Rocky

By Charlie Barnes

An astrophysicist – Dr. Avi Loeb of Harvard – has conjured up a potentially catastrophic scenario for the end of this 2025 football season.

Specifically, Dr. Loeb is focused on an object called 31/ATLAS. Whatever (or whoever) it is, it is more than 12 miles wide and traveling at an incredible speed in our direction.

Dr. Loeb speculates that is it is either a comet, or “a piece of space technology not of our world.” He thinks it might be coming to visit.

It’s scheduled to arrive in our neighborhood about the same time various teams are lining up for the 2025 College Football Playoff and sundry other bowl games.

The predictions for 31/ATLAS are possibly as valid as anyone’s predictions for the Seminoles’ 2025 football season after the first game or two.

Let’s look at three possibilities for the giant space object. It will hit Earth (thus FSU will definitely miss the playoffs again), or it will bypass Earth. Or, if Dr. Loeb’s mysterious interstellar spacecraft is really headed for us with a full cast of aliens on board, Humanity will very likely be the underdog in that matchup.

We were a two-touchdown dog to Alabama. Before the game, I thought the best outcome for FSU might be what let’s call The Rocky Principle.

The original Rocky movie was produced 50 years ago. Amid an endless series of sequels, how many actually saw the original? Random movie fans might say they remember that Rocky won the fight (because in all the sequels, he won all the time).

But in the original movie, Rocky didn’t win. The champion won in a split decision. Rocky lost, but he won respect, redemption and a career.

Going into this game vs Alabama, I did not expect us to win, but I was convinced we had a chance to do what Rocky did.

No one really knew what the Seminoles had. Coach Norvell had a brand-new roster and concealed as much as possible. Coach Gus Malzahn might have beaten us for the national title in 2013 with his Auburn running game had it not been for Jameis Winston. This spring and summer, Coordinator Malzahn was smiling, and very, very quiet.

If the ‘Rocky Principle’ applied, Florida State did not have to win this game. If we played like Rocky fought, a ‘split decision’ might be enough to put the Seminoles back on track in the eyes of the fans and the nation.

We were the underdog contender, and Alabama was the iconic champion. The Tide and their coaches knew they had to win this game. They absolutely had to. Given their history and standing in the SEC, there was no alternative for them.

If Rocky had gotten knocked out in the first round, it wouldn’t have been a very good movie. If Rocky had beaten the champion, the movie might have been just another contrived, feel-good sports drama.

I liked our chances to be Rocky against Alabama, and launch ourselves back on the road to stardom.

Beginning now, we have weeks to prepare for the balance of the season.

Our optimism for 2025 should not sweep aside the reality that was 2-10 in 2024. Understanding what happened last year, and why it did, is a necessary audit for any proud and ambitious program like ours.

Following our Seminoles’ spectacular and well-earned victory over Alabama, three possibilities suggest themselves going forward.

The best-case scenario is that all of the corrections and all of the changes taking place since 2024 now fit precisely into the machinery of Florida State football at its best. We move forward with the same intensity and coaching as we demonstrated against Alabama. Focused recruiting from all sources will rebuild needed depth.

The worst-case scenario sees Florida State as a specter in the shadows, hoping to turn one huge win into a good season. We’ve seen this before. In 1989, the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi opened their season against the Seminoles on a scorching hot day in Jacksonville. They had spent all spring and summer scheming to upset the mighty Seminoles.

FSU was ranked #6 pre-season. Southern Miss had a quarterback with a foreign name that no one knew how to pronounce (Brett Farve). They wore black helmets and black shirts in the broiling heat. And they beat the Seminoles 30-26.

The outcome might have led some to see two programs headed in opposite directions. But FSU was already established as an elite program. Even after losing the first two games of the season (Southern Miss and Clemson), the Seminoles rolled on to 10-2 and a #2 final national ranking after their Fiesta Bowl victory over Nebraska.

Southern Mississippi desperately wanted to hang their hopes on upsetting a highly favored opponent to begin the year. This they accomplished, but at a price. The Golden Eagles finished 5-6 for a losing season.

What is the most likely scenario for our Seminoles this year?