Florida football: Ranking Florida’s 2022 Opponents

Florida football opponent rankings: Florida State Seminoles (11/25)

Metric Score: 6.5

It’s a shame that the national attention around the “Sunshine Showdown” has simmered to the point in which it needs to be played on a Friday night this season in an attempt to elevate its ratings.

Of course, it does not help that this rivalry has gone from two teams competing for a berth in the national championship game back during its climax back in the 1990s, to now two teams fighting for bowl eligibility as was the case in 2021.

For the second time in the past five years, both the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles will start the season unranked.

The Seminoles won their season opener for the first time since 2016 this past Saturday with a 47-7 home victory against Duquesne, an FCS opponent.

Mike Norvell is entering his third season as Florida State’s head coach after taking over the program from a previously fired Willie Taggart. Though Norvell was known for having a high-caliber offense that helped his Memphis teams reach multiple conference championship games, that success has not yet followed him to Tallahassee.

Norvell’s current record as the hotbed Seminoles’ head coach is 9-13, with a 6-10 record in the ACC. In 2021 the Seminoles ranked 80th in offensive yards per game (379.3) and 57th in scoring offense (28.5).

The Seminoles return most of their starting offense from 2021, including quarterback Jordan Travis. In 10 games last year, Travis completed 62.9 percent of his throws while accumulating just over 2,000 yards of total offense and 22 total touchdowns.

Despite the recent struggle from both teams, this rivalry still means a great deal of importance.

Since 2005 the winner of this game has generally gone on to have both the better overall record, subsequent recruiting class, and of course bragging rights for the next year.

The state of Florida is arguably the biggest hot bed for high school football recruits in the country. When both Florida and Florida State were near the top of the college football mountain, it was because of their ability to recruit elite talent from their own state.

Norvell has dealt with plenty of criticism both on and off the field during his first two years at FSU. Despite Florida and Miami going forward with brand new head coaches in 2022, both schools managed to finish ahead of Florida State in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Norvell’s most notable recruiting blunder came back in December when five-star and no. 2 overall ranked player Travis Hunter flipped from Florida State to Jacksonville State on early signing day.

Both sides of this rivalry are cognizant of the importance of this year’s game.

With Norvell possibly on the hot seat in 2022, it is essential for Florida State to not only qualify for a bowl game this year, but to also be competitive against their main rivals. The Seminoles are a combined 1-4 against Florida, Miami and Clemson during Norvell’s tenure. Norvell cannot afford to add three more losses in that record column in 2022.

For Florida, a victory in Tallahassee this November would for starters extend the Gators winning streak against the Seminoles to four games. But since the Gators do not play Miami in a regular season game until 2024, a win over both FSU and USF this season would help the Gators retain in-state dominance in the eyes of Florida high school players.

Currently the Gators hold 15 commitments from blue chip prospects in the state of Florida. By comparison, the Seminoles currently have four.

According to the recruiting rankings via 247 Sports, there are 10 blue chip Florida prospects in the 2023 recruiting cycle that are currently uncommitted. There are also 38 blue chip Florida prospects in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

Another imposing road victory over FSU this season would likely go a long way in solidifying Florida’s in-state recruiting efforts for the next two recruiting cycles.