FSU football: 3 things to lookout for against North Carolina

FSU Defense

I went on record several times in the preseason about how I expected this FSU defense to be the strength of this team, and I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Adam Fuller had a track record of being able to improve defenses in his first year, and FSU had an entire defensive line of blue-chip talent returning.

They had experience at linebacker and in the secondary should have set this defense up to be one of the best in the nation.

I understand they didn’t have a full spring camp due to COVID-19, but they are playing at an unacceptable level.

The coaches have seemed to have solved one of the problems that were plaguing this defense. Some of the problems in the early games on the schedule revolved around sheer effort. The second half of the Jacksonville State game and the entire Notre Dame game saw the players play hard.

They weren’t very good, but they at least played hard, so that’s progress, I suppose. We did see the FSU defense slow down Notre Dame some in the second half. Some of it was Notre Dame running clock, but we did see a more aggressive defense, which is something I’d welcome moving forward.

North Carolina has a good offensive line, but it’s not on par with Notre Dame, so maybe this will be the game the defensive line asserts itself somewhat?

It needs to, or we’ll see North Carolina run the ball down their throats and then get hit with play-action passes vertically.