Reinforcements arriving for Florida State ahead of matchup with Golden Bears

Starting with a stunning Week 0 loss in Ireland to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the 2024 season has been one that the Florida State Seminoles will be in a hurry to forget about. Just about a month after that last-second loss across the pond, thanks to a pair of losses at Doak Campbell Stadium to Boston College and Memphis, the Noles find themselves in an unexpected 0-3 hole after starting the season ranked inside the AP Top 10.

This is all to say that Mike Norvell’s team needs to rally in the worst way possible, and as the winless Noles prepare to host an undefeated California team, they’ll be getting a boost to their lineup with the returns of a handful of starters.

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel:

“Sources: Florida State will get some key players back for the Cal game. LT Darius Washington will return after a freak pre-game injury before Memphis. S Shyheim Brown and WR Jalen Brown will also both play. LB Cam Riley is a game-time decision and RT Jeremiah Byers will be out.”

Washington, a redshirt senior, missed last week’s game against Memphis due to an injury suffered in pregame warmups. The 6’4″, 310 lb. lineman is projected to be an NFL Draft pick next spring.

Despite missing last week’s game versus Memphis, Shyheim Brown still leads the Noles in total tackles for the season with 21. Cam Riley, who left FSU’s loss last week in the 1st quarter, is second in tackles with 19.

Jalen Brown, who transferred to Florida State after failing to log a reception during his freshman season at LSU, has five receptions for 25 yards this season as part of a Seminoles passing attack that has failed to get anything going during the first three weeks of the season.

There lies what may be the biggest problem for Florida State through three games. After bringing in highly touted transfer DJ Uiagelelei from Oregon State to replace Jordan Travis, who went off to the NFL, the hope was the Noles would still be able to maintain one of the ACC’s best passing attacks. That simply hasn’t been the case.

Through three games, DJ-U has managed just a single passing touchdown, thrown two interceptions, and is under 225 yards per game. Cal’s defense has allowed just 184 passing yards per game in their 3-0 start.

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