After yielding the fewest points-per-game in the country in 2013, the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles have had an adventurous season early on in 2014. On defense, Florida State has been opportunistic, but the dominance that helped define the ‘Noles last season has simply not been there.
On September 27th in Raleigh, a banged up Florida State defense that had just lost defensive tackle Nile-Lawrence Stample for the season and was without starting defensive end Mario Edwards Jr., looked perhaps as bad as it ever had under head coach Jimbo Fisher.
Florida State was able to overcome a 24-7 deficit to leave Carter-Finley Stadium with a 56-41 victory, but for a program with a proud defensive history, it was an afternoon to forget.
It took the Wolfpack just two plays to score after receiving the opening kickoff and throughout the day, N.C. State continued to humiliate the once-vaunted FSU defense. By the time it was said and done, N.C. State had not only scored the most points against a Jimbo Fisher coached team since 2010, but it totaled 520 yards of offense.
Transfer quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who the Seminoles held to 4-for-13 passing and just 27 yards as a freshman at Florida in 2011, made one highlight play after another against the Florida State defense before finishing the day with almost 400 total yards and three passing touchdowns.
Florida State missed more than 30 tackles during the contest and throughout the early parts of the game, N.C. State receivers were running free.
With doubts beginning to surface about Charles Kelly’s banged up defense, the Seminoles responded in their return home against Wake Forest this past week. Though the Demon Deacons have been absolutely dreadful offensively this season, the FSU defense looked like the Florida State defense of old.
The Seminoles held Wake Forest to just 10 first downs and only 126 yards and kept it out of the end zone in a 43-3 victory. With the FSU offense in an uncharacteristic funk at Doak Campbell Stadium, it was the Florida State defense that sealed Wake’s fate early in the third quarter.
In a three-play span, the Seminoles forced two turnovers which led to two touchdowns to turn a 16-3 lead into a 30-3 advantage.
P.J. Williams grabbed the first interception for Florida State since the first half of the season-opener against Oklahoma State and returned it to the Wake Forest 6-yard-line. FSU scored two plays later on a touchdown run by Mario Pender.
On the second play of Wake Forest’s ensuing drive, linebacker Reggie Northrup ripped the ball from running back Isaiah Robinson, scooped it up and raced 31 yards for a touchdown the other way. It was also the Seminoles’ first non-offensive score since the first half of the 2014 opener.
While Wake Forest is hardly an offensive juggernaut, the defense’s performance should serve as a confidence builder moving forward. This week, Florida State has a chance to have another dominant effort against a struggling Syracuse offense.
Syracuse averages more than 400 yards of offense per-game, but ranks just 108th in scoring. In its last three games, the Orange have scored just 41 points, which equates to less than two touchdowns per-contest.
To add injury to insult this week, Syracuse will be without starting quarterback Terrel Hunt, who is 9-7 in his career as a starter. Backup Austin Wilson was 0-for-3 passing in last week’s loss to Louisville — his first contest against a FBS team.
Not only are the Orange in an offensive free-fall, but the Seminoles are getting healthy defensively. Mario Edwards Jr. returned from a concussion last week to record three tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
Defensive tackle Derrick Mitchell could be back this week, but even if he isn’t, freshmen defensive linemen like Lorenzo Featerston and Derrick Nnadi have filled in admirably. FSU may also be a week away from seeing the return of highly-touted redshirt freshman linebacker, Matthew Thomas
After leading the nation in interceptions a season ago, Florida State is also beginning to force turnovers again. After one combined takeaway in games against The Citadel and Clemson, the Seminoles have five in the last two weeks including a season-high three against the Demon Deacons.
Perhaps as important as the defense righting the ship is the timeliness with which it has come. Following Saturday’s contest with Syracuse, Florida State will play what most believe will be its toughest contest of the year, against Notre Dame. FSU then concludes the month of October with a Thursday night trip to Louisville on the eve of Halloween.
If the Seminoles can build upon last week’s effort against Wake Forest, continue to have confidence mount and get healthy, the sky will once again be the limit in 2014. This week’s match-up with Syracuse should not only provide the Seminoles with a perfect opportunity to build on last week’s defensive performance, but the chance to set the tone for the second half of the regular season.
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