FSU football will rematch LSU in a top-10 matchup Sunday night in primetime. The Noles will be slight underdogs going into the game on a neutral field in Orlando. FSU was in the same position last year and won the game outright.
The similarities between this year and last are apparent, as both teams return some familiar faces. I think FSU can point to several reasons why they can score points against LSU, but LSU will largely depend on the play of quarterback Jayden Daniels.
After all, he was their entire offense last year, as he often had to scramble because of pressure from the FSU defensive front. FSU held the LSU offense in check for the majority of the night, aside from Daniels scampering here and there, until the final 99-yard drive they put together after an FSU fumble on the goal line.
LSU had 348 total yards, and 99 came on that final drive. Daniels had 116 yards rushing on 16 carries. He got sacked four times and hurried several other times. However, the undisciplined play of green defensive ends aided his elusive ability. It was the first start for Jared Verse at FSU after coming from FCS Albany.
Patrick Payton was a redshirt freshman, and Derrick McLendon didn’t have a ton of experience. That won’t be the case in 2023. Verse is a Preseason All-American, Payton is the reigning ACC Freshman Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Gilber Edmond replaces the departed Derrick McLendon.
Edmond played over 600 snaps last season at South Carolina. FSU also has more proven depth at defensive tackle. Jayden Daniels found some success last year, but I think FSU will have a better opportunity to contain him on Sunday night. Let’s take a look at last year.
Last Year Failures
This play was the very first play of the game last year. An inexperienced Jared Verse wants to show everyone what he can do but doesn’t understand he needs to set the edge with contain. Daniels looks to his left and sees nothing but green and scampers for a 25-yard gain.
First, Derrick McLendon reacts half a second slower than everyone else to the snap, gets mauled, and loses contain, which allows Jayden Daniels to get free and scamper for an easy 8-yard gain on first down.
This play is Derrick McLendon going way too wide again and taking himself out of the play, which allows Daniels to into a massive lane to pick up large chunks of yards.
I think this was a third-and-seven play. These instances happened way too many times, but again, it was against guys that didn’t have a ton of experience(or not very good).
How To Contain Daniels
Here, we see Derrick McLendon getting handled again, but pressure from Verse forces Daniels out of the pocket. However, FSU has Kalen DeLoach spying Daniels, and he triggers downhill as soon as Daniels takes off to make the play.
Here, FSU brings some pressure off the edge with Renardo Green, and Leonard Warner beats the tackle. It looks like they may have had Tatum Bethune spying Daniels here, and the pressure forces him up the middle for Bethune to make the play. Derrick McLendon finally does run himself out of the play, which doesn’t provide Daniels lane to exploit and forces him up the middle.
This play is just two of your best defensive players in beast mode. Fabien Lovett destroys the guard and the center to bring pressure up the middle. Jared Verse beats the tackle so badly Daniels can’t take advantage of all the open area to his left, and they chase him down for the sack.
Final Thoughts
I think the defensive front Jayden Daniels will face Sunday night is drastically different than last year. Jared Verse and Patrick Payton have much more experience than last year. Gilber Edmond has experience too.
The combination and depth of Fabien Lovett, Braden Fiske, Joshua Farmer, and Dennis Briggs is something they didn’t have last year.
All four guys have the ability to penetrate and create pressure of the middle to collapse the pocket. If they can do that and the edge rushers keep contain, that should negate much of what Daniels likes to do with his legs.
Look, the guy is really good and will make some guys miss tackles here and there. He’ll make some plays, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of guys not doing their jobs like last year.