Florida State football’s biggest X-factor in top-20 clash vs. Miami

Florida State football has earned eight days of rest after their stunning loss at Virginia. Mike Norvell, Tommy Castellanos and company now get their highest ranked opponent Saturday — in annual rival Miami.

The top 20 clash won’t be anything new for the head coach Norvell. Castellanos has seen Miami before too during his Boston College days. But now the prized College Football Transfer Portal addition gets his first real taste of the FSU-Miami rivalry.

Castellanos gets the luxury of a loud Doak S. Campbell Stadium crowd behind him — handing Florida State an advantage there. Even Miami head coach Mario Cristobal is preparing for a “really good football player” as he called it on Monday.

The dual-threat QB immediately sounds like the X-factor here in Tallahassee. Except he’s not — with this prominent member of the Seminoles claiming that title here.

Florida State’s x-factor is a non-Seminoles player vs. Miami

Yes, this game could redefine Norvell’s coaching career. Especially as he continues to win back the FSU fan base following the disastrous 2024 results. But he’s not the x-factor here either.

So who claims the title on the FSU sidelines?

Gus Malzahn rises as the one who can help dictate a top five upset. The same Malzahn calling the offense for the ‘Noles on Saturday.

Florida State’s offensive coordinator can use this contest as his own career-defining or career-boosting moment. Norvell hired Malzahn to inject new life into an offense that floundered last year. Now Malzahn gets his toughest defense yet to game plan against.

And there’s areas on Miami’s side Malzahn comes in handy for.

Why Gus Malzahn must get into his bag vs. Miami

The national champion OC will plan against a unit that hasn’t allowed more than 24 points so far — all after allowing 25.3 points per game last season. New Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman has brought ESV (excitement, swarm and violence) to the 305 region. And he has fast-rising potential first rounder Rueben Bain Jr. collapsing the pocket.

But this defense bodes well for Malzahn to exploit for the following reasons.

The Hurricanes have struggled against running QBs in brief spurts. Granted, Byrum Brown of USF got bottled despite nearly hitting 300 passing yards. But Florida noticeably gained brief success turning loose DJ Lagway on designed runs — despite Lagway dealing with ailments. Malzahn can throw in an extra blocker when Castellanos wants to turn to his legs and test the Miami run defense.

Miami additionally has shown trouble when QBs escape the pocket on passing plays. Castellanos’ game is built on running outside the pocket. He’s surgical when he gets more room to throw to Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy, or Randy Pittman. Hence why Malzahn can turn to rollouts or fake RPO (run pass option) runs with the QB.

Finally, Malzahn is renown for pre-snap motions. He pulls off the tactic to get defenses thinking over reacting more. His offenses have buried teams when defenders turn to the former over the latter action.

Miami became notorious on defense last season for trying the cerebral game instead of becoming reactionary. Malzahn puts FSU at an advantage if he plays mind games with the motions — especially against a secondary that only has three interceptions while ranking lower (25th against the pass) than the run defense (eighth overall).

Malzahn can spark this conversation after Florida State-Miami

USF tried a similar approach at Hard Rock Stadium. Except Miami overwhelmed a smaller Bulls offensive line with Bain, Akheem Mesidor and the entire defensive line.

Florida State is longer and larger up front compared to the Hurricanes’ Week 3 foe. Giving Castellanos more time to throw and handing Malzahn the edge in using his creative cerebral juices. But again, Malzahn must find ways to confuse Bain all the way to sophomore cornerback O.J. Frederique.

Malzahn has one slight distraction come Saturday: He’s hearing his name linked to the now open Arkansas job. He’s likely to get linked to other openings that sprout up given his past as a head coach and offensive acumen.

This game is the perfect opportunity for him to re-catapult his name into a future head coaching job — by outsmarting an improved ‘Canes defense.