Monday Mailbag: LSU, injuries, and passing attack
Monday Mailbag: LSU, injuries, and passing attack: The Seminoles began up their 2022 season with a dramatic 47-7 victory over Duquesne on a rainy Saturday night. Everyone was hoping Florida State would dominate over a weak FCS opponent and come out of the game unscathed. The squad accomplished both of those goals and now sits in a solid situation as it heads into a big battle with the LSU Tigers.
The offence went through the Dukes to the tune of 406 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground. It was an outstanding performance from the rushing offence that generated three 100-yard rushers for the first time in the same game in program history. Treshaun Ward, Trey Benson, and Lawrance Toafili are all going to have the ability to do exceptional things inside the offence during the year.
Florida State’s defence limited Duquesne to 164 total yards and a tenth of a yard on third down. The Seminoles held the Dukes to 93 rushing yards (3.1 YPC) and 71 passing yards. It’s been nearly six years since the last time the program was able to hold a squad to less. Despite a relatively vanilla night where defensive coordinator Adam Fuller minimised his blitzes, the unit was still able to create plenty of havoc at the line of scrimmage and in pass coverage.
Why did they do the two-point conversion of the first touchdown? – @dani.chv
Matching up against an FCS club, you want to try out different scenarios that you would not be able to work on during the course of a normal game. The only explanation I can come up with is that Mike Norvell was giving LSU’s coaching staff something more to worry about this week. To see Florida State play that against Clemson would be a bit unexpected. The play would have succeeded, however, if Wyatt Rector had simply seen the ball a half a second earlier.
Who is the leading rusher by the end of the season? My vote is Treshaun Ward. – @stone_quill
It’s hard to say, but I think the Seminoles intend to maintain a somewhat even ground game throughout the year, as they should given the variety of skill sets available to them. If I had to pick, I’d definitely go with Trey Benson because it feels like he’s the most explosive of the trio and is a tough runner to boot. On Saturday, his first game back from a devastating knee injury, he averaged 9.0 yards per rush. The best is yet to come for Benson.
After his accident, how is Johnny Wilson holding up? – @limon5073
Johnny Wilson, a wide receiver for the Dukes, made the game-changing play of the game by catching a deep ball from Jordan Travis for 51 yards. However, it appeared that Wilson was hurt on a touchdown run a few plays later. After that play, he left the game and didn’t come back.
According to Monday’s comments from head coach Mike Norvell, it appears the Seminoles’ decision to bench him was largely preventative.
“Yesterday he felt much better, and it was a close call whether or not he wanted to return to the game,” Norvell said. Yes, he was able to get around quite well, but we were able to keep him contained for the remainder of the game. I was a little banged up yesterday, which is par for the course the day after a game, but I’m interested to watch how things develop.
What prompted the offensive line swaps—injury or a desire to see how other players perform? – @c1int0n_t
Some of each, to be sure. With how quickly this game got out of hand, Florida State wanted to rep as many players as possible on both sides of the ball. More than 10 offensive linemen were used throughout the course of the game.
With that being stated, redshirt sophomore Darius Washington did look to exit the game early due to an injury. For Monday’s game against LSU, Florida State revealed a depth chart in which Washington was listed as a starting centre alongside Maurice Smith.
Will the passing game come alive against LSU? – @antonioalicea.23
Why not? I don’t think so. There were warnings for the Dukes, but Florida State played it safe and relied on a dominant ground game to win. However, we did get a glimpse of quarterback Jordan Travis’s development. He failed to score, but his 11-of-15 passing for 207 yards, including some impressive long completions to Johnny Wilson and Kentron Poitier, was impressive.
There’s a good chance the Seminoles will throw the ball more times than they did against Florida State, and that they’ll win the game against LSU. Against Duquesne, three of the top four receivers were transfer students. The depth of the unit has taken a legitimate step forward.
Can we move the ball through the air versus LSU? Did you see enough from Jordan Travis to make that call? – @kdock24
Yes, he threw two battle-deep passes to Wilson and Poitier. Unfortunately, Wilson and Cam McDonald both dropped passes that would have put the ball in the end zone for him. Travis used his arm in the appropriate manner. But what bothered me was that he didn’t actively ignore me.
Travis may have avoided a shot from a defender by making a couple of quicker passes. Travis raced into the heart of the defence on one play and let a player hit him low rather than sliding, one of his few scrambles. Against LSU, I’d like to see that shift.
Are you confident that we can run all over LSU as we did Duquesne? — @maupinthefloor13
While I have my doubts about Florida State’s ability to win with a run-all-over strategy, I do anticipate the Seminoles’ continued success on the ground. The well-being of the Seminoles’ offensive line is the starting point. LSU’s depth chart lists redshirt sophomore Maurice Smith and sophomore Darius Washington as starting centers. Washington seemed to get hurt during the game, and Smith sat out because of a bump he had during preseason practice.
There is no denying the talent of the running backs. However, against a long and athletic defensive front, the five men up front will need to create some holes.
Most important individual matchup against the Tigers? – @sam_watkins53
You can pick from a wide variety. When playing Duquesne on Saturday night, Florida State managed just one sack. Even though the Seminoles didn’t blitz too often, that metric keeps coming up as the team prepares to face LSU. The defensive line will need to step up in a big manner, as they’ll be facing an inexperienced defensive front.
Will Campbell, a freshman, will start his college football career with the Tigers. Campbell will play left tackle. Because of this, Campbell will likely face up against defensive end Jared Verse, a redshirt sophomore. In his first game, against the Dukes, Verse recorded a sack and 1.5 total tackles for loss to tie for the team lead. The overall tone of the game hinges on the outcome of this fight. If Verse is able to regularly get to the quarterback, the LSU offensive line’s rebuilding efforts will be hampered.
Score prediction against LSU? – @landonbooke08
I’m almost convinced that Florida State will win. But when it comes to the Seminoles, I’m of the “show me, don’t tell me” school of thought. They’ll need to show that the whole team has improved in this game.
It’s a close call, but I’m picking LSU to win 31-28. It wouldn’t shock me if Florida State managed to pull off an upset.