FSU Preview: Florida State versus Wake Forest

On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on the ACC Network the Seminoles will play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Doak Campbell Stadium.

Wake Forest is 5-2 this season with wins against Kennesaw State, Western Carolina, Virginia Tech, Oregon State and SMU and losses to NC State and Georgia Tech.

FSU is 31-9-1 against Wake all-time. The last time the two programs played was in 2023, the ‘Noles won 41-16.

Observations from the last game

The offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn kept calling for inside runs at the best part of Stanford’s defense in the first half. Using the speed of FSU’s would have likely spread-out the defense and provided better 2^nd and 3^rd down situations.

The defense played well except for a few pre-snap penalties.

Back up Kevin Sperry struggled for a couple plays but almost led the comeback once he got his feet under him.

Florida State offense versus Wake Forest defense

The status of quarterback Tommy Castellanos is still up in the air (concussion) and if he is unable to play true freshman Kevin Sperry will take his place. No matter who’s under center for FSU I think they will try to get the run game going and work off of that. The Wake Forest defense has been good against the pass this year (18^th in FBS in passing yards against), making establishing the run that much more important.

With that in mind, I expect Gavin Sawchuk and others to get lots of carries on early downs. If the backs get some yards on 1^st and 2^nd it will make 3^rd down more manageable.

Players to watch for on the Wake defense are defensive backs Nick Andersen (leads the team with 58 tackles) and Devaughn Patterson (45 tackles and 7 passes defended). Wake Forest’s leader in sacks is Langston Hardy with 4.5.

Florida State defense versus Wake Forest offense

The Deacons have been trying to figure out their quarterback situation for a couple weeks. The QBs in question are Robby Ashford (1,205 passing yards) and Deshawn Purdie (5 touchdown passes). I think first year coach Jake Dickert is going to start Ashford due to his ability as a runner and see how it goes. Ashford is second on the team in rushing behind running back Demond Claiborne (612 yards rushing,17 catches and 8 touchdowns).

When they throw the ball Wake likes to target receivers Chris Barnes (476 yards receiving) and Sterling Berkhalter (283 yards receiving). The linebackers, Justin Cryer, Blake Nichelson and Elijah Herring, need to slow down the QB scrambles and watch out for Claiborne catching balls and of the backfield.

Special Teams

Both teams’ special teams groups have been shaky.

Prediction

If the FSU defense plays like it did in the Stanford and the offense plays like it did during the first 6 games the ‘Noles should win by a couple scores. I think the hometown team is a bit more consistent and gets the close W.

Florida State 24 Wake Forest 23