FSU football: SP+ metrics show wild fluctuations on offense and defense

2020

The 2020 season is unlike any season we’ve ever seen before. Not only is FSU breaking in a new staff, but they also begin the season without having spring or summer practices.

That’s tough to do when implementing a new offense and defense. James Blackman is the starting quarterback again, and we see the offense freefall after the first couple of games.

Jordan Travis overtakes the starting quarterback position, and the offense improves under his watch, but injuries force him out of the lineup, and the Noles have to turn to freshman Chubba Purdy.

Again, we see the importance of good quarterback play. The offense falls again and then rebounds once Travis gets healthy enough to return to the lineup.

The defense freefalls after the first couple of games and never seems to recover. It was only a nine-game season, but it was the worst FSU defense I’ve seen, even worse than the 2009 version.

So that’s where we are as a program. Mike Norvell has brought in some talent with McKenzie Milton to address the quarterback position. Jordan Travis looks to be developing, and wide receiver transfer Andrew Parchment will be a big part of the Noles offense in 2021.

The defense saw multiple players from the transfer portal join the program to speed up the development on that side of the ball.

At the end of the day, good quarterback play can hide a lot of flaws in a program. It’s something FSU football hasn’t had in a long time.

If they can get good quarterback play in 2021, they can probably outscore enough teams to win six or seven games. If the defense shows a lot of improvement, AND they get good quarterback play? It might be possible to get the eighth win somehow.

However, this graph shows just how volatile the program has been over the past few years. It’s either the offense was good and the defense sucked or vice versa. Then it ended up with both phases of the game being terrible.

Here’s to hoping we’ll see improvement on both sides of the ball in 2021.