FSU football: 5 defensive players who shined against California Bears

FSU football defensive coordinator Adam Fuller gets a bad rap from some fans. Does this FSU defense have flaws? Absolutely, but nearly every defense does, but this FSU defense is good enough for FSU to be 3-1 at worst this year. I'd love to see how they'd look if they had a competent offense to support them. FSU got its first win in 2024 because the defense didn't allow a touchdown and held the California Bears to three field goals. California attempted two more, missed one, and Shyheim Brown got his finger on the other to force it wide right.

There were too many third and long conversions, missed tackles, and some communication issues. However, here's the sequence the FSU defense has to work with from the FSU offense:

• 3 plays, 4 yards, Punt (1:44)
• 8 plays, 60 yards, TD (2:56)
• 12 plays, 62 yards, INT (7:01)
• 9 plays, 33 yards, Punt (4:44)
• 6 plays, 10 yards, Punt (2:13)
• 5 plays, 19 yards, Turnover on Downs (:56)
• 3 plays, 4 yards, Punt (1:23)
• 3 plays, 8 yards, Punt (1:59)
• 12 plays, 79 yards, TD (5:16)
• 3 plays, -2 yards, Punt (1:29)

Four three-and-outs and five drives with less than two minutes in time of possession. The defense is always on the field because the offense can't sustain drives.

California was 5 of 15 (33 percent) on third down and 1 of 2 on fourth down. They had 410 yards on 74 plays (5.54 ypp) and averaged 2.9 yards per rush. FSU had seven sacks and 12 tackles for a loss. Here are five defensive players who shined big time on Saturday night.