Previewing Florida State's Matchup Against Alabama + Alford Fired | Florida State Seminoles LIVE 340

Florida State Seminoles LIVE 340 Previewing FSU vs. Alabama + Michael Alford Fired Hosts: Gus Wilson & Cole Kruger | FSUVOCFB Sponsor: FanDuel 0:00–2:00 — Intro Gus and Cole open a busy Wednesday night show. Cole’s power was out in Tallahassee for about an hour; apartment just starting to cool. Gus recorded with Auburn VOCFB and is heading to Oxford for the LSU–Ole Miss tailgate scene (credentials TBD). Game this Saturday: FSU at Alabama, 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC (moved off The CW) at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny. 2:00–7:25 — Michael Alford fired Athletic director Michael Alford was fired Monday. Gus published a piece with Sport and Stage criticizing Alford’s tenure since 2021: failure to adapt to NIL and the new college sports landscape, not just football. Cole was shocked. Rumblings existed all week; the school used the weekend to prepare the announcement. Surprise that Alford went before Mike Norvell. Program did not want Alford picking the next head coach. Alford positives: hired Luke Loucks and Brian Pensky; brought lacrosse to FSU. Failures: player retention (Isaiah Torres cited), unwillingness to spend in the NIL era. Miami spends $5–8 million on QBs; FSU paid Ashton Daniels ~$800K. Stadium renovation viewed as a failure by boosters, alumni, fans, and students — Doak is quieter after losing ~20,000 seats. Not solely Alford’s call. Interim AD: Bruce Warwick. Search should already be in full swing; hosts expect a hire by end of October or sooner. President McCullough’s press conference framed the move around lack of NIL usage. 7:25–16:00 — Norvell hot-seat rumors, moving trucks, buyout Pete Thamel/ESPN-style report (hosts name “Evan’s theory” / similar reporting) that FSU is preparing to fire Norvell after Saturday if they get blown out. Buyout this month: $51 million. Hosts treat it with a grain of salt. Old Row and others posted photos/video of moving trucks and boxes outside Norvell’s house mid-season. Warchant presser clip: Norvell asked about the trucks. He says he doesn’t look online much, focus is on the state and the team, results haven’t been good enough, no excuses, believes in the process and the players. Cole: Who is filming outside a coach’s house? Privacy issue. Norvell’s laugh-then-coach-speak reaction felt like he didn’t know the footage was public. Tallahassee Democrat reported Norvell is staying for the foreseeable future. Cost of a full reset: Norvell buyout + entire staff + $8–10M new coach + new AD ≈ $130 million. Boosters have not shown that appetite the last two years. Hosts do not expect a Sunday firing after Alabama. Norvell’s alma mater Central Arkansas visits next Saturday (family weekend). They expect him to coach that game. Victory lap: both hosts flagged Sunday, October 18 (day after Miami) as the realistic date all offseason. Possible 2–5, 0–4 ACC record with only wins over Central Arkansas and New Mexico State. Road-win drought: approaching three years since last true road win (ACC Championship, Dec. 2023). Cole was at that game. “Mind-boggling” for a program with FSU’s logo and history. 16:00–22:10 — Offense vs. Alabama What FSU needs: Push the ball downfield. Deuce Robinson: 6 catches in 2 games, ~3 per game, under 20 yards per game. Must get him involved; realistically needs double-digit catches to stay in the game. Ashton Daniels has not shown the arm strength or downfield success advertised all offseason. Norvell says he’s improving in practice; hosts don’t buy it yet. Get the ball to Makai Danzy — not just end-arounds; screens and downfield work. He’s faster than most of the secondary. Run game (Usman Kromah, Sam Singleton) is the best part of the offense. Establish it, then play-action. Score on the opening drive to steal first-half momentum. Alabama struggled early vs. Kentucky. Alabama just shut down Kentucky’s run (including C.J. Baxter) and has film on Daniels from last year’s Iron Bowl plus Norvell’s play-calling. Time of possession and getting playmakers the ball. Alabama will key the run; FSU has to prove it can throw over the top. Revenge factor: many Alabama defenders remember last year’s home loss to FSU. 22:10–28:40 — Defense vs. Alabama Priority: contain Keelon Russell’s legs and make him beat them with his arm. Not overly worried about the Alabama run game after a shaky first half vs. Kentucky. Pressure Russell. FSU has 3 sacks in 2 games — all from linebackers. Defensive line has no sample size of success. Emmanuel Desir “disappeared.” Watch Ryland Kennedy (Texas A&M experience). Tony White will need corner/safety blitzes. Secondary has been weak; KJ Kirkland missed SMU. Last week vs. SMU: 4 turnovers but 400+ yards allowed. Kevin Jennings (minus two mistakes) carved them up. Russell is a better dual-threat talent. Forcing turnovers didn’t save them against SMU. Outlook “very bleak.” Expect Norvell to be more aggressive early — possible downfield shot on first or second play. Desperate team. Two-tight-end looks with Landon Thomas and D’Zero Arras. If Daniels has 2–3 turnovers and the game gets ugly, both hosts would put in Malachi Marshall over Kevin Sperry. No tape on Marshall; possible spark. Norvell has little to lose. 28:40–34:00 — Odds & FanDuel Spread opened ~17.5, now FSU +19.5. Total 48.5. Alabama team total 34.5; FSU 13.5. Cole leaning Alabama –19.5 in a pick’em with friends. 19.5 feels a little high and a little low. Staying off the total; if forced, lean over. Alabama can hang 34+ alone. Gus’s unofficial score lean matches FSU’s 13.5 team total. Deuce Robinson –230 to get 30+ yards (huge drop from last year). +320 to score a TD — hosts like that as a fan dart. Sam Singleton also has red-zone value if FSU ever gets there. Reminder: gamble responsibly on FanDuel. 34:00–38:10 — Score predictions Cole: Alabama 42, FSU 10 Aggressive FSU first quarter possible (maybe one TD). Then Alabama second-half surge like vs. Kentucky. Program vibes are terrible; players hear the noise and may not fight for Norvell. Firing him this weekend would tank the rest of the season — fans should hope he lasts until at least Miami. Gus: Alabama 38, FSU 13 Possible opening-drive TD + two field goals. Not close after the first quarter. Alabama remembers last year’s loss and won’t lose at home. Standalone 3:30 ABC game (Louisville–SMU also 3:30). Gus will try to make the postgame live from Oxford. 38:10–end — Close Zero live comments. Hosts say that’s a reflection of the program — fans don’t want to consume FSU content right now. Post-SMU clip already has 4–5K views of them calling the situation sad. They believed in the team coming into the year. Can’t sunshine-pump anymore after New Mexico State, SMU, and the Alford firing. Hope the Seminoles are better this time next year. Plug: like/comment/subscribe; FSU Primetime Live with Jackson Burleson & Jacob Smith; Cole @ColeCrew9, Gus @byGusWilson on X. Same time next Wednesday. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.