The Florida State Seminoles had another late collapse against Pitt in the fourth quarter last week. FSU has lost eight straight ACC games going back to last year and are desperate to stop their losing streak. This week, Florida State travels west to play a struggling Stanford team, and Mike Norvell may not survive another loss to an inferior opponent. With that in mind, let’s dive into this FSU vs. Stanford 2025 game preview.
FSU Seminoles vs. Stanford Cardinals: Football History and Game Excerpts
FSU and Stanford have never played each other before the matchup this Saturday. This is Stanford’s second season in the ACC, and they are 3-8 in ACC games.
In his weekly press conference, Mike Norvell spoke about the Week 8 matchup against Stanford and how FSU will deal with traveling to the West Coast.
“I think we’ve got a great plan. We’ve done a lot of research. Conversation with guys that have played east coast to west coast, played late games, prime time games, just different things that they would do even in the course of the travel, when they got there. We’re going to keep the guys up on Friday night a little bit later with our meetings that we do just to kind of hope it adjusts.”
FSU vs. Pitt 2025 Preview: Keys, Players, and Predictions
Key Players for FSU
Tommy Castellanos looked to get dinged up early against Pitt, and that caused him to slide more when he took off running. If he is limited, that takes a lot of the explosiveness from the running game. Castellanos was efficient last game but needs to make quicker decisions. 116 of his 245 yards came on the three touchdown throws. The passing game was nonexistent for much of the second half until the desperation drive with under two minutes in the fourth quarter.
Florida State’s running game was limited again to 170 total yards and averaged only 4.3 yards per attempt. Gavin Sawchuk had a 33-yard run in the first quarter but would only have 38 yards the rest of the game. Ousmane Kromah averaged over seven yards per carry, but only received seven attempts. The constant changing in the running back rotation needs to stop moving forward. Kromah needs more touches, and Sawchuk should be the second back.
The Seminoles hope to get Duce Robinson and Randy Pittman Jr. back for the game against the Cardinals. Without their two top weapons, the passing game really struggled. The positive of the Pitt game was the emergence of Micahi Danzy. He had been great on reverses early in the season, but defenses have caught up and stopped that play from being successful. Danzy had his best receiving game by far with seven catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Many thought Squirrel White would be the deep threat, but Danzy has provided more consistent production so far this season.
The Seminoles’ defense struggled to defend the pass and create pressure against Pitt. The good news is they have had two straight good games against the run. The twins, Mandrell and Darryl Desir, have been very strong up the middle against the run and a bright spot on the otherwise disappointing defense. Another bright spot is Jabril Rawls who has been a lock down corner and is constantly great in run support. Earl Little Jr. has struggled in recent games in coming up and completing tackles. He will need to fix that moving forward but he has been very good playing centerfield and has two interceptions on the season.
Key Players for Stanford
Ben Gulbranson has taken all the quarterback snaps for the Cardinal so far this year and has not been good. He is only completing 58-percent of his passes and has six touchdowns to four interceptions. Gulbranson has been playing better the last three games, throwing for over 275 yards in each game. When under pressure, he is only completing 36-percent of his passes and has been sacked 20 times on the season.
Micah Ford is the leading rusher on Stanford with 400 yards and three touchdowns. He is averaging over four yards per carry after contact and 34 percent of his runs have been for 15 yards or more. CJ Williams leads the team in targets and catches, with 53 and 35 respectively. Williams is not the big play receiver, however. That honor goes to Bryce Farrell, who averages over 19 yards per catch. Stanford always has a good tight end and that is not different this year with Sam Roush. He was held quiet the first two games, but has come on as of late with over 79 yards in two of his last three games.
On the defensive side, Stanford is allowing 418 total yards per game. They are much better defending the run than the pass, allowing 114 yards on the ground and 303 yads in the air. The Cardinals only have 11 sacks on the year and the leader is defensive lineman Clay Patterson with three sacks and 14 overall pressures. Linebacker Matt Rose is the strongest against the rush and leads the team in tackles with 34. Stanford only has one interception on the season and the corner to target is Collin Wright who has been targeted 30 times and given up 17 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns.
2025 Game Preview: How FSU Wins vs. Stanford in Week 8
FSU needs to start off strong on the road. This is something that the Seminoles did not do in their first road game against Virginia. When on the road against a lesser opponent, you can not let the team hang around and get the opposing crowd into the game.
Turnovers also even the playing field, so the Seminoles need to avoid giving Stanford short fields. The Seminoles want to lean on the running game, but costly fumbles have hurt them in their losses. The key for the offense is to control the game with tempo and not make mistakes.
On defense, FSU has to get pressure on the quarterback. The defense has allowed the past three quarterbacks to be comfortable and get in rhythm. If the front four cannot get there, Tony White has to bring the blitzes to disrupt early. Stanford allows the 12th-most sacks per game with 3.3 per contest. If the Seminoles’ defense can get the Cardinal behind the chains they can force more three and outs. That is something the defense has not been able to do in the three losses.
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Brandon Haye
Brandon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and works as a health insurance data analyst. He has no children, but two fur babies - Squirt and Brownie. He and his wife, Katie, spend their time playing poker and enjoying time with their pups. Brandon is a huge Michigan Wolverine and Jacksonville Jaguars fan. Brandon started writing for The League Winners in 2021.