On Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN FSU will be in Louisville, Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals. Louisville is 2-3 on the season with wins against Villanova and SMU and losses to Mississippi, Wake Forest and NC State. FSU is 18-6 against the Cardinals all time. The Seminoles won the last matchup, 16-6, to win the ACC championship in 2023.
Observations from the last game
The players and coaches said they had a great week of practice, and it showed on the field. The offensive and defensive lines dominated the line scrimmage leading to 10 sacks and 281 rushing yards. Rylan Kennedy had 2 sacks, and Chris Jones had 6 tackles with 1.5 sacks.
Quarterback Ashton Daniels rushed for 136 yards and a Florida State record 5 touchdowns. Daniels won ACC QB of the week for his performance.
Offensive lineman Andre Otto also won player of the week for his position.
Florida State offense versus Louisville defense
The Louisville defense has struggled this season giving up 466 yards per game (129 in the FBS). They still have the talent and potential to slow down offenses. Defensive end Clev Lubin is projected as a 1st round pick and is having a steady season despite dealing with double teams. He has 3.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The rest of the team only has 4.5 sacks. If the FSU offensive line can contain Lubin, Daniels should have time to find Duce Robinson and others down the field for some big gains. When that happens running backs Ousmane Kromah and Tre Wisner should have more room to make plays in the run game. Other Louisville players to watch for are linebacker TJ Capers and defensive back Kaleb Beasley (36 tackles and 3 interceptions).
Florida State defense versus Louisville offense
Quarterback Lincoln Kienholz has had a great season so far this year throwing for 1,394 yards and has 15 total touchdowns. Tre Richardson has been his Kienholz’ favorite target racking up 445 receiving yards on 28 catches. Other receivers making plays are Lawayne McCoy (FSU transfer) and TreyShun Hurry. Even with all the success of the passing game the Cardinals still run it more often. They call the QB run quite a bit and of course give the ball to their backs Keyjuan Brown (367 yards rushing) and Isaac Brown (322 yards rushing). I think Louisville gains plenty of yards but gets bogged down in the redzone due to FSU’s run defense. Defensive tackles Daniel Lyons and Kevin Wynn need to have big games to slow down the Cardinals rushing attack.
Special Teams
Advantage: Florida State. Kicker Gabe Panikowski has yet to miss this year, and Jasen Lopez is getting more comfortable returning kicks.
Prediction
This game will come down to who gets pressure on the quarterback. After last week I think the ‘Noles figured it out and the pass rush will put just enough pressure on Kienholz. FSU wins on the road for the first time since 2023 in a tight one.
Florida State 31 Louisville 29
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