FSU football: 5 things I need to see against Syracuse

FSU football is in a prime position to continue changing the program perception as it comes out of a second-half beatdown over Virginia Tech.

Fans and the media don’t care about the strength of the schedule, but only if you dismantle who’s on the schedule. Syracuse is (4-2) on the season and enters the game as -17.5 point betting underdogs.

They have a better record than Virginia Tech, but the perception of their team took a hit over the last two weeks in back-to-back losses. A 40-7 loss against North Carolina last week will be the new measuring stick.

FSU has a major talent advantage and matches up well with the Orange, though they’ll face another quarterback who can use his legs well in Garrett Shrader.

However, the added context is that FSU has limited most opposing mobile quarterbacks, aside from a few runs here and there.

FSU got off to a great start last week playing complementary football, and I’d like to see that happen without the second-quarter lull and kickoff return for a touchdown allowed to begin the third quarter.

FSU coaches did a great job making adjustments after the bye week, and I expect the improved play to continue.

I expect FSU to play well, and here are five things I want to see against the Syracuse Orange.

FSU Defense Force Turnovers

The FSU defense hasn’t allowed more than 24 points all season and has been the most consistent unit. They’ve been dominant at times, and have only allowed two touchdowns over the last six quarters.

They did a much better job forcing three-and-outs to begin the game against Virginia Tech last week.

They’ve have quietly forced at least one turnover in every game this year. They would have had two forced turnovers had AZ Thomas’s interception in the first half stood. Virginia Tech fumbled two more times, but FSU couldn’t recover the ball.

However, aside from more consistent three-and-outs, I’d like to see this defense force a couple of turnovers Saturday. I understand there’s a large luck component in this category, but Syracuse has given the ball away six times this season.

If they can get some three-and-outs or a turnover or two early, they can likely drink the juice from the Orange quickly.

Slot Receiver Production

When was the last time an FSU slot receiver caught a pass? Destyn Hill finally caught another pass last week and was open several other times.

Syracuse runs a high-risk high-reward 3-3-5 aggressive defensive scheme. We saw Jordan Travis complete 21-23 attempts for 155 passing yards to 11 players. FSU used a lot of quick passes to negate Syracuse’s blitzing style, and this could be a great opportunity for FSU slot receivers to have a coming-out party.

I could see Travis hitting guys up the seams or off-screen passes on the edges. Syracuse has been vulnerable against the pass in the last two games, allowing 100-yard receivers in both games. North Carolina had two 100-yard receivers against them last week.

Ja’Khi Douglas led all FSU receivers with three receptions for 47 yards last year. It will be his second game back from his injury that kept him out of the first four games.

Could he or Destyn Hill finally break out?

FSU Run Game

FSU football finally got its run game together last week, with Trey Benson rushing for 200 yards on 11 carries.

However, was it more the Virginia Tech defense or FSU getting its act together?

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle, but Syracuse has been stingy against the run through six games.

They have allowed 3.9 yards per rush on average agaisnt Clemson and North Carolina over the last two weeks.

Trey Benson rushed for over 160 yards against them last year. His style of getting to the edge, similar to how he did against Virginia Tech, takes advantage of one of the weaknesses of a 3-3-5 defensive scheme.

It’ll be interesting to see who starts on the offensive line for the Noles. If they have the majority of their starting five out there, it’ll provide a great barometer for how much the coaches adjusted to improve the run game over the bye-week.

No Wasted Offensive Drives

The FSU offense has gotten off to slow starts in the majority of its games this year. However, that wasn’t the case last week, as they scored touchdowns on their first three possessions in the first quarter.

However, like most games, the offense wasted a couple of key drives in the Virginia Tech game to give the opposing offense a chance to get back in the game.

FSU has to find ways to avoid having drives that go three-and-out. For instance, FSU had two drives in the second quarter against Virginia Tech, equating to seven plays for -2 yards.

That’s unacceptable, and they have to find ways to avoid those situations, especially against defenses that are not good to elite.

Syracuse’s defense is better than Virginia Tech’s by a good bit, so hopefully, we’ll see the FSU offense find a better rhythm throughout the game. I’m not saying they should score on every possession because that’s not realistic.

However, they are too talented to have back-to-back drives that lose yardage in total against any defense.

More Back Up Players Getting Playing Time

FSU football consists of a team of veterans with many underclassmen waiting for their turn in the wings. We saw some FSU underclassmen play early in the Virginia Tech game when they had a large lead. Some made some mistakes, but a few made some splash plays, like the one Conrad Hussey made on the Virginia Tech running back.

However, FSU didn’t get to play as many young players as they could have if they had taken care of business in the first half instead of allowing Virginia Tech back in the game( I know much of that was aided by the terrible ACC refs).

I’d like to see more guys get in the game to play meaningful minutes to continue to build the necessary depth for later this season and next year.

I’d like to see players like Edwin Joseph, KJ Kirkland, Ashlynd Barker, Justin Cryer, Rodney Hill, Caziah Holmes, Hykeem Williams, Vandrevius Jacobs, Daniel Lyons, Ayobami Tifase, and many of the offensive linemen from the 2022 recruiting class get into the game.