Florida State coach Mike Norvell immediately apologized to Seminoles fans after FSU fell to 0-2 with a 28-13 home loss to Boston College on Monday night.

The Seminoles struggled on both sides of the ball for the second straight game as Boston College pressured Florida State on the ground, much like Georgia Tech did on Aug. 24. The inability to stop the run, coupled with an offense plagued by pass defense issues, missed throws and dropped passes, resulted in a game that was anything but close.

In his opening speech at the post-match press conference, Norvell said that the defeat made him “sick” and that he had failed as a coach.

“I apologize to our fans, I apologize to everyone associated with the program. It was extremely disappointing that we weren’t better,” Norvell said.

Florida State has now lost three straight games since the Seminoles were eliminated from the four-team College Football Playoff. FSU had a 13-0 record last season and won the ACC, but missed the playoffs when QB Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury in the second-to-last game of the season.

That game against North Alabama was also the last time a Florida State quarterback threw a touchdown pass until DJ Uiagalelei hit Kentron Poitier for a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter on Monday, a streak that spanned four games – the final three games of the 2023 season and the 2024 season-opening loss to Georgia Tech.

Uiagalelei was uncoordinated on Monday night, completing only 50% of his passes and averaging 6.5 yards per attempt. When he had time and was able to make passes accurately, his receivers also struggled. Florida State also had problems with drops all night.

The Seminoles also managed 16 carries for just 21 yards. While that total is downplayed because sacks are counted toward team yardage totals in college football, FSU’s best runner was Kam Davis, who managed three carries for 11 yards.

Florida State has Week 2 off before playing Norvell’s previous school, Memphis, in Week 4. He also did not directly answer a question about potential competition for quarterback in his postgame press conference. FSU signed Uiagalelei in the offseason through Oregon State’s transfer portal after Norvell and his staff were apparently not satisfied with the internal options they had to replace Travis this season.

“I believed with all my heart that we were going to play better. We definitely made enough mistakes in the first half that held us back,” Norvell said. “And then obviously I thought there were some things in the second half when we started to press and just didn’t play very well.”