Is FSU Football secondary being disrespected entering 2018 season?

FSU football was not included in a recent video of the top pass defenses in the ACC, somewhere that the numbers show the Seminoles need to be in.

While there may not have been much to boast about from the 2017 FSU football season, one thing that has to be admitted is that the defense was not as bad as it had been in previous seasons – don’t get me wrong, it was time for Charles Kelly to go, but the numbers show the Seminoles were in the top quarter of FBS teams.

While the Noles ranked 23rd overall in total defense, they ranked 37th in passing defense for the 2017 season. That’s a number that puts the Seminoles in the middle of the pack when it comes to ACC teams, ranking them seventh out of 14 programs.

Now, entering the 2018 season the conference posted on their social media account a ranking of the top three defensive back units in the ACC – and FSU football wasn’t in rankings according to the conference.

Okay, it’s fair to say that the Seminoles aren’t the top ranked secondary unit this coming season in the ACC (we have plenty of talent, but did lose some to the NFL from last season) – but one look at the stats from last season show that the Noles are ahead of at least one or more of the “top three” units mentioned by the conference in many categories:

"Total Passing Yards Allowed – No. 11 Duke, No. 13 Clemson, No. 37 FLORIDA STATE, No. 50 MiamiCompletion % Allowed – No. 6 Duke, No. 10 Clemson, No. 31 FLORIDA STATE, No. 48 MiamiInterceptions – T-No. 9 Miami, T-No. 18 Duke, T-No. 27 Clemson, No. 72 FLORIDA STATEPassing TD’s Allowed – T-No. 19 Clemson and FLORIDA STATE, T-No. 29 Duke and MiamiPassing Yards Per Game – No. 8 Clemson, No. 11 Duke, No. 36 FLORIDA STATE, No. 52 MiamiYards Per Reception – No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 FLORIDA STATE, No. 16 Miami, No. 49 DukeSacks – No. 1 Clemson, T-No. 2 Miami, T-No. 36 FLORIDA STATE, T-No. 48 Duke"

Now, I may not be the biggest math wiz in the world (one of the perks of going into journalism) but I’m pretty sure that out of the three teams mentioned by the ACC as having a better defensive backfield than FSU football, at least one was behind the Seminoles in six of the seven categories listed above.

Several current and former defensive backs for the Seminoles threw in their two cents about this.

Clemson has a legit argument for being in top three since they were either first or second in nearly all the stats above – the one who shouldn’t be in the top three is likely the Miami Hurricanes, who finished either last or second from last in five of the seven stats mentioned above.

After what took place last season, people tend to only look at the records and not the stats when it comes to a ranking like this – meaning FSU football is going to have to prove everyone wrong early and often this season to show how incorrect this ranking was.