Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 24 UF 19

Nov 29, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive tackle Derrick Mitchell (11) tackles Florida Gators running back Matt Jones (24) during the second quarter at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Finally, Gap Control

It may have taken 12 games, but FSU’s defensive line played one of its best games of the season yesterday against Florida’s rushing attack. It couldn’t have come at a better time, either.

With Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack on deck next weekend in Charlotte and a power-run team on the field in front of it, FSU’s defense played smart, assignment-sound football for most of the game yesterday, limiting UF to just 113 yards on the ground.

“These guys are maturing and growing, and Jalen [Ramsey] and the secondary now is healthy. When that linebacker corps plays and can come down to that second level, because we’ve been doing a good job up front, and now they’re coming downhill doing a nice job. It makes those holes a lot smaller and harder to get through, and we tackled much better on the day which I thought we had to,” said Fisher. “I said that we need to set edges on the defense which we did for the most part, come downhill and be physical and tackle well on defense, and I thought we did that.”

FSU’s defense is still extremely young, that needs to be pointed out constantly. But it seems like things are starting to click. Defensive lineman are sticking to their assignments, eating blocks and not getting driven back, the linebackers are filling better and Ramsey continues to evolve in his role at the Star.

And yesterday — despite a few gaffes — FSU’s defense looked stout against a ground-and-pound offense that has given teams trouble this year. UF chewed up Georgia — who until yesterday was a top-10 team — on the ground a few weeks ago and FSU relied on that film heavily this week.

It was a good call, because there, right on the film, was a perfect illustration of how breakdowns can blow up a whole defense. That was Jeremy Pruitt’s unit. They were running FSU’s D.

On Saturday, FSU didn’t succumb to the same issues as UGA. FSU stymied the Gator run.

If the Seminoles can do the same next weekend, FSU will be sitting pretty.

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