A Tiger's Observation of FSU

PawsFan_ · Aug 20, 2023

Alright how about a football post today. All summer long we’ve been hearing, “Florida State this” and “Florida State that.” The drum beat of the hype has gotten so loud, that the media has voted FSU in the top 10. I understand that they have reached deep into their pockets and b(r)ought in a lot of transfers. You only bring in transfers if you have a lot of holes to fill though. And while admittedly some of the guys they have brought in have been impressive, when a number are from USuCk, it’s hard for me to believe they are upgrades.

So I decided to educate myself. I decided to watch a lot of FSU football. So far I have watched their games against: CU, Wake, Miami, Florida and Oklahoma.

One of the things we hear so much about is “How strong FSU finished the year.” Yes indeed, they finished with 6 straight wins. Let’s look at who they faced during those games (plus a few more).

	Defense	Defense	Defense
	Total	Passing	Scoring	Margin of Victory
Wake	93	115	82	-10
NC State	20	71	11	-2
Clemson	28	76	23	-6
GT	85	47	84	25
Miami	65	80	67	42
Syracuse	21	14	40	35
Louisiana	50	56	37	32
Florida	97	84	87	7
OU	122	119	99	3

Two of their final 6 games were against teams who didn’t go bowling. Only Syracuse would finish the season with a winning record (7-6). The chart above is meant to show the quality of defenses they faced their last 6 games. Only Syracuse had a respectable defense. Florida and Oklahoma’s defenses were ungodly bad. Four of the six teams they faced had passing defenses ranked 50th or worse in the nation.

Miami lost Van Dyke early in the second quarter. They also lost their starting left guard during the game. Thus they couldn’t move the ball and the game got away from them.

Here are my observations from watching their games.

First, let’s break down FSU’s passing offense for you. Here’s Jordon Travis’ checks. 1) Is Johnny Wilson open? If yes, throw it to him. If no, 2) Is your RB safety value or TE open? If yes, throw it to him. If no 3) Run and try to make something happen.
Their running game, though ranked highly, seemed to be hit or miss. They didn’t have a lot of success between the tackles. They didn’t appear great in short yardage situations. Trey Benson is impressive though. That cat has wheels and is explosive.
Johnny Wilson is a monster. A monster I can’t figure out. He led the Noles with 43 catches last year. That’s about 3.3 catches a game. But he had 14 catches combined against OU and Clemson. That’s about 33% of his catches. I know they picked on an OU corner. OU's DB couldn't match up with the 6'7" giant. I don't recall who we had on him again: my guess from the catch total is Wiggins. Regardless, I wish I had his targeted numbers because Jordon throws it at him a lot more than 3 times a game.
Wake absolutely dominated FSU. FSU’s D couldn’t slow Wake down. The game wasn’t as close as the score.
The Florida v FSU game was certainly exciting. Lots of big plays by both teams. That said, Florida absolutely can’t tackle. Horrible on D. If FSU is “so dominant,” how the heck was it only a one score game?
Oh, and watching Trevor Etienne…..runs like his brother. I wish we had him.
After watching the OU v FSU game, I left impressed with OU’s offense. It was really good. Their defense though is putrid. Brent will get that fixed and OU will be back. That said, how was FSU’s defense not able to slow OU down more? If it weren’t for Wilson having 8 catches for 202, OU blows FSU out. Give FSU credit, they found OU’s weakness and picked on it. But they don’t get away with that against a top 30 defense.
FSU put the ball on the ground a lot. They ranked 54th nationally with a +.15 turnover per game. But man, they had a lot of loose balls in the games I watched that they covered.
My impression is that Jordon Travis’ elusiveness covers up below average pass blocking on the Oline. He gets rid of the ball quickly but is still pressured a lot.
They are still flagged a lot. They ranked 92th in penalties last year.
For all the love Verse gets, I never hear his name called.
I’ll end with this, Jordon Travis has my respect as a gamer. He competes and plays hard.

Undoubtedly, Florida State has displayed a small resurgence. But as bad as they’ve been the last 6-7 years, their growth and improvement is overstated. The prospect of FSU clinching the national championship remains a distant lofty aspiration. As they prepare to step onto the hallowed grounds of Death Valley, it's imperative they understand that a victory against Clemson is no simple feat. While FSU boasts formidable offensive playmakers, the talent on their lines is not their favor. While a 42-point pounding is my dream scenario, I understand that’s unlikely. However it's still realistic to anticipate a “leave no doubt” Clemson victory.

September 23 can’t get here soon enough. With every turn of the calendar the anticipation and media hype will build. Close your eyes and picture that electrifying moment that the Tigers gather at The Rock. The cannon fires and 82,000 Tiger faithful, go absolutely beserk. This is a statement game for us. The statement is, “Clemson hasn’t gone anywhere. We are the top dog. You are in our house and you don’t have a friggin’ chance.” As the decibels of support ring in our ears, we all will know that the 2023 Tigers are about to announce to the nation that we are beginning our championship run: state, conference, national. And as the Tigers run down The Hill, even without balloons, we know that victory over Florida State is inevitable. Propelled by their unbreakable will to triumph, the 2023 Clemson Tigers will win yet another ACC Championship head to the CFP and etch their names in the annals of Clemson football glory.

See ya in Houston Bulldogs.