FSU football: 4 storylines to follow for the remainder of the season
By Cole Maines
It may not seem like it, but with less talent, this offense is better than last year. The Seminoles are among the top rushing teams in the nation, even though the passing game has limitations, it is still an overall improvement in the offense from last year.
In recent weeks, they have even improved in getting out of their way. Offensively, penalties are down to near nil. They have schemed to avoid overall negative plays, and now it may be only two or three yards at a time, but it has enabled for many manageable downs and distances.
This aspect has resulted in an overall higher conversion rate on third and fourth downs in the last couple of games, keeping the ball with the offense and thus resting the defense.
Related Story. How FSU Coaches Adapted The Offense To Its Playmakers. light
It has led to a decline in turnovers from the offense as they play to the strength of their playmakers. This team is much quicker going north and south but still has missed assignments and boneheaded plays that have caused turnovers or short drives.
This team cannot survive a shoot-out, despite the improvement. The passing game is nearly nonexistent, and it took some lucky bounces to win against Syracuse.
It has further emphasizes the need for the offense to start quicker. So much of football is collaborative, and the defense could be decent. However, if the defense is on the field majority of the game, it will not be successful.
When the team is as poor in many facets as it is, time of possession is key. So many of the early losses are because of the disparity of this stat between FSU and their opponent. In so many instances, the defense would battle for a bit and allow a score or a long drive, and the offense would respond with three-and-out or very short, one or two first down drives.
This aspect gave the Seminoles a ranking of No. 120 among FBS schools in the time of possession. The only games that FSU went tit-for-tat in this area are the Syracuse and Notre Dame games. The other results are due to a five-plus minute difference in this area.
With these incremental improvements and a game that finally went FSUs way, how much more improvement can the fans expect?