FSU football: 3 major areas defense needs to improve in 2024
By Kelvin Hunt
Rushing Defense
The FSU defense was better against the run than the 2023 numbers suggest. FSU allowed 4.19 yards per rush, which ranked tied for No. 67 nationally. Two things skew the numbers against FSU. They faced three outstanding dual-threat quarterbacks: Jalen Daniels (LSU), Thomas Castellanos (Boston College), and Kyron Drones (Virginia Tech). The other thing that skews the numbers was the Orange Bowl against Georgia when FSU played without much of their starting defensive line and allowed 372 rushing yards.
If we remove the dual-threat issues, FSU was solid on a down-to-down basis but allowed too many explosive running plays. We saw teams like Duke, Miami, Wake Forest, Florida, and others have big runs against the Noles. It was often missed tackles or guys not setting the edge. Another factor was the FSU linebackers would fill the wrong gaps, take bad angles, or try to run around blocks. Fortunately, these are all things FSU can train and work on. There are questions at linebacker, but the defensive line should be stout this year. It's an area the Noles need to be better at, and hopefully, they won't face as many lethal dual-threat QBs.