FSU football: 5 major takeaways from Syracuse blowout

Defense Dominant

The FSU football defense has been outstanding over the last 10 quarters. They have only allowed two touchdowns in that time and held Syracuse to three points for the second consecutive year.

The Syracuse starting offense had fewer than 200 yards when they exited the game and were 4 of 14 on third down. FSU held Syracuse to 3.89 yards to play. I wanted to see the FSU defense force more turnovers, and they did, forcing two in the game.

They had three sacks and six tackles for a loss. They allowed 4.4 yards per pass and 3.4 yards per rush. I mentioned how their offense was limited to slants and passes to the flats in my breakdown on YouTube.

The FSU defensive line did a great job getting their hands in the passing lanes, batting down several slant patterns. FSU had faced several mobile quarterbacks this season, with Garrett Shrader adding to the list.

However, his longest run in the game only went for seven yards. If the FSU defense continues to play at this level, they’re going to be a difficult task for any offense, especially those without mobile QB’s.