RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Florida State Seminoles beat the New Mexico State Aggies 34-17 on Saturday night in Doak Campbell Stadium, starting the season 1-0. It was not the performance that their fans were hoping for , with FSU not pulling away until the fourth quarter.
One player that did impress was cornerback Quindarrius Jones, who had a pass breakup and an interception in the end zone on the opening drive. He finished the game with the interception, pass breakup, and one tackle. Head coach Mike Norvell praised him after the game.
"Q’s dealt with different injuries that have kind of limited him, but he's a big corner, plays physical," he said. "He's got great speed, just overall ability. The consistency of his execution, you'll be able to put his playmaking on display, to see him come up with an interception, a couple of good plays tonight. I think that that's going to do nothing but help his confidence. Continue to see him ascend as the season progresses because he's definitely got to be a great player for us, have big expectations for what that's going be."
Norvell also addressed their struggles on third down, how the offensive and defensive lines performed, and more. Here are his comments after FSU beat New Mexico State.
Opening statement
Well, first off, just, you're proud of the guys, to be able to come and finish tonight 1-0. Definitely, it wasgreat to be able to kick off the season here at home, just coming out of the tunnel. I thought we had an incrediblecrowd tonight, a lot of energy, excitement. Definitely a wonderful way to be able to start the 2026 season. As we gotin the game, there's some good and bad that showed up. Obviously it didn't go exactly the way we wanted in certainaspects, there's some miscommunications, some things that, in the first game that you want to eliminate as much as possible, or limit as much as possible. Obviously, it cost us in some inopportune moments, we had some penalties that put us in difficult situations. They had a touchdown called back, that was a four-point swing. We had a blown coverage that cost us, a couple of touchdowns that, unfortunately, you just can't have. And then, throughout the course of the game, just a lot of areas where we're going to be able to grow and continue to push to get better. But, I was pleased with our guys just continuing to focus to play the next play. I thought there was some really good drives, offensively after maybe a drive with a disappointment, we had the turnover early. I thought Ashton (Daniels) did a good job, following up, after that, with a big drive there for a touchdown the next drive. And then just seeing the way that we were able to run the football there, especially there in the second half, there were some good opportunities in a lot of areas where we're going to go back and watch film and, as you see that some of the decisions, some of the things that we could correct and areas where we can all grow and get better, in all phases. But, like I said, it was good to finish tonight 1-0. Now we get to turn our focus to kicking off ACC play, here on Labor Day, but definitely grateful for everybody that came out. Like I said, a great crowd, a lot of energy, you're just, excited for us to grow from here and move forward.
On how they responded to New Mexico State scoring in the third quarter
I thought there was some good and bad with the emotions of how the guys handle (it). You go into it, obviously as you prepare for a game you, players, coaches, everybody's picturing the perfect execution, everything going exactly how you want. We had some mistakes. We had areas that we have to clean up. We have to continue to get better, but I thought the guys handled that well, to be able to, where it was a close game there in the 3rd quarter, to be able to take control of it and to be able to finish, winning by multiple scores. That's something we'll be able to point to. Obviously, you compliment the guys for what they were able to do, but obviously, there's a lot of things throughout the game that we get to grow and be better from. But, I saw flashes of what you want to see. I saw some areas where we get to continue to build upon. Obviously there's going to be a lot of things that we'll be able to do here this next week that will help put us in the best position for next time we get on the field.
On FSU's offensive and defensive lines
Well, I thought on the o-line, they did a good job mixing the front on different things, trying to jumble up the inside. I thought we got better as the game went on. There were some things early that didn't react as quick as what I'd like to see. But, I thought our perimeter run game was strong, but, obviously, there were some things that we needed to improve upon. We ended up rushing over 200 yards there. We had a couple of big runs and then there were still some other opportunities that I thought we could have taken advantage of, which, going back and watching, I think everybody will be better moving forward with it. Then, on the defensive side of the ball, I saw some great flashes of being able to create pressure. We didn't do a ton there defensively in the attack. You want to see, guys go and be able to get to the quarterback. I think we've got three quarterback sacks. I thought New Mexico State did a good job of working to get the ball out of the quarterback's hands quickly, but, he got hit a lot tonight and, I thought our guys, there were still a couple of newcomers where you saw just a little bit of hesitation and some moments where we could I think just be cleaner with our overall execution. But, you definitely saw some flashes that I liked,areas that we get to grow on from film.
On Ashton Daniels' ability to extend plays
I thought there was some good and bad with all of it. With Ashton, he's got ability to extend plays and that's something that'...
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