While Florida State’s trip to take on Syracuse is still days away, the early storylines heading into the contest are ones that have become all too familiar for the top-ranked Seminoles in 2014 — injuries.
For the Seminoles, the defensive front seven has been depleted for much of the year. Florida State has at times, had to play without the likes of Mario Edwards Jr., Terrance Smith, Ukeme Eligwe, Derrick Mitchell, Eddie Goldman, Matthew Thomas, and most notably, Nile Lawrence-Stample, who is done for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
With Florida State’s defense hampered by injury for much of the season, the bug has recently crossed over to the offensive side of the football.
As FSU takes the field against the Orange, it could be without its leading receiver and rusher, who each left the game early in Saturday’s 43-3 win over Wake Forest.
Senior running back Karlos Williams, who leads the Seminoles with 353 yards rushing and five touchdowns on the year, is fighting an ankle injury after seemingly turning a corner just over a week ago.
After a slow start to the season, Williams followed a contest against Clemson in which he scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime, with a career performance against N.C. State. Williams finished with 126 yards rushing and three touchdowns — both career-highs — in a 56-41 win over the Wolfpack.
Williams may have been on his way to a second straight 100-yard day on Saturday, rushing for 50 yards on 11 carries before exiting the contest. If Williams cannot play this week, that would likely mean the first career start for redshirt sophomore Mario Pender.
After leading the Seminoles in receiving in each of their first four games in 2014, senior wide receiver Rashad Greene left Saturday’s contest with Wake Forest due to a concussion and may be unable to go against Syracuse this week.
Greene is just four catches shy of becoming the school’s career reception leader and is more than halfway to Ron Sellers’ Florida State career receiving record after beginning the season 1,134 yards behind Sellers.
While the loss of Lawrence-Stample served as big blow to the interior of the defensive line for Florida State, the offensive front may have met similar fate against the Demon Deacons.
Senior center Austin Barron could miss the remainder of the year with a fractured arm, which will likely mean that redshirt freshman Ryan Hoefeld will make his first career start in Syracuse.
Through the early parts of the year, Barron was the noticeable weak link along Florida State’s all-senior offensive line. After his best game of the season against N.C. State, Barron looked to be coming into his own as the lone new starter from last season up front.
The notable injuries however, are not solely on the Florida State sideline. Syracuse will be without its starting quarterback on Saturday as Terrel Hunt is out with a fractured fibula suffered in a 28-6 loss to Louisville on Friday.
Although Hunt may not be the pro prospect that Donovan McNabb and Ryan Nassib were for the Orange, his positive impact has been undeniable.
After an 0-2 start with Drew Allen at quarterback last season, Hunt took over to lead Syracuse to seven wins over the final 11 games which included a come-from-behind victory over Minnesota in the Texas Bowl.
Hunt had not been as successful early on in 2014 in terms of passing the ball, but will enter the ACC Atlantic showdown with the Seminoles as the Orange’s leading rusher. With Hunt out, speculation is that Syracuse will play two quarterbacks against Florida State on Saturday.
While many are viewing Florida State’s trip to the Carrier Dome as a final tune-up before Notre Dame, injuries continue to be a major concern for the Seminoles. With a number of key players banged up for the defending national champions, leaving Upstate New York without further injury will be second in terms of importance behind only leaving with a victory.
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