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20 key offseason topics for 2020: No. 7. Which five college football teams have the potential be disappointments?
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20 for 2020 Offseason Topics
20. Best Teams To Not Make CFP
19: Teams That Will Rebound Big
18. Teams That Will Fall Back
17: Every Power 5 Team’s Letdown Game
16. Top 5 Instant Impact New Head Coaches
15. 2nd Year Coaches Who’ll Be Better
14. Power 5 Hot Seat Coach Rankings
13. Key Transfers You Forgot About
12. Five Big Power 5 Upset Alerts
11. Great Players About To Go Nuclear
10. Group of 5 Teams In New Year’s Six Chase
9. Power 5 Sleeper Teams
8. Most Interesting Quarterback Battles
Of course Miami was going to be a major player in the 2019 ACC Championship hunt.
Michigan State appeared to have everything in place for a huge season, Nebraska was going to rise up and rock, and Texas A&M was in for a breakthrough season …
Nope.
Every year, seemingly sure-thing good teams turn into stunning disappointments. Some teams fall off from the lofty expectations set after a big previous season, and some simply don’t play up to their respective talent levels.
Last year, we got it sort of right with Pitt and Texas, nailed it with Northwestern and whiffed hard on Oregon and Florida – although we did an about-face and pump up the Gators large as the offseason wore on.
Which Power Five teams will start the season with big expectations but should fall just short?
ACC: Florida State
It was supposed to take a little while for Willie Taggart to build the program back up. He got fewer than two years to give it a shot.
Enter Mike Norvell, who made Memphis a whole lot of fun with the flash, speed, and excitement missing from Florida State over the last few seasons.
However, what was the knock on Taggart when he took over? He hadn’t won anything big, and you and Novell have the same number of bowl wins on your resumés.
Norvell got Memphis over the American Athletic Conference title hump last year, and there’s no denying the excitement he brings to the Noles with his style, but his defenses at Memphis were iffy at best, he was 0-4 against UCF, and he failed to come up with a win over a Power Five program that finished with a winning record.
But you never, ever know when it comes to coaches – Norvell might just be the next Dabo or Saban.
Statement from @Coach_Norvell. #NoleFamily pic.twitter.com/cNYD5iqEsZ
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) March 17, 2020
For this year, though, he has to try implementing his new systems without the benefit of spring ball to get everything up and rolling. The Noles have to improve one of the nation’s worst pass defenses, the boatload of penalties have to slow down, and the offensive line that was a disaster when Jimbo Fisher left – and Taggart was never able to fix – is still a question mark until the practices finally kick in.
The schedule doesn’t bring a whole lot of help.
If everything goes off according to plan, facing an improved West Virginia to start things off isn’t easy, going to Boise State will be tough, and that’s just a part of the first three games.
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The other problem is the rest of the ACC – most of it should be better.
NC State will be stronger, and that’s on the road. Louisville and Miami are dangerous road games, Clemson is more of a monster than ever, and closing out against Florida won’t be fun.
