FSU football: In-depth on defensive performances against LSU/Clemson
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football fans have a love/hate relationship with defensive coordinator Adam Fuller. I suppose it stems from his first year at FSU when the defense was historically bad(with no offseason to prepare and holes on the roster).
However, Fuller has seen his defense improve dramatically over the past two seasons as the talent has gotten better. I’m likely in the minority when I say the defense played well enough for FSU to win 11(definitely the NC State game) games last year.
FSU brought a lot of production back from last year and added key additions from the transfer portal. Through four games, the defense ranks No. 35 nationally via FEI advanced metrics. Those metrics account for garbage time and are opponent-adjusted.
However, I’m only going to look at the two games against the best teams FSU has faced, LSU and Clemson. According to FEI, LSU has the No. 7 offense, and Clemson has the No. 33 offense. Some narratives about the FSU defense are true, and some are false.
The defense isn’t terrible by any means but needs to improve in one particular area to take that next step. They do a great job putting teams in long distances but have to get much better at getting off of the field in those situations.