A spot in college football’s first-ever playoff is so close Florida State can taste it. As the defending national champions and the nation’s last undefeated team for a second year in a row, the Seminoles will need to beat only Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship on Saturday to advance to college football’s first official semifinal.
For anyone who has paid attention, it’s no secret that Florida State has lived life on the edge this season. FSU has been forced to rally from halftime deficits on five occasions this season and own six wins by six points or less. Only once this season have the Seminoles outscored their opponent in each half.
With everything on the line, there may not be a scarier opponent for Florida State to face than the one it’ll see Saturday in Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are not only 10-2 following a big victory over Georgia this past Saturday, but many of the key areas of concern for FSU are spots where Georgia Tech thrives.
Throughout the entire 2014 season, the Seminoles have made a habit of building early deficits as FSU has been forced to rally from two scores down on four occasions.
With Paul Johnson’s triple-option attack, Georgia Tech excels when it comes to ball control. It’s not uncommon for the Yellow Jackets to be able to eat away at six or seven minutes of clock on drives that may not total 50 yards. With Georgia Tech’s ability to grind away at the game clock, another large early deficit could spell big trouble for the Seminoles.
Johnson’s run-heavy offense can be a drain on defensive fronts as well and that’s an area where Florida State is very thin — more so since the loss of Nile Lawrence-Stample. Georgia Tech’s offense line is big and will look to cut FSU defenders to open up holes.
Play from starting defensive tackles Eddie Goldman and Derrick Mitchell will be key, but the thin corps of reserves at defensive tackle will also need to shine. That includes true freshman Derrick Nnadi and senior Desmond Hollin, who has been a pleasant surprise in recent weeks. With a very thin defensive interior, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Giorgio Newberry, who previously played defensive end and tight end, get more reps this week as well.
The good news for Florida State is the triple-option attack is something it has seen this season. The bad news is that it struggled against it, losing three defensive tackles to injury in the process.
In the Seminoles’ home-opener against FCS opponent, The Citadel, Florida State yielded 250 yards on the ground and the Bulldogs do not have the backfield that Georgia Tech does with speedy quarterback Justin Thomas and power-running fullback Zach Laskey.
Against a run-heavy offense in Florida this past week however, the Seminoles may have played their best game up front defensively, holding the Gators to just 3.4 yards-per-rush and only 286 yards of total offense. The stellar effort came a week after allowing Boston College to go for 239 yards on the ground.
While Saturday’s ACC Championship, which serves as a de facto national quarterfinal for the Seminoles, certainly brings a lot of excitement, any premature celebration for Florida State would be unwise. FSU may be 12-0 for a second straight season, but there’s a reason that Georgia Tech has 10 victories. If the Seminoles can’t get off to a better start or off the field defensively on third down, they may unfortunately find out why.
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