FSU football vs. Wake Forest: 3 major differences to look for Saturday
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU Defensive Backs
Much like the linebacker corps, the FSU defensive backs in 2022 are not the same as those that played in the game last year.
Renardo Green and Omarion Cooper(coaches have said they expect him to be at or near 100 percent now) are upgrades at cornerback over Jarvis Brownlee and Jarrian Jones in 2021.
No disrespect, but both of those guys got absolutely destroyed in coverage last year. Jammie Robinson and Akeem Dent have developed into one of the best safety tandems in the ACC and they were not fully into their current roles at the time of the Wake Forest game in 2021. Sydney Williams was playing big minutes at one of the safety spots at that time last year.
Wake Forest depends heavily on their wide receivers to win one-on-one matchups and I like FSU guys to win the majority of those matchups. I like our guys over what Clemson rolled out there last week.
Not to mention, Wake Forest got bailed out by quite a few penalties against Clemson. I’m sure Wake Forest will make some plays and score some points, but I don’t see them running up and down the field on this FSU defense.
I mean Liberty found success limiting Wake Forest to field goals in the red zone, so I can’t see why FSU can’t do that if the Demon Deacons move the ball between the 20s.
Wake Forest isn’t great at running the ball and the FSU defense isn’t terrible against the pass. FSU is allowing a 61 percent completion rate at 5.8 yards an attempt.