To Florida State coach Mike Norvell, his team’s College Football Playoff ranking is nothing but a number.
Norvell and the fourth-ranked Seminoles are focused on the bigger picture, and they will look to continue their perfect season on Saturday when they face host Pitt in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Florida State (8-0, 6-0 ACC) landed in the CFP rankings for the second consecutive season, but its standing hasn’t even been a topic for discussion for Norvell as he gets his team ready to face the Panthers.
“I haven’t talked about that at all at any point,” Norvell said about the ranking. “The guys will know, because every time you watch any sports you’ve got a ticker that goes across (the screen) that says a number next to your name.
“I really do mean that number doesn’t define us. … We’ve got to go get better.”
The Seminoles earned their lofty spot in the CFP rankings on the heels of a 41-16 drubbing of Wake Forest last Saturday. Jordan Travis completed 22 of 35 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns in another strong offensive showing for Florida State, which has averaged 39.8 points over its past four games.
Pitt’s defense just got carved up, allowing 535 yards in a 58-7 setback to Notre Dame last weekend, so Seminoles tight end Kyle Morlock believes the offense will have a great chance to keep rolling.
“They play some different looks at defensive end and stuff, so we’re getting used to that right now in practice,” Morlock said. “But just like every other week, we see what we got, we prepare for it and then we’re ready on Saturday.”
Following the blowout loss to the Fighting Irish, Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi told reporters the loss was on him, but he also seemingly took a shot at his squad, mentioning that Pitt wasn’t able to replace a handful of “good players” from last season.
Among those to respond to that claim were safety Javon McIntyre and running back Rodney Hammond Jr., who both took to social media platform X to express their confusion.
Narduzzi quickly made sure to mend the relationship with his team.
“We had a great Sunday night meeting … after an emotional Saturday afternoon and evening,” Narduzzi said. “First thing I said as I sat here at the podium was apologizing to our football team, to our guys about my postgame comments, which didn’t obviously come out the way I intended them to come out.”
With that hiccup in the rearview mirror, the Panthers (2-6, 1-3) now have their sights fully set on Florida State.
“We’ve got probably the best team we’re going to play (this) year,” Narduzzi said. “We’ve got a great football team, and that’s kind of where our focus is — going right to them. Focused on that (Sunday) night after our team meeting, we break up and go offense, defense again and just get on to the new page. …
“We’re ready to go.”
Saturday marks the 11th meeting between the teams. Pitt is 6-4 against the Seminoles and has won four of the last five.
–Field Level Media