Noles News: What’s FSU’s most important game in 2023?

Mar 20, 2023 - 10:00 AM

Recruiting

Florida State continues to put in work on the recruiting trail, welcoming plenty of players to Tallahassee this weekend as the Seminoles finished off spring break and also sending out a few new offers.

2025 defensive lineman Kevin Oatis out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi reported an offer on Saturday. Currently unrated, Oatis holds offers from the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Ole Miss Rebels, Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns, Auburn Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies.

2024 four-star defensive end Marquise Lightfoot, out of Chicago, also reported an offer. Considered the No. 9 edge player by the 247Sports Composite, Lightfoot also holds offers from the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators, Kansas Jayhawks, Michigan State Spartans, Missouri Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, USC Trojans, Tennessee Volunteers and Ohio State Buckeyes, amongst others.

2025 defensive back Jett White, considered a four-star and the No. 5 cornerback in the country according to the 247Sports Team Composite, reported an offer on Sunday. White also has offers from the Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojacs, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverins, Oregon Ducks, Ole Miss Rebels, Miami Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies, amongst others.

2026 defensive lineman James Carrington, from Baltimore, reported a Florida State offer on Saturday. Currently unranked at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, Carrington also has reported offers from the Wisconsin Badgers, Ole Miss Rebels, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, NC State Wolfpack, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Alabama Crimson Tide and Boston College Eagles, amongst others.

You can catch up on all the latest Florida State football recruiting news and pick the brains of our recruiting staff in the latest edition of our recruiting thread.

Class of 2024 commitments

QUARTERBACK: 4 star Luke Kromenhoek (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 5 star Kam Davis (GA)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Camdon Frier (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Tawaski “TJ” Abrams (FL)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Keishawn Mashburn (FL)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jamorie Flagg (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star Jordan Pride (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star CJ Heard (GA)

KICKER: Jake Weinberg (FL)

Football

What’s the season-defining game for Florida State football next season? ESPN’s pick is the LSU Tigers:

It is always hard to choose the opener as a season-defining game because in the College Football Playoff era, teams have overcome early losses to end up making it into the top four. But the LSU game in Orlando seems like the easy choice here, and we can point to last season for the reason why. There were plenty of questions about the Seminoles headed into the season, and none of them were centered around whether they could win 10 games. But beating LSU in New Orleans showed this would be a different type of Florida State team and a different season. A loss there, and who knows what happens. Now, this matchup to open 2023 could be even bigger as both teams have high expectations. The hype is there for Florida State and a win would only serve to continue the hype train.

2023 Florida State football schedule

Sunday, September 3: LSU Tigers (Orlando)

Saturday, September 9: Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Saturday, September 16: at Boston College Eagles

Saturday, September 23: at Clemson Tigers

Saturday, September 30: BYE

Saturday, October 7: Virginia Tech Hokies

Saturday, October 14: Syracuse Orange

Saturday, October 21: Duke Blue Devils

Saturday, October 28: at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Saturday, November 4: at Pittsburgh Panthers

Saturday, November 11: Miami Hurricanes

Saturday, November 18: North Alabama Lions

Saturday, November 25: at Florida Gators

Baseball

After dropping a midweek two-game series to UCF, Florida State baseball lost its home conference series vs. the Boston College Eagles. FSU started off with a win on Friday but was unable to secure a second win in its second ACC series of the season and now will look to get back into a rhythm as it enters into a difficult stretch of schedule.

Softball

No. 6 FSU softball shook off some tough losses vs. top competition last week in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, bouncing back to sweep the Syracuse Orange in the squad’s ACC opener. Next up for the Seminoles is a road series vs. the No. 15 Duke Blue Devils.

All Sports

No. 4 FSU beach volleyball swept day three of the March to May Tournament, beating No. 10 Georgia State 5-0. Florida State is now 16-2 on the season and will be back in action this week for the LSU Invitational.

The No. 12 Florida State Seminoles women’s golf team won the Florida State Match-Up team title, shooting a tournament total of even-par (864).

From FSU Sports Info:

Florida State shot rounds of 1-under (287), 3-under (285), and 4-over (292) to win the annual tournament by 25 strokes, with Augusta falling in second place at 25-over par. This was Florida State’s fourth time winning the tournament in its 10 year history.

The Seminoles’ own, Lottie Woad, won her second tournament of the season with an individual title claim at the Match-Up after totaling 4-under par with rounds of 68-69-75 (212).

No. 17 Florida State men’s tennis swept Notre Dame on Sunday, winning all 7 matches on the day.

From FSU Sports Info:

Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and Joshua Dous-Karpenschif gave FSU its first doubles win after their 6-1 win on court No. 2, and then Maks Silagy and Barnaby Smith’s 6-3 victory on court No. 3 clinched the doubles point for the Seminoles.

Youcef Rihane earned the first singles point for Florida State after he won eight straight games to clinch his first set 7-5, and to win the second set on court No. 3 6-0 to put the Noles up 2-0.

Despite being down 3-1 in the first set on court No. 6, Jaime Connel battled back, winning five straight games to win 6-3 in the first set. Connel’s 6-3, 6-2 straight-set victory gave Florida State its third point of the afternoon.

The match was clinched on court No. 5 by Andreja Petrovic, with his 6-2, 6-2 victory giving the Seminoles a 4-0 lead.

Dous-Karpenschif capped off his undefeated weekend with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5.

Cornut-Chauvinc’s 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over No. 43 Sebastien Dominko was his eighth ranked win of the season and made the match score 6-0 in favor of Florida State.

The final point of the match was won by Loris Pourroy on court No. 2, with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win giving the Seminoles the 7-0 sweep.

The annual FSU Day at the Florida Capitol is set for Tuesday, March 21:

An outdoor pep rally will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the plaza between the historic and new Capitol buildings. The event will feature FSU President Richard McCullough, Women’s Basketball Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff and performances by the FSU pep band, cheerleaders and Flying High Circus.

McCullough and the FSU Student Government Association will co-host “Seminole Evening” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 20, in the Senate Chambers of the Historic Capitol. Members of the FSU Student Government Association will recognize legislators at the reception.

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers are looking to develop a modular solar electricity system that can help communities keep electricity flowing during natural disasters.

From FSU:

Yuan Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is leading the project, and her team are developing lightweight, compact inverters for solar power plants. The inverters, which convert direct current to alternating current, help regulate the flow of electricity from power plants to the electric grid. They are small enough that a team of two people can set them up without heavy equipment, allowing solar power plants to quickly restore electricity in the wake of disruptions, such as the hurricanes that batter Florida during the summer. This inverter will have identical modules that handle different sections of a solar power plant. If severe weather damages part of the inverter, the remaining modules will continue functioning. The technology also allows workers to replace the failed part while the rest of the inverter system is generating power.