FSU football: Why has ‘Noles defense been dominant since bye week?

The FSU football defense has been a solid unit all year and frankly played well enough for the Noles to be undefeated, and that’s playing against some dynamic offenses at far below 100 percent.

It can’t be stated how much it hurt to have Fabien Lovett out for multiple games. Jared Verse and Omarion Cooper were at less than 100 percent for multiple games. However, the Noles still had chances to win all three games they lost, and I place more blame on the offense for those losses.

There isn’t a rule that says the offense can’t go score if the defense doesn’t get a stop. There were too many wasted offensive opportunities off defensive stops and in the red zone. However, the bye week allowed a lot of things to happen that benefited the ‘Noles defense.

Fabien Lovett returned to the lineup after the bye week. Jared Verse appeared healthier after the bye week, and the coaching staff had time to self-scout strengths and weaknesses.

All those factors have contributed to the dominant three-game stretch we’ve witnessed over the past three weeks.

The defense had already improved its third-down conversion considerably since last year before that point.

However, it’s been winning on early downs and putting teams in predictable situations that’s helped fueled their recent success. Let’s take a look.