ACC Favorite Florida State Drops Season Opener to Conference Foe

If Florida State wants to claim it’s bigger than the ACC, it probably shouldn’t drop its season opener to a “middle of the pack” conference opponent. And that’s no disrespect to a gritty Georgia Tech squad.

A 44-yard field from GT kicker Aidan Birr sailed through the uprights as the clock expired, and with the made field goal, Georgia Tech gave Florida State its first loss of the season — in Week 0 — at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.

Florida State took an early 8-0 lead, courtesy of a swinging gate two-point conversion, but Georgia Tech hung around all day.

GT quarterback Haynes King threw for 146 yards, ran for 54 yards and guided the Yellow Jackets to a gutsy victory over the preseason conference favorites. GT running back Jamal Haynes added 75 yards and two touchdowns in the process, part of a 190-yard rushing performance from the Jackets.

New Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who has played at Clemson and Oregon State, was lackluster in his Seminoles’ debut, throwing for 193 yards.

It’s a brutal loss for a Florida State squad entering the new season with a serious chip on its shoulder following last season’s playoff snub. The conference media tabbed the Seminoles as the top ACC team, and the national media picked the ‘Noles as the No. 10 team in the first AP Poll.

Georgia Tech was picked to finish ninth in the ACC, for reference.

Florida State may have been snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee last December, but that’s ancient history now. Especially with what’s transpired since.

Florida State and Clemson have been in the rumor mill for months, with reports of exits and legal battles currently unfolding, but the two programs appear destined to stay in the ACC. And even if FSU and Clemson were able to exit the conference, the path forward is murky.

After reports of the Big 12 having interest in Florida State and Clemson surfaced last month, Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported that the Seminoles would likely not have a place in the Big Ten or SEC should they force their way out of the ACC and the conference survives.

It’s no secret that the ACC is lagging behind the Big Ten and SEC in terms of television deals and revenue generated and distributed amongst member schools, and it makes sense that programs would like the security and benefits that come with being in the “Power Two.”

But with the expensive and complicated Grant of Rights, a television deal locked in until 2036, it’s very unlikely that either Florida State or Clemson will be able to exit the conference in the near future.

While the ACC is involved in countersuits with both Florida State and Clemson, who sued the ACC in December and March, respectively, Pitt is content. Narduzzi said during the ACC Football Kickoff that those lawsuits haven’t impacted his program all that much. The Panthers’ focus is on the field – not what’s happening in courtrooms in the south.

“I feel bad for the commissioner. He’s got a hard job. He’s a tremendous ambassador for the Atlantic Coast Conference,” Narduzzi said. “It’s probably been distracting for him, but not distracting for me.”

On recent Zoom calls between ACC football coaches, Narduzzi said that Swinney and Norvell “act like everything is the same.”

“I don’t sit in that commissioner’s office, so he can call it the way he wants to call it. I don’t see any distractions on my end. I don’t think the coaches see it as a distraction,” Narduzzi added. “We’re playing football. Season’s opening up in a month, and I’m fired up.”

For now, Florida State is the first program in conference history to sit at 17th in the conference standings. Pitt opens its season next weekend against Kent State at Acrisure Stadium.