Fifty-two points per game — that is how much the Florida State Seminoles score on offense, which is good for second-best in the nation. Many attribute this success to the rise of redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston.
Paul Petrino heads back down south Saturday, when his Idaho Vandals take on No. 2 Florida State in Tallahassee. File | Theo Lawson
If you dig deeper into this team though, the offense has not been alone in helping get the Seminoles to No. 2 in the BCS rankings. The defense, which gives up just over 11 points per game, has been also been a dominant force.Idaho travels to Tallahassee, Fla., to take on this highly talented Seminole team in the confines of Doak Campbell Stadium. Saturday will be a challenge for Idaho to even keep up with the Seminoles.
Coach Paul Petrino noticed the Florida State defense while watching game film on them.
“(Florida State’s defense) gets a lot of three-and-outs,” Petrino said. “They’re big up front, their linebackers can really run and their safeties also tackle well. Most teams know that if your safeties tackle well, then you’re going to be good on defense.”
In Florida State’s win over Syracuse on Saturday, the FSU offense only had the ball for 18 minutes. That left the defense on the field for a whopping 41 minutes.
Even with the time of possession heavily in favor of Syracuse, Florida State came away with a 59-3 victory.
That just helps show the depth of this talented Seminole squad, being able to keep the defense on the field that long and coming away with a 56 point victory.
One of the good things for the Vandals going into this game is that they are coming off a bye week. They were able to rest some of their injured players.
It is expected that senior Taylor Davis will start at quarterback with junior Josh McCain also getting some snaps. Petrino said freshman quarterback Chad Chalich is still likely out for the game, but they are going to wait and see how he progresses in practice to make a decision on him being active for the game.
Other players nursing injuries right now include offensive linemen Cody Elenz and Dallas Sandburg, as well as cornerback Solomon Dixon. It is unknown if they will play in the game, but it’s always good to get in a week of rest to help heal their bumps and bruises.
Other than resting injuries, the Vandals are able to prepare for their tough trip down to Tallahassee,Fla. The team is preparing mentally and physically for Florida State and the bye week helps out substantially, said defensive end Maxx Forde.
“Bye week always helps as far as preparing for whatever team you’re playing coming out of it,” Forde said. “You are getting to know them as a team on film, as well as getting guys rest before that. So the bye week always helps.”
Rick Clark can be reached at [email protected]