FSU football: 5 keys to defeating Louisville Cardinals
By Kelvin Hunt
Avoiding Third and Long
This aspect is so important for the FSU offense. Unfortunately, it’s an area they’ve not been great in, even with Jordan Travis at quarterback.
It’s an area they struggled with last week, but Tate Rodemaker made a number of big-time throws to convert third down against the Florida Gators.
However, Florida’s defense isn’t as good as Louisville’s, so third and long isn’t a situation they want to consistently find themselves. Louisville’s defense allows third-down conversions 29.6 percent of the time.
That’s outstanding and nearly as good as FSU’s, granted they haven’t faced an offense with the caliber of players at the skill positions.
FSU will likely struggle to run the ball at times, but Louisville will allow explosive runs at times. I think we’ll see more first-down passing with Tate Rodemaker. Louisville’s secondary and linebackers are where they are most vulnerable.
I’d like to see some passes to the running backs out of the backfield as an extension of the running game. I think someone like Ja’Khi Douglas and Lawrance Toafili can have a field day against their linebackers.
Whatever it takes to stay in third and manageable.