow the CFP committee and become the next great FSU ball coach. Although he is only 42 years old and will be around long enough to turn things around, he has undeniably made a mess.

Norvell could mark the word “answer” by how many times he used it during his tenure, but when his team needed it, no one grabbed it. He built a roster with zero leaders so that when adversity hits, redshirt freshmen are thrust into the role. His team was eliminated Saturday, a sign that the locker room was broken, and as they left the field no one showed any visible emotion other than some of the younger players showing good sportsmanship and their appeal to the few remaining Seminole kids in the game exercise stands. It’s been the same problems on the field (turnovers, third downs and penalties) and off the field (leadership and emotions) for five weeks, but he acts as if these are new concepts.

The only thing new Saturday was that FSU found various ways to embarrass, ruin and exit the program.

Three thoughts:

1. Turn the ball over like it’s going out of style

What makes this season so baffling is that the issues didn’t arise during Norvell’s tenure until 2024. Each season, Jordan Travis steadily improved his ball security and only threw three interceptions in 2023.

On Saturday, Uiagalelei increased his interception total to six, just one shy of the seven he threw total at Oregon State last year, and threw the ball to the other team in his fourth straight game. His pick-six sealed the fate of one of the worst nights in FSU’s recent history as his internal clock refused to chime in time. Of course, some of these are not his fault; The fault he miraculously recovered is undoubtedly it. Two other Seminoles put the ball on the turf tonight, showing a lack of care as well as their contempt for everything else. Combined with three fumbles, Williamson’s penalty won’t count as a turnover, but it should. Half of SMU’s points were awarded tonight as the Seminoles worked with the Mustangs to secure the win.

Fuller’s defense took a step back in every category tonight, including their sudden-change defense that allowed SMU to score a touchdown twice on separate occasions in less than two minutes following a Uiagalelei interception. In the ever-growing list of mistakes he has accumulated this season, the lack of ball security ultimately lies with Norvell. Unsurprisingly, Florida State does everything bad teams do, and the turnover problem only gets worse as the year goes on.

2. Young players report

With the veterans making mistakes left and right, the underclassmen tried to close the gap as best they could. While Edwin Joseph didn’t play his best, Norvell allowed him to carry the sledgehammer into the stadium. After Morlock suffered his worst loss of the season, Norvell Landen gave Thomas more playing time. While Thomas was called for a hold on his first play of the second half, he later responded with FSU’s second touchdown of the game, making good work on a back-shoulder throw in the end zone.

Brock Glenn also made his debut in 2024, and while it didn’t go as planned with an 0-for-4 record, he could get more practice reps this week after Uiagalelei suffered a finger injury, which Norvell reported after the game. Most of these young guys are better than the veterans before them, and with the team needing to turn around by 2025, Norvell should do everything he can to keep them happy so they return next season.

3. Defensive catastrophe

Because of the offense’s poor start to the season, its execution in the first half, particularly through the air, looked more efficient than at any time during the year.

But what happened to the defense?

On the first drive of the game, SMU marched down the field in 11 plays and scored 75 yards and a touchdown while converting 3-of-3 on third down. Later in the first half, Shyheim Brown bit hard on a flea flicker, leading to the second Mustang touchdown of the half. The defense continued to let players loose as Jake Bailey completed a 39-yard pass with no one near him before Brown made up for his earlier mistake with a blocked field goal.

For the second week in a row, the Seminoles allowed more than 400 yards of total offense, but this time Florida State didn’t provide any explosive defensive plays to counterbalance it. The defensive line recorded just two sacks in the first three quarters as the last week increasingly felt like a fluke. The Mustangs rushed for over 200 yards on 51 attempts as Brashard Smith tore them to shreds, something Jadyn Ott surprisingly couldn’t do. Smith managed runs of 20, 17, 13 and 16 yards while SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee masterfully found ways to create chunk plays against this defense.

At least during training during the week these guys get along well, but on Saturday they hit a low point. They tried to defend without effort or energy, constantly letting ball carriers get outside or win contested catches, and paid the price.