FSU football: Explaining how FSU becomes elite for 2023 season

Offense

The FSU offense looked unstoppable at times last year. However, it was the lack of offense that cost the Noles in the three losses. The Noles managed only seven points in the first half against Wake Forest, 14 against Clemson, and scored zero points in the second half against NC State.

I know fans wanted to blame the defense(and we’ll talk about their faults shortly), but it’s going to be tough for any defense without an abundance of elite players to continuously get stops when the offense stalls for large periods.

All offenses will have a few poor drives no matter how great, but other than dropped passes, the Noles consistently struggled in short-yardage situations. It was apparent as early as the LSU game. The Noles were fourth and two on the LSU eight-yard line and couldn’t get a first down.

FSU had the ball fourth and three on the NC State 23-yard line and couldn’t get a first down(or kick a field goal). FSU lost the game by two points(we’ll talk about special teams shortly).

I think back to the Clemson game, where they turned the ball over on downs three times. It was fourth and two on the Clemson 31-yard line. Another time was 1st and goal on the Clemson two-yard line, and they couldn’t punch it in. FSU lost the game by six points.

FSU needs to get better/bigger on the offensive line so they can move people in those situations to give themselves more options regarding the run or pass.

The offense also has to do a better job of playing complementary football with the defense. There were times the offense scored a touchdown on their first possession, with the defense getting a stop on the opposing offense to create an opportunity to go up two scores early, and they couldn’t capitalize.

An early two-score cushion can change a lot of games and how coaches call them. These are the situations they will have to win in 2023 if the offense is truly elite. FSU coaches knew this was a weakness and added three monster offensive linemen from the transfer portal.