TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When it was all over, when the emotions of what happened Saturday had finally started to sink in, Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield let himself acknowledge the gravity of the moment.

"This is monumental," he said. "Let's call it what it is. This is huge for our program."

It's tough to succinctly sum up what had just taken place. Memphis had beaten blue blood Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium. Silverfield had beaten coach Mike Norvell, the man responsible for so much of what happened for the Tigers on Saturday. Silverfield wouldn't have been in Tallahassee, wouldn't have ever gotten to Memphis, if it wasn't for Norvell.

The Florida State coach isn't supposed to leave for a bigger program and then lose to his old one. But that's what the Tigers (3-0) had just done, earning an ugly 20-12 win over a Seminoles team that's officially in crisis after an 0-3 start. They have plenty of questions and very few answers.

But this afternoon — and this day, and maybe this college football season — isn't about Florida State. It's about Memphis.

"It's just a testament to our culture," quarterback Seth Henigan said. "Someone was asking me yesterday, 'What's going to make the difference this game?' I said, 'Our culture.' We're a senior-led group, we're an experienced group. We've played a lot of football."

The Tigers earned their first true road win over a power conference team since Sept. 12, 2015, when it defeated Kansas 55-23.. And Silverfield, who rarely strays from "the next game is the most important one" after wins or losses, couldn't help but allow himself a reprieve.

"This is a game that's going to be remembered for a long time," he said.

How much it'll be remembered depends on what comes next. Memphis has a power conference win, but the importance and weight of Saturday's triumph will depend on how Florida State plays the rest of the season. The Tigers might be favored in every game the rest of the season, though. And if they win the American Athletic Conference, if Memphis goes to the College Football Playoff, the story of this season will include a lengthy chapter on what happened in Tallahassee today.

It looked easy until it didn't. Memphis forced a turnover on the second play of the game, then took an early lead with a field goal. Florida State's offense was lifeless in the first half, and the Tigers had a 13-3 halftime lead that probably should've been bigger.

The Seminoles looked like a different team in the second half. They answered a Memphis touchdown with a quick one of their own, and — even after a massive fourth-down conversion by running back Greg Desrosiers — they got the ball back with 2:46 to play.

A few hours earlier, Silverfield had stood alone and looked up at what was at that point a mostly empty stadium. The emotion, the gravity of the moment would matter only if Memphis came up with a stop. A few minutes earlier, he'd looked up at a mostly full stadium — the fans had stopped booing and had started to cheer, loudly, for the team in red.

DJ Uiagalelei dropped back to pass and looked down the field. Chandler Martin blitzed. The game was in the hands of the Memphis defense. That's exactly, if you watched this team play last season, the place Norvell and the Seminoles would want it.

Earlier in the week, Martin had approached Henigan.

"I'm sorry for being bad on defense last year," he told him. "You're not going to have to put up as many points."

If anyone needed a reminder, this Memphis defense isn't last year's Memphis defense. Martin (eight tackles) sacked Uiagalelei. William Whitlow Jr. and Matt Hudson sacked him again two plays later. That effectively ended the game, with a last-second Hail Mary from Uiagalelei not even making it to the end zone.

It was a win for Memphis, a win for the Group of Five, a win for the program's continuity under Silverfield.

"In an age where quarterbacks are transferring all the time, I feel like that's a difference maker for our team and our program this year," said Henigan, who threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns, plus one interception. "We're able to communicate better, we love each other and we're a senior-led group."

It was the biggest win for the Tigers since Norvell was their coach from 2016 to 2019 and Silverfield was standing beside him as his offensive line coach.

"I think it's pretty big," Henigan said.

And really, this is the part that the Tigers fans who were screaming in the concourse after the game are most excited about.

It might not be the biggest win they get this season.

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Why Memphis football's 'monumental' win over FSU might be just start