This Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2 the Seminoles will host the Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia is 3-1 on the season with wins against NC State, Norfolk State and Delaware and a loss to West Virginia. FSU is 14-5 versus the Cavaliers all time. UVA beat the ‘Noles, 46-38, in an overtime thriller last season.
Observations from the last game
The offense was able to move the ball for most of the game but had issues in the redzone. The offense may have scored more if they had the ball more. Central Arkansas possessed the ball for 40 minutes and racked up 22 first downs. The defense got 3 sacks but still had issues putting pressure on the quarterback. Overall FSU played just well enough to get the win against an overmatched team. The ‘Noles must play better if they want to compete in the games coming up.
Florida State offense versus Virginia defense
Virginia has given up 4.6 points per game in their wins but gave up 38 in their lone loss. UVA had trouble defending the quarterback run giving up 123 yards to West Virginia’s QB. Because of this I think Norvell will call more run plays for Ashton Daniels. Running back Ousmane Kromah (397 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns) is still going to be the focal point of the offense. Once he gets going it should open things up for the QB run and the receivers. UVA has had problems getting pressure on the quarterback so hopefully Daniels can take advantage. Duce Robinson looks to replicate his performance against UVA from last season. He had 9 catches for 147 yards and a TD. Impact players on the Cavaliers defense are cornerback Jacobie Henderson, and linebackers Maddox Marcellus (19 tackles) and Kam Robinson.
Florida State defense versus Virginia offense
The quarterback of the Virginia offense is Beau Pribula, who has thrown for 793 yards, 12 total touchdowns and only 1 turnover. Virginia has run the ball 61 more times than they have thrown it. The QB is a good runner and 4 running backs have more than 24 carries. The starting back is Jekail Middlebrook who has 177 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. The best receivers on the team are Kameron Courtney (15 receptions and 166 yards), Rico Flores and Da’Shawn Martin (3 TDs). The FSU defense has been better against run and look to continue
being solid in the run game. When UVA gets to 3rd down the ‘Notes must bring pressure even if they have to blitz. The cornerbacks, Ja’Bril Rawls and Quindarrius Jones, need to play well for FSU to get enough stops.
Special Teams
Advantage: Florida State
Prediction
The FSU players and coaches were raving about how well practice went this week, so we’ll see how that translates to the field. The ‘Noles offense should be put up enough points to make it close, but the defense won’t be able to get enough stops to get the victory.
Florida State 30 Virginia 37
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