FSU stuck to its identity on offense
Gus Malzahn and the FSU offense got back to what made it one of the top offenses nationally. They didn’t try to make Thomas Castellanos into Dan Marino, and leaned heavily on the running game.
We’ve noticed that FSU gets into trouble when it asks Thomas Castellanos to throw upwards of 25+ times in a game. They seem to have the most production when he’s in that 15-20 pass attempt range.
Castellanos was 12 of 16 (75 percent completion) for 271 yards and one touchdown. FSU ran the ball 40 times (70 percent of the plays) for 150 yards and five rushing touchdowns.
FSU had 421 total yards on offense and averaged 7.3 yards per play. We’ll talk more about the explosive plays later. However, it was Gus Malzahn’s willingness to stick with the run and not try to make Castellanos into something he’s not that was the key.
FSU getting an early lead likely helped in that regard, but this is the ultimate formula for FSU’s offensive success. Castellanos had 14, 11, and 13 pass attempts in the first three games. He had 32, 45, 23, and 28 in the four-game losing streak.