Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell Has High Praise For Georiga Tech's Offense Ahead of Week Zero Matchup

Georgia Tech faces Florida State in Dublin, Ireland next Saturday to kick off the college football season

Apr 20, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell smiles during the Spring Showcase at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports / Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 College Football Season is almost one week away and things are going to start off with a huge game in Dublin, Ireland between Georgia Tech and defending ACC Champion Florida State. While the Seminoles are favored going into the game, Georgia Tech has one of the nation's top offenses and are hoping they have improved enough on the defensive side of the ball to be able to beat Florida State in a big upset.

After a practice this week, Norvell had a lot of good things to say about Georgia Tech's offense and the different ways they can attack you:

“I think it’s one of the better offenses in the league and probably in the country,” Mike Norvell said. “They return a lot of guys. Up front, they do a good job. They’ve got very explosive skill position players, guys that are really fast, they’re tough to tackle. Running back is outstanding, over 1,000 yards. I think he was over six yards a carry last year. The quarterback makes everything go. Haynes [King] is a really good player,” Norvell said. “You saw his confidence grow as the season continued to go on. I think they do a good job of putting those guys in a position to be able to make plays. He’s going to be involved in the run game. They’re going to try to stretch it out sideline to sideline, but also very physically in their approach of what they want to do,” Norvell said. “Horizontally, vertically, they’re going to try to attack everything on the field. So, it’s really going to take all 11 being on point and playing at a high level.”

The matchup between Georgia Tech's offense and the Florida State defense is going to be one to watch. Georgia Tech has Haynes King, Jamal Haynes, a talented group of receivers, and one of the best offensive lines in the ACC, but FSU has high-level players at each level of the defense.

ESPN's Bill Connelly has King as one of the most important players in the College Football Playoff Race, ranking him No. 21:

"After a frustrating and injury-plagued time at Texas A&M, King was part of a rousing breakthrough at Georgia Tech, throwing for 2,842 yards, rushing for 830 (not including sacks), jumping into the Total QBR top 30 and leading the Yellow Jackets to their first bowl in five years. He and Jamal Haynes form one of the nation's more dangerous backfields, and while the Jackets are in no way title contenders themselves -- King would also have to play stellar defense to help in that regard -- they could alter the CFP picture with shots against four projected top-20 opponents (per SP+): Florida State, Notre Dame, Miami, and Georgia."

King accounted for 3,729 yards of total offense (2,842 passing, 737 rushing) and 37 touchdowns (27 passing, 10 rushing) in his first season as the Yellow Jackets’ starting quarterback in 2023. He was one of only two Power Five conference players with at least 2,800 passing yards, 700 rushing yards, 25 touchdown passes, and 10 touchdown runs in 2023, joining Heisman Trophy winner and eventual No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Jayden Daniels of LSU, while he became only the fourth Atlantic Coast Conference player since 2000 to reach those plateaus in a single season, joining Clemson’s Deshawn Watson (2015), Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (2016 and 2017) and Virginia Tech’s Jerod Evans (2016).

Georgia Tech and Florida State kickoff next Saturday at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN.