FSU football: 3 takeaways from dominant win over UMASS

Defense

The FSU football defense likely would have earned a spiked baseball for the shutout if the Travis Jay fumble didn’t immediately put UMASS in field goal position on the opening play.

They held UMASS to nearly a yard less than their average per play, and that’s with the reserve players going for a good part of the second half.

They forced two turnovers(one was on special teams) and only allowed 3 of 12 conversions on third down. They should have had two more turnovers as FSU defensive backs dropped two sure interceptions.

The UMASS offense had some funky formations early, which made it difficult to form a pass rush, but the defense managed four sacks and nine tackles for loss. UMASS only completed 45 percent of their passes and averaged four yards per rush.

Though UMASS stats don’t reflect it, FSU was lucky on a few occasions that they were not playing a better team. UMASS players were wide open several times, but their QB wasn’t good enough to capitalize on the opportunities.

However, the defense did play with good physicality and showed some passion after a few plays. Hopefully, Adam Fuller can form a solid game plan for Clemson next week, whose QB play has been sub-par all year.