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FSU football finds itself in unfamiliar position: Responding to a big win

Mike Norvell has talked about "response" for the better part of two months now.

Florida State's first-year head coach says it's a cornerstone of what he's trying to build in Tallahassee. That his team needs to learn how to treat mistakes and failures as learning opportunities and motivational tools, not stumbling blocks.

In this instance, though, Norvell is looking for another type of response..

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Sophomore offensive lineman Dontae Lucas and his teammates celebrate Saturday's win with the Marching Chiefs.
Sophomore offensive lineman Dontae Lucas and his teammates celebrate Saturday's win with the Marching Chiefs. (Don Juan Moore/Character Lines)
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After his Seminoles knocked off the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels, 31-28, on Saturday night, he wants to see how a team not all that experienced with handling success responds to the biggest win of any of their careers.

"I think sometimes the greater challenge is when people are patting you on the back," Norvell said on Monday afternoon. "At the end of the day, our objective is to get better in all that we do. So, we're excited about the win that we just had. But you go watch that film, and there's a lot of things that kind of pissed me off that I saw that we need to get corrected."

All three FSU coordinators who spoke with the media on Monday echoed that same sentiment.

Yes, it was great for the program to pick up a big victory like the one FSU recorded on Saturday night. But there were so many mistakes, including some head-scratching penalties, that there is absolutely no reason for the Seminoles (2-3, 1-3 ACC) to start feeling too good about themselves.

Especially, from offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham's perspective, after the offense went from putting up 24 points in the first half to a big, fat zero in the second.

Dillingham was asked Monday if it was an ideal situation to get the win but also have so many mistakes to learn from in the second half.

"I would rather have had two halves like the first one, and had a little less film to teach off of," he said. "But every time you step on the field, there's an ability to get better. And we can look at the second half, and that's what we really focused on yesterday. We had a correction period yesterday in practice. We had 17 corrections. Seventeen plays in that football game ... we have to fix in corrections. For all the good and all the explosiveness that we have, there's a lot of room for growth.

"And that's what excites me."

*ALSO SEE: Warchant 3-2-1: Norvell on the attack, situational defense & more

It's also what frustrates him at times.

Florida State moved the ball essentially at will in the second quarter. And on the first drive of the third quarter, with a commanding 31-7 lead, it looked like the Seminoles were about to put the game away as they drove inside the UNC 5-yard line.

But a Dontae Lucas personal foul backed the Seminoles way up, and they wound up missing the eventual field goal attempt. And from there, they were outscored by 21 points the rest of the way.

Dillingham called it a "boneheaded penalty."

Norvell said he made sure to use it as a teaching moment, and as a reminder of what still has to change within this football program -- even if it came during the Seminoles' biggest win in years.

"Those [types of mistakes] need to be uncharacteristic," Norvell said, "but unfortunately they've been characteristic of our team early in the season and [of] things that have happened here before.

"Obviously, it's pretty easy to see the impact those plays make throughout the course of a game. ... It's one of those things that is frustrating. We need to make a choice, collectively as an entire group and team, that that's not going to show up anymore."

*ALSO SEE: Complete breakdown of Monday’s interviews with Norvell, coordinators

Florida State had 12 penalties on the night. Four of them were personal fouls, including one each by defensive tackles Cory Durden, Robert Cooper and Marvin Wilson. Durden was ejected for his targeting call on UNC quarterback Sam Howell.

The Seminoles also had multiple missed assignments on the offensive side, two missed field goals from Ryan Fitzgerald, and critical dropped passes from Ontaria Wilson and Ja'Khi Douglas.

Still. With all of that not-great stuff from Saturday night, it turned out the Seminoles did enough good stuff to come up with an important win. And Norvell said he and his staff took time to celebrate each of Saturday's game-changing plays while watching film with the team.

He wants the players to feel good about themselves. He wants them to believe in how much better they're getting. He wants them to play with great confidence and effort.

But Norvell also pointed out each of the team's critical miscues, because he wants the players to continue focusing on getting better -- every single day. Because that three-point win over North Carolina isn't going to mean nearly as much if the Seminoles can't build off of it.

"As good it was on Saturday, tomorrow is another opportunity," defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. "We are definitely not where we want to be. There's no question about that. ... Tuesday is the most important day in our program right now. And I think it needs to be looked at like that by everybody in our program."

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