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Will FSU Defense Be More Bend Not Break Mentality Against USF?
Dec 31, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Jalen Ramsey (8) celebrates with defensive end DeMarcus Walker (44) against the Houston Cougars in the third quarter in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. The Cougars won 38-24. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The FSU defense needs to rebound in a big way after giving up over 50 points against Louisville. We talk about how they may change their approach.
FSU football has a big game on Saturday against the University of South Florida. Usually, you wouldn’t hear or read those two words in a sentence together.
However, that’s where FSU finds itself, and fairly or not this team will be defined moving forward with how they play on Saturday.
There are issues on both sides of the ball, but the defensive lapses are more baffling than the offensive side in my opinion.
On the offensive side of the ball, we watch film and see where guys missed blocks, or missed cutback lanes. Most of the time we can point to something and figure out why something happened.
Jimbo Fisher said Deondre Francois was still able to come off the field and explain what was happened or why he did something.
However, on defense that’s not the case. There’s nothing but speculation as to why the defense played so poorly. Do they not comprehend their roles? Where they trying to play hero ball instead of trying to work as a unit?
Let’s look at what the FSU defense might do against USF on Saturday.
Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Akeem Judd (21) is tackled by Florida State Seminoles defensive back Derwin James (3) and linebacker Matthew Thomas (6) in the third quarter at Camping World Stadium. Florida State Seminoles won 45-34. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports
Keep It Simple
USF has improved as a team and as a program over the last couple of years. However, FSU still has the edge in talent by a significant margin.
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Here’s just how wide the gap usually is in recruiting rankings between the two program. The 2016 recruiting class was No. 2 overall compared to the USF recruiting class coming in at No. 66.
In 2015, the gap was No. 3 for FSU compared to No. 69 for USF.
That’s doesn’t mean play man to man all day, but that means FSU should be more physical up front and able to shed blockers, attacking the ball carrier instead of being timid making tackles 20 yards downfield.
We’ll cover the USF offense in the 10 a.m. post. They are similar to Louisville, but they do not have the same caliber quarterback nor do they attack vertically as effective.
The FSU defense needs to commit to stopping the run and force Quinton Flowers to beat him with his arm. He’s completing 54 percent of his passes on the season, odds are the USF can’t consistently march down the field when forced to pass.
Not unless the FSU defense continues to play the way they played against Louisville, undisciplined and with poorly timed blitzes.
Stop Blitzing So Much
FSU fans may not realize it because they aren’t seeing the results from it, but the FSU defense blitzes quite a bit.
In fact, they sent pressure at Louisville on two of the six opening drive plays against Louisville last week.
Lewis executes a poorly timed blitzed as he’s a full two yards off the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.
Of course the blitz doesn’t get home and the Jackson hits the back coming out of the backfield where Lewis blitzed from for another huge gain and third down conversion.
If the blitzes are not getting home or disrupting the play, the FSU defense should stop blitzing so much and giving up big gains.
Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Kermit Whitfield (8) celebrates with tight end Ryan Izzo (81) after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter against Mississippi Rebels at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports
Conclusion
I’m not saying bring back Mark Stoops as the defensive coordinator, but I do think returning to a more bend but not break philosophy right now would be appropriate and something we could see on Saturday.
It’s incredibly difficult for teams to go on 10 play 80 yards drives and score touchdowns consistently.
However, when teams are getting explosive plays of 20 and 30 yards consistently they’ll score close to 60 points like last week.
Remember, Quinton Flowers isn’t an accurate quarterback. Force him to beat you with his arm while playing conservative and disciplined defense. Make them dink and dunk and eventually they’ll miss a throw or get behind the chains and be forced to execute on third and long.
That’s the key to getting this defense back on track.
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