FSU football: 3 reasons Noles have great chance to beat California Bears

Return of Alex Atkins and potentially Jeremiah Byers, Darius Washington, and Shyhem Brown

FSU has played the last two games without starting tackle Jeremiah Byers, and Darius Washington got hurt in warm-ups before the Memphis game, with safety Shyheim Brown out as well. All three starters could return for the California game.

Whether the return of Alex Atkins after serving a three-game suspension means anything, we'll see. However, it can't hurt anything. Will the offense actually looked coordinated? Will receivers actually block on the perimeter?

Byers and Washington returning would mean a significant boost to the FSU offense. The offensive line has played poorly in the last two games, which hasn't done any favors for the running game and DJ Uiagalelei in the passing game.

We saw some offensive flashes in the first game against Georgia Tech with those two in the lineup. If FSU can get any semblance of a rushing attack, that would open up things for the rest of the offense. Redshirt freshman KJ Kirkland played well in replace of Brown last week, but Brown returning gives FSU a proven veteran on the backend.