Ashton Daniels was under duress most of Saturday night behind Florida State’s new-look offensive line. He didn’t look settled but also didn’t appear rattled.
His debut at FSU was perhaps a microcosm of his career: There was a foolish turnover, he had to use his elusiveness to avoid danger and while on the move had to make quick decisions and progress to his second or third reads.
Given the opponent was just New Mexico State. But Daniels did enough well to lead six scoring drives and guide FSU to a 34-17 win.
“What I like about Ashton is he has a lot of experience of playing the position,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “He's got 20-plus starts. There's good and bad in it. … Being able to work together and that's why even when he comes to the sideline, my first question: ‘What do you see?’ Because I want to see if what he has seen matches up to expectation.
“There's some things that are in his control, some things that are out of his control, just making sure that he's seeing things the right way.”
Daniels completed 17 of 27 passes for 202 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He used his legs to avoid trouble — Daniels was sacked just once despite near-constant pressure on pass plays — and kept his eyes up to find targets. He also ran eight times for 30 yards, which included a 13-yarder and a 4-yard TD run when all of FSU’s options in the end zone were covered.
“I think the team did well. I think the offense did well,” Daniels said. “Obviously, there’s some plays that we want to have back but I think that we responded very well to some negative plays, going out and putting points on the board.”
Norvell was critical on Saturday and again Tuesday of Daniels’ interception, where safety Nick Session undercut the route and picked off a pass intended for tight end Chase Loftin. With 25 career touchdowns and 23 interceptions, it’s a disturbing ratio even if 20 of those came from the 2023-24 seasons at Stanford.
But Norvell also cited a number of the positives, outlining how Daniels connected with tailbacks Ousmane Kromah, Samuel Singleton Jr. and Tre’ Wisner on screens and other short passes. He mentioned Daniels’ third-and-8 completion to Micahi Danzy for 44 yards, and the pass to Jayvan Boggs that went to the goal line and set up another touchdown.
While Duce Robinson was not featured prominently, the senior receiver had three receptions: the first pass of the game, a 24-yard touch pass and hauled in a clutch reception on fourth-and-4. Robinson had three catches for 50 yards on six targets. But Daniels also spread the ball around well, connecting with seven pass-catchers.
The offseason discussion of surrounding Daniels with talent at receiver and running back was evident on Saturday, especially with a ground attack that accumulated 217 rushing yards (5.6 per carry).
“I’m excited for where he's going to continue to grow,” Norvell said. “In this offense, with the guys that are around him, the decisions that he makes. Those are all things that, it's fun. It's fun coaching him because, you're sitting there having a — he's a next-level conversation.”
Norvell certainly didn’t mean it in terms of an NFL projection. But with a Stanford degree and now 24 starts under his belt, he has seen plenty at three schools. Daniels now has 4,985 passing yards and 1,427 rushing yards in his career. He hasn’t experienced that much winning as Stanford went 3-9 and 3-9 before helping Auburn to a win at Arkansas last October and then seeing the Tigers fall short in games against Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Alabama.
And for a coach who has been optimistic throughout the offseason, Norvell is beginning to see how Daniels fits within his scheme at FSU. Daniels is seeing it, too.
“We’re going to grow, we’re going to learn from it,” Daniels said. “We’re going to make sure we get those things fixed before SMU.”
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