Florida State football had one of the worst rushing attacks in all of college football last season. It didn't help when the offensive line and quarterback play was viewed as "inconsistent".
The Seminoles are looking to turn things around in 2025 as they hired former UCF head football coach Gus Malzahn as its offensive coordinator. Malzahn has been known for his offenses to establish the ground game early and often.
The coaching staff thought that running the football would be its biggest strength in 2024, but that notion fell to the waist side as the losses continued to mount.
Florida State had a duo of Lawrance Toafili and Kameron Davis primarily rushing for them since running backs Jaylin Lucas and Roydell Williams suffered significant injuries. However, the Seminoles are going to be without Toafili in 2025, and the only piece that they added was four-star Ousmane Kromah.
That begs the question as to who Malzahn is expecting to bolster the load for the running game. I suspect that Kromah could be a big factor in transforming the position group, but that is a tall task for a true freshman who will be enrolling in the summer.
I know that some of the fan base isn't very fond of Davis and his performance last year, where he did not break many tackles. However, he was a true freshman who played primarily at quarterback in high school to help his team be successful.
One name that I am monitoring for the Seminoles in 2025 is redshirt senior running back Caziah Holmes. The former Penn State transfer has been in Tallahassee over the past two seasons where he has combined to have 44 carries for 269 yards and five touchdowns.
I realize that he had three rushing attempts for 38 yards and two touchdowns in a meaningless blowout versus Charleston Southern. However, he made the opportunities count when his number was called. His 5.6 yards per carry were the most by any Seminoles running back.
He continues to display a burst of speed, vision, and acceleration when finding the appropriate lane. I wonder if Gus Malzahn will lean toward the veteran of the backfield when calling the plays in 2025.