Previewing the Florida State Seminoles’ Offense

Wake Forest comes off of a much needed bye week, and heads to Tallahassee to take on a Florida State team experiencing somewhat of a down year. The Deacs also look to avenge a heartbreaking last minute 26-19 loss from last year.

Florida State’s offense is led by junior quarterback Deondre Francois who is 125-206 passing on the year and has thrown for 1506 yards and 11 touchdowns. Francois has also thrown 6 interceptions, averages 7.35 yards per attempt, and has a QB rating of 134.5 (for comparison, Sam Hartman’s is 124.3). He is not really a rushing threat, as he has 45 rushing attempts for -26 yards, and an average of -0.6 yards per carry. He does have two rushing touchdowns.

The running game is led by sophomore running back Cam Akers who has 88 attempts for 362 yards, good for 4.1 yards per carry. He has a long run of 85 yards and has 1 rushing touchdown on the year. Senior Jacques Patrick joins him in the backfield. He has 54 carries for 197 yards and averages 3.6 yards per carry. Last year in Winston-Salem, Patrick burned the Deacs for 120 yards and a long touchdown as the Seminoles handed the Deacs their first loss of the season. Junior Amir Rasul is the third back, with 8 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Patrick and Akers both also play a role in the passing game, and Patrick also has a receiving touchdown. However, the receivers are led by senior Nyqwan Murray, junior Keith Gavin, freshman Tamorrion Terry, and sophomore tight end Tre’ McKitty. Murray has 27 catches for 356 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gavin has 20 receptions for 291 yards and a touchdown. Terry has 13 catches for 285 yards and 5 touchdowns. McKitty has 17 receptions for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore D.J. Matthews hasn't scored a touchdown, but has 17 catches for 133 yards.

Kicker Ricky Aguayo (geez how many years is FSU going to have an Aguayo?) is 16-16 on extra points and 6-10 on field goals. His long on the season and his career long is from 53 yards, and he has made both of his attempts from 50+ this year. His previous career long was from 51 yards, which he set against Wake Forest last year.

The ‘Noles haven't been without their struggles this year, and today head coach Willie Taggart announced a change to the offensive line, which has been less than stellar to say the least.

Florida State is also 3-3 on the season, and is 1-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In week one they were trounced 24-3 by a Virginia Tech team that has since lost to Old Dominion. In week two they finally defeated Samford 38-26 after struggling and even trailing for most of the game. In week three they were obliterated by a Syracuse team that has since lost to ACC cellar-dweller Pittsburgh by a score of 30-7. They finally looked close to how they should against Northern Illinois, winning 37-19. They barely defeated by far the worst team in the conference in Louisville by a score of 28-24. Then after leading Miami 27-7 in the third quarter, they ended up losing 28-27.

The Seminoles are averaging 23.3 points per game, 16.8 first downs per game, 344 yards of offense per game, 251.2 passing yards per game, and 92.8 rushing yards per game. They average 5.0 yards per play, 2.7 yards per rush attempt, and 11.96 yards per completion. FSU also averages 8.3 penalties for 65 penalty yards per game, and 2.3 turnovers per game. The ‘Noles average 1.8 passing touchdowns per game, 0.7 rushing touchdowns per game, and 2.5 total touchdowns per game.

This team isn't exactly some of the old Bobby Bowden teams, and Wake may be catching them at just the right time.