It was a long bye week for FSU football fans as they dissected the first four weeks. How good was this FSU team? It was hard to tell because LSU hasn’t looked great since that game.
Southern Mississippi hasn’t looked great, and the same for Boston College. The Clemson win will likely look better as the season progresses, although they struggled at home against Wake Forest on Saturday.
Virginia Tech had their best win all season with a double-digit win over the Pittsburgh Panthers last week.
The Hokies featured a dual-threat QB, and FSU has had its issues with containing those type players. I broke down the limitations of the Va Tech quarterback and its offense on the Built For Playmakers YouTube Channel early last week.
That breakdown turned out to be spot on as Virginia Tech rarely attacked vertically, passing horizontally while running the ball 35 times and passing 28. Va Tech had to put the ball in the air more because they got down 22-0 before they could blink.
There are some things to clean up from the game, but overall was a solid effort on both sides. Here are three major takeaways from the win.
Bye Week Paid Off
FSU football fans hoped the bye week would help the Noles fix several issues. The Noles went into the week banged up. Jordan Travis, Robert Scott, Maurice Smith, Ja’Khi Douglas, Kentron Poitier, and Akeem Dent had all been dealing with injuries in the first few games.
Jordan Travis looked about as healthy as you could ask on Saturday, running more in that game than he had in some time. He also seemed to have no issues throwing the ball. Douglas looked rusty, dropping the two passes that went his way(they were contested but should have been caught).
Akeem Dent returned to action for the first time since getting hurt in the Southern Mississippi game. He had four tackles and forced a fumble in his return. Scott, Poitier, and Maurice Smith all played in the game. The bye week was also a time for more young guys to get more practice reps, with hopes of getting into the games.
Blake Nichelson, Omar Graham Jr, and Conrad Hussey saw action, with the latter making a highlight reel tackle and recovering a fumble late in the game.
It’s a good sign these guys got healthy, and more young players are beginning to emerge.
Running Game Revived
The running game had been non-existent in the first few games this season. FSU had two starters on the offensive line out multiple games, and Jordan Travis hadn’t been running the ball that much. FSU running backs had missed several lanes for big yardage in games.
Could they find a way to run the ball? That was a big question going into the bye week. I reminded folks Mike Norvell has always found a way to run the ball no matter the personnel or offensive line. It looks like they find some answers.
Trey Benson had a breakout game, rushing for 200 yards on only 11 carries (18.2 ypc) and two touchdowns. Jordan Travis ran 10 times and Lawrance Toafili had 50 rushing yards on six carries. Overall, the Noles ran 36 times for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
For context, Virginia Tech had not been great against the run going into the game. However, if FSU hadn’t been able to run the ball, I think that would have been a red flag.
FSU breaking off several explosive runs tells me they figured out some things over the bye-week. That’s a great sign for the FSU offense in the coming weeks.
Complementary Football From Beginning
FSU football hadn’t started a game with the offense and defense playing in unison. It would either be the defense getting a stop to open the game, and the offense would waste their opportunity to capitalize or vice versa.
That wasn’t the case Saturday afternoon. The offense opened the game with a 15-play 75-yard touchdown drive. The defense got a three-and-out to force a punt, and the offense went 66 yards on seven plays to score another touchdown to go up 15-0(two-point conversion was good).
They got another three-and-out, and the offense scored another touchdown on seven play 45-yard drive to go up 22-0. The defense got its third consecutive three-and-out, but the offense failed to capitalize on its fourth possession.
However, that shows what this FSU team is capable of when they play complimentary football. We’ve seen them go on runs in every game. They had a 31-0 run against LSU and a 28-0 run against Boston College.
FSU was real close to blowing Virginia Tech out early in the second quarter but got saved by a referee flag for roughing the passer after intercepting the Virginia Tech quarterback. If that interception had stood and FSU scored? It’s 29-0, and Virginia Tech likely lays down.
Final Thoughts
It was a dominant performance from FSU football, but there are a few things to clean up. FSU had some missed tackles, but give credit to the Virginia Tech running back and QB for running hard. The kickoff return for a touchdown is inexcusable.
FSU had 12 penalties for 99 yards, with a few false start penalties. How does that happen at home, but they don’t have a single one on the road in a hostile Clemson environment? FSU had another clean sheet on offense, and the defense forced a turnover for the fifth consecutive game.
The Virginia Tech quarterback had a couple of long runs that were frustrating, but that’s going to happen once or twice a game.
Overall, the starting defense only allowed 10 points, which is fine for that level of defense. They also played many young players and rotated guys, so it wasn’t always the starting defense 100 percent of the time.
The offense having some sort of rhythm is what I wanted to see most. Overall, I was happy with the performance and will break down some game footage on the YouTube channel after I watch the game again(watching in person doesn’t allow me to see too much in-depth).