Florida State Seminoles: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats
Florida State Seminoles: Key To The 2022 Offense
The offensive line has to be better at keeping defenses out of the backfield.
It started at the end of the Jimbo Fisher era, Willie Taggart didn’t get time to fix it, and Mike Norvell might finally have the experience and the right five in place after a rough two years.
The offensive line. Florida State just can’t seem to make it work.
It was fine for the ground game, but it allowed an average of three sacks per game. It was the fourth year in a row allowing that many or more – by comparison, the 2014 team that got to the College Football Playoff allowed 1.64 per game.
To be fair, there was an improvement. The 2018 O line couldn’t give up tackles for loss fast enough, and the 6.67 given up per game last season were the fewest since 2016, but it was still a problem.
Longwinded blurb short, the faster the offensive line is great, the faster Florida State is a player again.
Florida State Seminoles: Key To The 2022 Defense
Keep the pass rush going.
A bit lost in another losing season was how much better the defense was.
It wasn’t always a rock, and it wasn’t always consistent, but it was better against the run, the takeaways were there, and the pass rush was the best it’s been in years.
The 2016 team averaged close to four sacks per game, but a great pass rush didn’t always equal obvious success – the epic national championship team of 2013 was just okay at getting into the backfield, and the great 2014 squad only came up with 17 sacks in 14 games.
The 2.75 sacks per game last season were the most since 2016, but that was because Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas went off with 18 of the 33.
There are plenty of good guys and options to take over on the ends, but the entire D got better because of the heat applied. There can’t be a regression.
Florida State Seminoles: Key Player To The 2022 Season
QB Jordan Travis, Jr.
The Florida State quarterback play has been fine post-Jameis, but it hasn’t been anything special.
While Clemson has enjoyed a slew of epic quarterbacks over the years, and several ACC teams had someone rocking under center last season, Florida State’s quarterback play hasn’t been anything special.
Everett Golson was decent, Deondre Francois had his moments, James Blackman was okay before leaving for Arkansas State, and Jordan Travis has been …
Fine.
Most of the pieces should be in place on both sides of the ball to come up with a great season, but Travis needs to be more accurate, do a better job on third downs, and Florida State needs its quarterback to be stronger than the middle of the ACC pack.
Florida State Seminoles: Key Transfer
OT Bless Harris, Jr.
Pass rusher Jared Verse (Albany) might be a bigger deal overall, Trey Benson (Oregon) might lead the team in rushing, linebacker Tatum Bethune (UCF), and WR Mycah Pittman (Oregon) will all make a splash, but Florida State needs Bless Harris to step in and be an instant star.
To keep hammering this home, the offensive line has been a problem, but now there’s hope. There’s a good base of veterans returning, and if the 6-5, 315-pound transfer from Lamar really is as good as advertised,
Florida State Key Game To The 2022 Season
at Louisville, Sept. 16
The Seminoles rolled up the yards against Louisville last year. The offense was balanced, the defense wasn’t awful, and it didn’t pay off in a 31-23 loss as part of an 0-4 start. This time around it’s the ACC opener coming off a 12-day break following the game against LSU, and a win would be a big, big deal.
Four of the next five games are at home, but Boston College, Wake Forest, and Clemson won’t be easy around a road date at NC State.
A win over the Cardinals might not mean the world – it didn’t in 2018 or 2019 – but a loss would be a big, big problem.
Florida State Seminoles: 2021 Fun Stats
– FSU 1st Quarter Scoring: 54 – 2nd Quarter Scoring: 135
– Red Zone Scores: FSU 38-of-42 (90%) – Opponents 24-of-34 (71%)
– Onside Kicks: FSU 2-of-2 – Opponents 0-of-0
O, D Breakdown | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Florida State Top 10 Players | FSU Schedule & Analysis