In the world of college football, teams will take whatever they can get if that gives them a chance to win. This is especially the case for a team like Florida State.
The Seminoles essentially have to win this weekend versus the Virginia Cavaliers to get their season back on track. Mike Norvell is coaching for his job, and the only real way to do that is by essentially winning out in ACC play. This is an extremely daunting task, but the only way to eat an elephant is by taking it one bite at a time, and that is exactly what the game will be.
Now that the injury reports have gone up for the matchup, it is easier to determine how this game will look. While both teams have a number of key players out, the focus for Florida State fans should be on the losses for Virginia on their defensive line.
The biggest name to look for in that area is defensive tackle Jason Hammond. Hammond entered the season as one of the players with the most hype on the Virginia defensive front. This was supposed to be the year when Hammond finally took those next steps and solidified himself as one of the better linemen in the conference, but now it appears his return this season is in question.
Hammond absolutely leaves a hole on defense for the Cavaliers and his loss is further felt by the loss of depth across the front. Devon Baxter is the next most notable name to miss this weekend, largely a backup on the season, but several other depth players are also missing, leaving the Virginia rush defense susceptible.
The good news for FSU is that their rushing attack is one of their biggest strengths, and Ousmane Kromah and Tre Wisner are more than up to the task.
Kromah appears poised to remain the bell cow and should mostly see the opposing starters, but Wisner is where the lack of depth for Virginia will start to show itself. As the Cavaliers start to sub players out, FSU will try to spell Kromah with the equally-capable Wisner, and that is where FSU will need to force their will on a depleted opponent.
The Wisner hype was perhaps a little too premature coming into the season based on his limited reps leading up to last week, but he has an easy path towards showing why the Seminoles put so much faith in him with a nice chunk of money on the transfer market.
This game will still probably have some uphill sledding for the Noles to overcome, but this does at least display the obvious path for an FSU win and earn its first ACC win of the season.
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