FSU football: 3 areas ‘Noles defense must improve in 2021
By Kelvin Hunt
Havoc/Tackles For Loss
That was a great transition into the defense’s need to get more tackles for loss. When would you guess the last time an FSU defense has 90+ tackles for loss in a season?
If you guessed 2017, you’re right on the money. They finished the 2017 season with 92 tackles but only averaged 71.5 tackles for loss between 2018-19.
On the flipside, FSU allowed over 100 tackles for a loss in 2018 and 2019, with the former happening in only 12 games!
The inability to stop the run leads to fewer tackles for loss, which leads to shorter third-down conversion opportunities for the offense.
If an opposing offense is consistently looking at 3rd and three or less? It’s going to be a long day for the defense, and they’ll eventually gas and get run through late in games.
Oh wait, we’ve seen that at FSU the past few years, haven’t we? I don’t like to question guy’s hearts, but there were times over the past year or so where guys seemed like they didn’t want to be out there. It was worse than going through the motions.
A team has to have a different mentality when it comes to defense. It’s similar to rebounding a basketball. It’s all about deciding to impose your will on someone over and over and over. We need to see the defensive line move the line of scrimmage backward more often, which will result in more tackles for loss.
The tackles for a loss will result in more obvious passing situations, hopefully resulting in more sacks or QB hurries.