FSU football: Where have Noles made biggest improvements?
By Kelvin Hunt
Defense
I’ve been saying it all year, but the offense needed to improve to help the defense out. The defense played well enough for the program to be 5-1 going into the bye-week. It’s tough to win ball games when the offense turns the ball over 13 times in five games. Although the losses were piling up and the points allowed averaged over 30 per game, people forgot to factor in the defense paying with short fields and playing more snaps because the offense couldn’t sustain drives. Here are some notable areas where the defense improved compared to last year:
2020
- PPG allowed: 36
- Rushing yards average per carry: 5.12
- QB completion percentage: 66.3 percent
- Yards per pass attempt: 8.1
- Yards per play allowed: 6.47
- Third down conversions: 46.49 percent
- Touchdown percentage in red zone allowed: 66.67 percent
- Sacks (9 games): 10
- Tackles for a loss (9 games): 49
2021
- PPG allowed: 30.3
- Rushing yards average per carry: 4
- QB completion percentage: 60.3
- Yards per pass attempt: 7.5
- Yards per play allowed: 5.54
- Third down conversions: 42.55 percent
- Touchdown percentage in red zone allowed: 64.71
- Sacks (6 games): 15
- Tackles for a loss (6 games): 39
The defense didn’t have anywhere to go but up, but there are some noticeable improvements, despite the disadvantages with all of the turnovers.
They’ve also dealt with several injuries, which made communication difficult with some players playing multiple positions. They have a better pass rush, average more tackles for a loss, and are better against the run. They’ve done this while playing some of the better quarterbacks in the ACC.