Third Down Defense
This is another area that I had my eye on going into the season. Tony White's defenses allowed opposing offenses to convert on third down 36.6 percent of the time in 2023 and 35.2 percent of the time in 2024.
It’s not terrible, ranking No. 31 nationally last season. However, it needs to be closer to 30 percent than 35. The best third-down defenses among Power Four programs were around 30 percent conversions allowed.
FSU has allowed opposing offenses to convert 31.03 percent of the time. A few of those could have been avoided if the guys made tackles, but this is about where it needs to be if this defense wants to be on the elite end.
I think they’ll stop the run just fine, but it’ll be their ability to get off the field on third and seven or longer that determines how well they do here.
The passing defense has left some plays on the field in the first couple of games, especially against Alabama. That’s something that has to get cleaned up moving forward.