Florida State's collapse at Louisville raises questions about its response before Miami

In the first half at Louisville, Florida State had the game in hand. By the end, the Cardinals had scored 44 of the last 50 points and won 44-20. Mike Norvell said afterward that the way his team handled the turn bothered him more than any single mistake, Roundtable Sports reported.

The game turned on one sequence. Florida State went for it on fourth-and-goal from the Louisville 2-yard line and didn't score. On the next snap, Cardinals running back Isaac Brown went 97 yards for a touchdown. Louisville then opened the third quarter with a big kickoff return, and the Seminoles never stopped the slide. Kyle Golik of Roundtable Sports wrote that Florida State has shown it can build momentum but has not consistently shown it can recover once it slips away.

Norvell agreed. "I was discouraged with how we responded throughout that game," he said, according to Roundtable Sports. He added that his team never managed to make the play it needed and that the game "snowballed" from there.

The swing from one week to the next was stark. Against Virginia, Florida State put together what Roundtable called arguably its most complete defensive game of the season. The Seminoles had 10 sacks, held the Cavaliers to 37 net rushing yards and won 38-7. Six days later, Louisville ran for 397 yards and six touchdowns. Golik argued that a gap that wide is more than an ordinary off night. He also wrote that Norvell's habit of taking public responsibility needs to start showing up as measurable improvement.

The Seminoles (3-3) face a hard test next. They visit No. 3 Miami (5-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN. The rivalry has a long history of momentum swings, and those swings tend to punish teams that can't recover from a mistake. Roundtable's point was that Florida State doesn't need to play a perfect game in Coral Gables. It needs to keep a bad series from turning into another blowout.

The market doesn't give Florida State much of a chance. Miami is favored at -1233 on Novig, one of the venues listing the game. The Hurricanes are 21.5-point favorites, the total is 55.5, and Pinnacle has the best sportsbook price on Miami at -1573. Full numbers are on the Florida State at Miami odds page.

Louisville is also 3-3 after the win and goes on the road Saturday to face Syracuse (2-3) at 7:30 p.m. EDT on ACC Network. The Cardinals are favored at -590 on Novig. Syracuse is getting 14.5 points, the total is 56.5, and BetMGM has the best sportsbook price on Louisville at -650. Prices for that game are on the Louisville at Syracuse odds page.

For Florida State, Saturday is a chance to show whether last week's collapse was a one-time problem or a pattern. That is a hard thing to prove against an unbeaten rival on the road.