2023 Florida State Seminoles Football Predictions and Betting Odds

by Matt Zitt - 8/8/2023

Florida State Seminoles football predictions Jordan Travis

2022 Record: 10-3 overall, 5-3 in ACC
Head Coach: Mike Norvell, 4th year: 18-16; 8th year overall: 56-31

Under the late legendary head coach Bobby Bowden, Florida State won 10 games or more in every season from 1987 to 2000. Under Jimbo Fisher, Florida State won 10 games or more in six of seven seasons from 2010 to 2016, with the one outlier a 9-4 2011 campaign before winning the national title two years later. And then soon after, there wasn't a whole lot to brag about.

Before 2022, the FSU won just 20 games over a stretch of four straight losing seasons at a place that hadn't known a campaign under .500 since 1975. Florida State is loaded with talent, helped even more by the transfer portal, and now it has the momentum and upside to take what it did in 2022 up another few notches. The program appears to be back to being in the national discussion for really, really big things again.

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Seminoles Offensive Outlook for 2023

Now there’s the Mike Norvell rushing offense. At Memphis, his attacks created wide open lanes for his speedy backs to fly through and gouge defenses for yards in chunks. It was good at FSU in 2000 and 2021, but last year it was far more consistent with over 200 yards in each of the last seven regular season games as it finished No. 1 in the ACC and 13th in the nation, averaging 214 yards per game.

Treshaun Ward took off for Kansas State, but Trey Benson leads a terrific group of backs in a rotation – I’d be stunned if the Seminoles don’t blow past five yards per carry again -- working behind an interesting front five.

The line was going to be good in its former form -- Robert Scott Jr. is an NFL offensive tackle, and Maurice Smith should be among the ACC’s best centers -- but the transfer portal loaded up with ready-made blockers including OT Jeremiah Byers from UTEP and OG Casey Roddick from Colorado. Throw in the return of OT Bless Harris from an injury that cost him most of last year, and this should be one of the team’s deepest strengths.

Jordan Travis fits everything the Florida State offense needs. The veteran quarterback is going into his sixth season, he limits the mistakes, is deadly accurate on third downs, can drive the deep balls down the field, and he can take off when needed, running for over 400 yards and seven scores.

Losing 6-7, 240-pound WR Johnny Wilson is a problem -- he averaged close to 21 yards per catch -- and replacements are on the way for several lost parts. South Carolina TE Jaheim Bell will play in the NFL soon, Keon Coleman -- 58 catches with seven TDs last year -- signed on from Michigan State, and there are plenty of young options ready to shine with the opportunity.

Seminoles Defensive Outlook for 2023

Coming up with more takeaways would be nice, and the run D went bye-bye against Florida and Oklahoma late in the year. However, it was one of the best seasons of Florida State defense in a while.

Jared Verse is back. The former Albany transfer showed why so many considered him one of the most important national pickups of last season with a team-high nine sacks and 17 tackles for loss as a disruptive force for a D that needed it. He’s still around, and so is NFL prospect Fabien Lovett at one tackle. Helping an already good situation is Braden Fiske, an ultra-active veteran tackle from Western Michigan who’ll camp out behind the line.

The linebackers are more than fine. They’re not as strong as the line, and they’re certainly not as good as the defensive backs. However, the 1-2 punch Tatum Bethune and Kalen DeLoach will make a ton of plays.

The defensive backs will shine. CB Omarion Cooper left for Colorado and Coach Prime, but Renardo Green and Jarrian Jones are terrific. And coming in from Virginia is Fentrell Cypress II, a baller’s baller who broke up 14 passes last season and made 39 stops in an abbreviated season. The corners are good, S Akeem Dent is great, and they’ll all benefit from the big-time pass rush that should be even more dangerous.

Florida State Seminoles Season Prediction, Win Total, Best Bets
Florida State can’t lose any games at home. There can’t be any misfires, bad days, or quirky upsets. That includes in mid-November against an improved Miami, or against a really-it-is dangerous Duke, or if Syracuse does something funky. The home slate is a relative breeze because just about everything tough is happening away from Tallahassee.

The opener against LSU is being played in Orlando, and Clemson, Pitt, Wake Forest, and Florida are on the road. Yeah, LSU and Clemson are scary. But Wake Forest? Florida State hasn’t beaten the Demon Deacons since 2018, and it hasn’t won in Winston-Salem since 2017. In an interesting ACC quirk, the Seminoles and Panthers have only played twice as conference members -- Pitt destroyed FSU in 2020, and FSU destroyed Pitt in the 2013 opener. Pitt has won four of the last five, but three of those were back in the early 1980s.

Florida State will take care of the home dates, but it’ll take something amazing not to lose more than one of those five key games away from Doak S. Campbell Stadium. It's just a tough enough overall slate to keep this from being a College Football Playoff season -- next year, though, in a 12-team format, FSU would almost certainly figure it out and get in.

2023 CFN Preseason Prediction: 9-3
2022 Record: 10-3

Aug 26 OPEN DATE
Sept 3 LSU (in Orlando) L
Sept 9 Southern Miss W
Sept 16 at Boston College W
Sept 23 at Clemson L
Sept 30 OPEN DATE
Oct 7 Virginia Tech W
Oct 14 Syracuse W
Oct 21 Duke W
Oct 28 at Wake Forest L
Nov 4 at Pitt W
Nov 11 Miami W
Nov 18 North Alabama W
Nov 25 at Florida W

Best Bets

Jordan Travis to win the Heisman +1400

Under 10 wins -150

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2023 Florida State Seminoles Football Predictions and Betting Odds

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