Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU Football: Evaluating the true freshmen against Louisiana Monroe

By Sam Tschida

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 7: Florida State Seminoles fans cheer during the first half of an NCAA football game against the Miami Hurricanes at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 7: Florida State Seminoles fans cheer during the first half of an NCAA football game against the Miami Hurricanes at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

After a FSU football ‘win’ against Lousiana Monroe, ChopChat’s Sam Tschida takes a look at how the true freshmen from Tribe19 played against the Warhawks.

FSU football rebounded after a tough loss against Boise last week with a win against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks by a dominating 45-44 score on Saturday. The ‘Noles looked less than ideal against an average Sun Belt team, and things are not looking good for Willie Taggart’s second year in charge.

There are a ton of negatives from Saturday’s game, but the few positives there are to take away mostly come from the true freshman of #Tribe19. Let’s see how they contributed.

Offense

Once again, the only member of #Tribe19 to receive any playing on offense was right guard Dontae Lucas, who started his second straight game with the ‘Noles. Lucas has been a factor in a much-improved offense from 2018, helping pave the way for Cam Akers to run for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Lucas did struggle at times last week but shows a lot of promise in the interior offensive line. He did a good job matched up one-on-one with the Monroe interior defenders, and also did a good job of working his way up to the second level. Here’s a good example of Lucas springing a big play:

Here, Lucas’ assignment is to work up to the linebacker, who luckily comes right to the true freshman. “Da Pope” does a great job of maintaining leverage and driving the ‘backer away from the hole, while also not being in danger of getting called for a hold. He springs the Akers’ TD run, and his run blocking was a major positive that FSU fans should be happy about.

Defense

Last week against Boise State was a big day for the true freshmen on FSU’s defense. This week, that wasn’t really the case.

Defensive back Brendan Gant was the only one to record any stats, tallying two tackles, bringing his total to five on the year. Gant also made a highlight play, laying a lick on the Warhawk punt returner in the 2nd quarter.

Akeem Dent received some playing time on defense and special teams but didn’t record any stats. He also earned a defensive holding penalty in the 2nd quarter, which extended the Warhawk drive.

DB’s Raymond Woodie and Renardo Green both mostly saw the field on special teams this week, but neither recorded any stats, although Green was impressive in kickoff coverage.

In the front 7, both defensive tackle Tru Thompson and linebacker Jaleel McRae saw playing time, although neither recorded any stats. Thompson once again came on in relief of Robert Cooper, and after being graded extremely low by Pro Football Focus last week, looked better at taking on double teams this week. McRae was used in a few blitz packages once again. and got hung up with the offensive lineman each time.

Bottom Line

There are a ton of issues with this team, but the true freshmen aren’t the issue. Yes, they might not be instant game-changers, but most of them will be two-three years from now, and if developed properly, the future is bright for these guys specifically.

Home/FSU Football