FSU football: Noles defense looked inspired in the second half versus Duke

FSU football defeated the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night in a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium by a score of 38-20.

In the past couple of offseasons, some of the fan base has shown its displeasures with defensive coordinator Adam Fuller.

Disclaimer: I fully believe in Fuller and this entire coaching staff in their ability to get Florida State back to winning championships once again.

However, Fuller seem to prove the doubters wrong once again on Saturday night as his defense unit seemed to really flex its muscles in front of the home crowd.

After allowing the Duke offense to jump out to a 10-0 lead with 6:48 left to go in the first quarter, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and company forced a three-and-out on the next drive, then defensive back Shyheim Brown was able to secure an interception on the following drive to give the Seminoles’ offense the opportunity to tie the game up at 17 with 7:32 left in the second quarter.

Fuller has made key adjustments for his defensive unit in the second half all season. The game on Saturday did not change that notion as the Blue Devils were held scoreless for the entirety of the second half.

The Seminoles’ defense has allowed 36 points through seven games this season. While I know that some fans are suggesting that they had success against Duke due to quarterback Riley Leonard going down with an injury, that thought process could be viewed as outlandish.

Leonard only completed 7 of his 16 passes for 69 yards and an interception when he come out of the game after he suffered an injury.

In my opinion, the biggest key to their success was that the Seminoles were able to neutralize the running game by Duke, which finished the game with 197 rushing yards (thank you ACC officiating crew for some of the non-holding calls).

With that being said, this defensive unit under Fuller has played phenomenal at times this season, especially in the second half. I cannot wait to see how they perform for the rest of the season.