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FSU Football: Will Noles’ defense face any elite offenses in 2018?

By Kelvin Hunt

1 Jan 1992: Wide receiver Brian Mitchell of the Texas A&M Aggies tries to fend off defensive back Terrell Buckley of the Florida State Seminoles during the Cotton Bowl at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Florida State won the game 10-2. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport
1 Jan 1992: Wide receiver Brian Mitchell of the Texas A&M Aggies tries to fend off defensive back Terrell Buckley of the Florida State Seminoles during the Cotton Bowl at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Florida State won the game 10-2. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport /
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FSU football could be poised to have a great season on the defensive side of the ball due to how the schedule sets up.

FSU football has the toughest schedule in the nation, but does that mean the Noles will face a lot of elite offenses in 2018?

That doesn’t seem to be the case.

It’s true former defensive coordinator Charles Kelly under-achieved and was asked to do teach things he wasn’t proficient at. However, it should be noted FSU played a host of teams with great offenses or NFL caliber quarterbacks during that time too.

Deshaun Watson, Marcus Mariota, Chad Kelly, Lamar Jackson, Mitch Trubisky, and Ryan Finley are all in the NFL(Finley will be barring injury).

Florida State Seminoles Football
Florida State Seminoles Football /

Florida State Seminoles Football

The Noles struggled last season in part because they were on the field the majority of the time due to an inefficient turnover prone offense and poor situational tactics on third downs.

They shut Alabama’s offense down in the 2017 opener, but ultimately that wasn’t an elite offense since they only finished at No. 23 according to S&P advanced metrics. Here are the top offenses the Noles faced last year:

  • Louisville-No. 5
  • UL-Monroe-No. 19(yes, they finished higher than Alabama)
  • NC State-No. 21
  • Wake Forest-No. 22
  • Alabama-No. 23
  • Miami-No. 36
  • Clemson-No. 45

Louisville lost Lamar Jackson and a lot of surrounding talent. NC State lost a lot of talent too but Finley returns at QB.

Wake Forest will have a new QB in Kendall Milton but he does have playing experience. Alabama’s off the schedule and Miami returns Malik Rosier who isn’t a great quarterback by any means.

Clemson returns their starting QB in Kelly Bryant and has some pieces on offense, but I’m not sold on them making the leap to elite status.

Who Else Is On The Schedule in 2018

Here’s a list of the rest of the 2018 opponents and where they finished according to S&P metrics last season.

  • Virginia Tech-No. 96
  • Samford-N/A
  • Syracuse-No. 64
  • Northern Illinois-No. 104
  • Notre Dame-No. 24
  • Boston College-No. 101
  • Florida-No. 108

Thoughts

The only concern on the FSU defense is at linebacker. The defensive line should be top five and the secondary should be among the best units in the country.

It doesn’t look like the Noles’s defense will take on any elite offenses unless some teams make tremendous strides since last season.

It’s possible, but at the same time the FSU defense should be markedly improved compared to last year. They should be better against the run and improve third and long which was their achilles heel.

Next: 3 Improvements To Expect From FSU Defense in 2018

If that happens as expected there’s no reason this can’t be a top 10 unit because of the level of offenses they’ll be playing against.

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