FSU football: Why FSU defense could improve in second half of 2020

The FSU football defense needs to find an identity other than being terrible.

FSU football was supposed to be anchored by its defense in 2020. They were returning the entire starting defensive line, experience at linebacker and in the secondary.

However, the returning experience hasn’t meant anything because the defense is performing at historically bad levels.

Several factors are in play. Some of the issues were a lack of spring practice, new coaches, and new scheme. However, one factor that seems to be lost is the defense faced three offenses ranked No. 5, No. 10, and No. 16 according to SP+ advanced metrics.

I’m not making excuses for this unit. They underperformed even though they faced some of the top offenses in college football through the first six games.

However, the offenses they will face in the second half of the season are nowhere near the caliber of those offenses. Here’s what those offenses look like as of now according to SP+:

• Pittsburgh-No. 92
• NC State-No. 60
• Clemson-No. 6
• Virginia-No. 56
• Duke-No. 110

Thoughts

The Noles have had an additional two weeks to work out the issues that have plagued them through the first six games.

I should mention the Noles have faced several mobile quarterbacks in the first half, and that will not be the case in the second half.

FSU could face a backup quarterback when they play Pittsburgh and NC State as well. This second half reminds me a bit of the 2016 season.

Remember how the Noles gave up tons of points early in the year because they were playing some of the better quarterbacks in the conference? The defense seemed to improve during the second half of that year, but a lot of that was because they were playing mediocre or terrible offenses.

I think the same could hold for the Noles in the second half of this season.