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FSU football: 5 major takeaways from 2023 regular season

By Kelvin Hunt

Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell leads warmups before the Seminoles take on the LSU Tigers on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023 at Camping World Stadium.
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell leads warmups before the Seminoles take on the LSU Tigers on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023 at Camping World Stadium. /
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Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports /

Give Adam Fuller His Flowers

I know there are probably a few non-believers out there, but it’s time to give the FSU defensive coordinator his flowers. Some people will attempt to make excuses about why the FSU defense has played so well.

Some people point to FSU facing quarterbacks that may not have been 100 percent or inexperienced, or they may have faced a backup QB. In a few cases, the backup QB was better than the starting options for those teams (VT, Pitt, etc). However, I have one trump card that beats anything those folks want to say.

FSU held the undisputed best offense in the nation (LSU) to 17 points before garbage time. They held the likely Heisman winner, Jayden Daniels, to his worst stats all season. Were there a few times this season that I didn’t agree with what Adam Fuller did? Absolutely, but fans will have that issue with any coach.

What can’t be understated is how dominant they were in the second half of games. Here’s where they rank nationally in some important categories:

  • Scoring defense: No. 11
  • Sacks: No. 8
  • Passes defended: No. 1 (P5 teams)
  • Third down conversions allowed: No. 5
  • Tackles for a loss: No. 22
  • Red Zone TD allowed: No. 12
  • Turnover margin: No. 5 (tied)
  • Haven’t allowed more than 24 points all season(3rd active longest streak for under 30 points allowed)
  • 4.43 ppg allowed in second half of games this season

For context, FSU didn’t had a rotation system to keep guys fresh while getting younger players reps to build depth. This limited individual stats but is one of the prime reasons FSU was so strong late in games.

Some reserve players made several mistakes throughout the season, and these numbers may have been even better had they not played as many snaps. The days of holdin teams to one touchdown or shutting teams out are over unless you play a ton of nobodies like Michigan.

We also must understand this defense isn’t littered with first-round NFL draft picks like the 2013 defense.

Adam Fuller has done a great job rebuilding this defense from scratch, and the defense is one of the huge reasons why this team went 12-0.

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