FSU Preview: Florida State at Louisville

On Friday night FSU will travel to Louisville to play the Cardinals. The game will be at 730 on ESPN. The Cardinals are 1-1 on the season with a loss at Syracuse and a win at Central Florida.

The last time FSU was 2-0 was in 2016 and travelled to Louisville they were pummeled 63-20 by Lamar Jackson and the Cards. Florida State has 16-6 all time versus Louisville but hasn’t won since 2019, 35-24.

Observation from the last game

Wow! What a game that was. Intense, hard fought and down to 0:00 on the clock.

Jordan Travis and Jared Verse were great. The offensive line and defensive backs also played well most of the game.

For all that FSU did well for the first 55 minutes, the last 5 minutes were atrocious from the coaching on down. But Shyheim Brown saved the day and ‘Nole nation breathed a major sigh of relief.

Florida State offense versus Louisville defense

Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. Louisville has had a tough time stopping the run this season, 109^th in the FBS in opponents’ yards per play. The Cardinals did make some critical stops against the pass in the UCF game. FSU should be able to put up a bunch of points if they avoid penalties and turnovers and of course keep pounding with Travis and the 3 running backs.

Florida State defense versus Louisville offense

Slowing down sensational quarterback Malik Cunningham will be the top priority and it will be no easy task. Cunningham has torn up the Seminole defense the last two seasons to a tune of 638 total yards and 6 touchdowns. This year’s defense has the talent and experience to put a better fight but may be without the services of star defensive tackle Fabien Lovett.

Special teams

Advantage: Florida State

Prediction

How does Mike Norvell’s team handle success? I think the ‘Noles start off slow against the Cards once again but not slow enough to lose. Travis leads a comeback and FSU wins 31-28.