FSU Preview: Florida State vs East Texas A&M

This Saturday at 12 noon the no. 14 Seminoles host the East Texas A&M Lions in Doak Campbell Stadium. The game will be on the ACC Network.

The Lions are 0-1 with a 45-13 loss to SMU.

Observations from the last game

Both sides of the ball were disciplined, relentless and physical the whole game. The defense was fast after getting their feet wet with the new scheme. The rotation of defensive linemen played better than expected and accumulated 7 tackles for loss and hurried the QB all game. Defensive coordinator Tony White’s scheme is designed to give quarterbacks a lot to think about and had the Alabama QB, Ty Simpson, guessing most of the contest forcing him into a few mistakes.

Safety Earl Little played like his hair was on fire racking up 9 tackles against his old team.

The revamped offensive line, led by center Luke Petitbon, played great and helped the offense gather up 230 yards on the ground.

Micahi Danzy (shoutout to Florida High) with his blazing speed provided two huge runs that really turned off the tide in the ‘Noles favor.

Injuries

Running back Roydell Williams will be out for a while. Tight and Randy Pittman is out this weekend and maybe a few more weeks after.

Florida State offense versus East Texas A&M defense  

I expect the ‘Noles to run the ball most of the time. The freshman O Kromah should get a big chunk of the carries. Getting him some game reps should be a priority to get him ready for the big games later in the season.

Tommy Castellanos needs to hit a couple deep balls to loosen up the defense. The Lions defense gave SMU a tough time in the first half but didn’t have the depth to keep up. Defensive players to look out for are Kyree Anderson (linebacker) and Cinque Williams (linebacker/safety).

Florida State defense versus East Texas A&M offense

The Lions might be without their quarterback, Ron Peace, for the second straight game. If he is out ET A&M will turn to Eric Rodriguez or Will Madonna. The backup QBs struggled mightily against SMU so getting Peace back would be a huge boost.

The main targets for the Lions offense are Christian Jordain and Devin Matthews. The ‘Noles shouldn’t have much of a problem slowing down East Texas A&M offense. Darrell Jackson and Daniel Lyons need to clog up the run game to allow the defensive ends to get after the QBs. James Williams, Deante McCray, Tae Diggs and the Desir brothers are going to have a big day.

Special Teams

The special teams unit played well with new starters in the kicking game except for the muffed punt. I think they’ll be even better this week.

Prediction

FSU should run the ball most of the game. I don’t expect the Lions to be able to stop it, but the possessions should be limited.

Florida State 45 East Texas A&M 10