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FSU Football: Checking in on #Tribe19 against Wake Forest

By Sam Tschida

WINSTON SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 19: Sage Surratt #14 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons makes a catch against Akeem Dent #27 of the Florida State Seminoles during the first half of their game at BB&T Field on October 19, 2019 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
WINSTON SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 19: Sage Surratt #14 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons makes a catch against Akeem Dent #27 of the Florida State Seminoles during the first half of their game at BB&T Field on October 19, 2019 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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After FSU football’s against Wake Forest on Saturday, Chop Chat’s Sam Tschida takes a look at how the true freshmen played against the Demon Deacons.

FSU Football dropped a heartbreaker to Wake Forest last Saturday, losing 22-20 on the road. It’s a loss that stings since FSU had so many opportunities to pull out a win. That being said, a lot of true freshmen received snaps against the Deacs. Let’s see how they did.

Offense

For the first time all season, multiple true freshmen received significant playing time on offense. As always, Dontae Lucas saw a ton of snaps at right guard and got the start over Mike Arnold.

Lucas got some attention from the media after his pregame taunting antics and ended up having a decent game. He helped pave the way for Cam Akers’ big day on the ground, and graded out at a 63.1 according to PFF.

The other true freshman to receive playing time was Darius Washington out of Pensacola. Washington didn’t get the start but was put in for the majority of the second half in place of Abdul Bello and Juwan Williams. He got 27 snaps at left tackle and graded out at 50 on the PFF scale, which is considered below average.

However, for a guy receiving his first real playing time, Washington was alright. He was lined up against one of the best defensive ends in the ACC in Carlos Basham. He allowed three quarterback pressures during his time on the field, the same amount that Williams and Bello allowed in a shorter time period. Washington might be a true freshman, but he could be in line to start sooner rather than later.

Defense

Against one of the ACC’s best offenses, the FSU defense played possibly their best game of the season They limited the Deacs to their lowest point total of 2019, and allowed only one (albeit very important) touchdown.

The defense has a lot of young faces on it this week. Akeem Dent got the start in the place of Cyrus Fagan, who was injured against Clemson and got picked on a bit by Wake. Sam Hartman went 7 for 8 on passed that targeted Dent, who only really got beat once or twice. He was the victim of some truly remarkable catches during the game. Dent was second on the team with 9 tackles, including this key one that saved a touchdown.

Brendan Gant also received a lot of playing time and finished the game with 6 tackles. Aside from Gant and Dent, no other members of Tribe19 got significant playing time, with Renardo Green and Raymond Woodie III seeing reps on special teams.

In the front seven, Jaleel McRae got a lot of reps at played well. Although McRae recorded zero tackles, he did a good job with his run fits and graded out with 77.8 from PFF, the third-highest on the team.

Tru Thompson also got snaps in relief of Robert Cooper and Marvin Wilson and recorded no tackles.

Bottom Line

It was a tough loss and one that could have implications on the overall tenure of Coach Taggart. That being said, it’s encouraging to see so many members of Tribe19 getting game reps, and playing well. Let’s hope this continues next week against Syracuse for Homecoming.

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