FSU football: Where Mike Norvell could upgrade the offense in 2020

Final Thoughts

Memphis was a much better offense in regards to converting on third downs and ultimately scoring points. All of the earlier stats may have been hard to digest, so let’s put them in this format.

• FSU had 35.6 percent third-down conversion overall
• FSU had two percent more of their total plays go to third down
• FSU had a 41 percent third-down conversion when passing on 3rd and 7-9 yards
• FSU had  a 27 percent third-down conversion when passing on 3rd and 10+ yards
• FSU had a 42 percent third-down conversion (21 for 50) when passing on 3rd and 1-6 yards
• FSU had a 59 percent third-down conversion (22 for 37) when rushing on 3rd and 1-6 yards
• FSU ran the ball 41 times on 3rd and 7+ with one first-down conversion

• Memphis had 46.1 percent third-down conversion overall
• Memphis saw two percent less of their plays go to third down
• Memphis had a 47 percent third-down conversion when passing on 3rd and 7-9 yards
• Memphis had a 33 percent third-down conversion rate when passing on 3rd and 10+ yards
• Memphis had a 49 percent third-down conversion (20 for 41) when passing on 3rd and 1-6 yards
• Memphis had a 60 percent third-down conversion (30 for 50) when rushing on 3rd and 1-6 yards
• Memphis ran the ball 26 times on 3rd and 7+ with five first-down conversions

I know you’re looking at this like, but what is Mike Norvell going to do to fix the offensive line and the quarterback situation? Well, strength and conditioning should be improved for the offensive line, not to mention the familiarity of working with offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham.

Norvell is also great at working with quarterbacks and putting them in situations to be successful. The problem in the first few games of last season wasn’t at quarterback, it was the defense. It comes down to coaching and understanding what the offensive unit can and can’t do. If they aren’t good at blocking it up on screens to the boundary, then there’s a high probability we won’t see that play often or at all.

The offense jumped from the ’70s to No. 49 last season in SP+ while playing two mediocre quarterbacks behind a woeful offensive line. There’s no Cam Akers, but that production should be able to be equalized between the three or four running backs we’ll see in the backfield.

Almost all of the production from the wide receivers return, and the players should get a ton of reps in practice, unlike the past two years.

If we see an improvement to near 40 percent on third-down conversions for FSU football in 2020, I’d say that would mean they will average over 30 ppg.

If they can do that and the defense plays as well as it should with better coaching and the amount of talent on the field? FSU might just surprise some folks!