Nov 2nd - @FSU
Here’s what you need to know about FSU: They are led by Jimbo Fisher, who enters his 4th season as the boss in Tallahassee. They come off their first ACC title in 8 years, beating GT 21-15. He comes off a 12-win campaign and has 10 starters back from 2012. (6 starters on offense, and 4 on defense). Say what you will about FSU, but their defense was very very good in 2012. They were sixth in the nation in PPG allowed (14.7 points per game), while their offense averaged almost 40 PPG (39.3 to be exact), 206 yards rushing and 265 yards passing. They have two tough road games, at Clemson (Oct 19th, likely for the ACC Atlantic) and Florida (Nov 30th). When you look at the job Jimbo has done up there, I have to admit, he’s done a hellva job, especially in recruiting. They don’t get VT or Carolina on the other side this year.
Let’s break down the Noles:
Offensively: EJ Manual, who led them to an Orange Bowl Classic win over Northern Illinois, has graduated and was the 9th overall pick to the Buffalo Bills. They had a very intense QB battle this spring, and most likely RS freshman Jameis Winston wins that job, though Jimbo hasn’t confirmed that yet. To show how good Winston was this spring, Clint Trickett, who was the leader going into the spring said he was going to leave and transfer just four days after their Spring game. Now, Winston, who was the #1 rated QB in the nation coming out of Alabama, will have to hold off a challenge from Sophomore Jacob Coker and RS freshman Sean Maguire. They do have two Junior RBs back with a lot of experience. Devonta Freeman, who finished with 660 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2012, and James Wilder Jr., who had 635 yards and 11 touchdowns. At WR, this core is deep depthwise and very talented to boot. They are led by Junior Rashad Greene. He has great breakaway speed and was their leader in catches and yards in 2012 with 57 catches for 741 yards. Also back are Kenny Shaw and Kelvin Benjamin, who both caught at least 27 passes. Their OL, is very good and very sound, with four starters back, and even the new starter, Bobby Hart, has a lot of experience. The down side with the OL, they are not very deep, so the key here is to stay healthy all year, because if anyone gets hurt, this could be a big issue in Tallahassee.
Defensively: This area took a beating to Graduation/Defections. All-American DE Bjoern Werner, left a year early to enter the League (drafted 20th overall by the Indianapolis Colts) and DC Mark Stoops bolted for Lexington to be the New HC at Kentucky. Replacing Stoops as DC is Jeremy Pruitt, who was Alabama’s defensive backs coach for the last two years under Saban. What Pruitt brings to the table is strong recruiting in the Deep South region, however, he has limited coaching experience. Their D-Line line needs some work here, however, when you look at their back seven, it is very talented and very good too. That doesn’t mean Junior DT Timmy Jernigan should not be taken lightly. He’s still a force to dealt with here because he uses his strength and quickness to be a major disruptive force on the interior of their line. In the secondary, you have Senior CB Lamarcus Joyner, who’s an excellent athlete, who can also shutdown one side of the field. Think of a young Ronde Barber here, when you think of Joyner. Like Barber was used with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for all those years, look for him to be used in blitz packages this season.
Special Teams: Their staff is very high on RS freshman placekicker Roberto Aguayo. They believe he could be even better than departing All-American Dustin Hopkins (Drafted in the 6th Round by the Buffalo Bills), and that’s saying something when you consider how clutch he was. At the Punter spot, they have Cason Beatty back after a pretty good freshman season of 2012. An issue here is that their return game needs much work, when you consider the fact, they had a case of fumblitis last year.
In closing, this hasn’t been an offseason to remember for Jimbo. They lost, not only a lot of starters from the 2012 team, but also 6 of the 9 assistants bolted elsewhere, from a CANES perspective, the biggest one being James Coley. Yet still, this is still a very good team to be dealt with. If they have have Winston be the 2nd coming of Johnny Football and their O-Line stays healthy, and their D, which should be very good again in 2013, winning 10 games shouldn’t be a problem for them. If they won 10 games again this season, it would be the third time in Fisher’s first four years, and that’s saying something about the success they’ve had up there. Barring a catastrophic injury or two, the ACC Atlantic is pretty much theirs to lose. The game that decides that is October 19th at Clemson. There are three tough games on their schedule, and two of them are on the road. The aforementioned game @Clemson (October 19th), CANES (November 2nd) and @Florida (November 30th). Those three games will tell us a lot about FSU. My prediction for the 2013 Florida State Seminoles is 11-1 (Only Loss to Miami).
In Part 9 of the series, I will talk a team that is a perennial contender every year, and that’s the Virginia Tech Hokies.
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