FSU football: The defense has to find a way to stop Miami on third downs

Florida State football will be taking on the arch-rival Miami Hurricanes on the road this Saturday night. It will likely not be a fun contest considering that the Seminoles' program has been a disaster this season. But they always say: "It is a rivalry, and anything can happen!"

Nonetheless, this is a Miami team that is led by dynamic quarterback Cam Ward. This was supposed to be a battle of the transfer signal-callers in the offseason with Ward and DJ Uiagalelei facing off. However, Uiagalelei injured his finger on his throwing hand and will likely miss the remainder of the 2024 season.

There is no way to escape the fact that this has been an awful showing by the Florida State Seminoles in head football coach Mike Norvell's fifth season at the helm. However, the one bright spot that should be appreciated is the defensive unit.

Defensive coordinator Adam Fuller has kept it simple with his playcalling and has allowed the players to not think as much. However, that has led to a lack of forcing takeaways since the opposing offenses have not been confused with not changing many of the looks.

Florida State's defense has not been able to get off the field on third down, which is an issue. They rank 95th in the FBS at 41.3%. To make matters worse, the Miami offense is 1st in the FBS in converting third downs on offense at 60.2%.

We at ChopChat do not like the Hurricanes, obviously, but we have to give credit where it is due. This Miami offense continues to sustain drives with their dynamic quarterback. Hopefully, the Florida State defensive unit can confuse Ward enough to make him feel uncomfortable to make it a game in the fourth quarter.

However, that will be the factor to watch in Saturday's game as the Seminoles hope to knock off Miami on the road.