Grading the Tigers: Florida State Seminoles

Here are our position grades for the Tigers, in their 45-14 win over the Florida State Seminoles.

Here are our position grades for the Tigers, in their 45-14 win over the Florida State Seminoles.

Quarterbacks: A

Let's be honest, angry, upset, ticked-off Trevor Lawrence is the best one. We saw last year in the playoffs when he was out to prove the pundits wrong that he wouldn't have a freshman moment. And it was that Lawrence that reemerged Saturday.

Lawrence had to listen for two weeks about what was wrong with him, was he injured, did he have an MRI, what was the result of the MRI and what is wrong with the offense before he took the field again. And when he did, he played the best game of the season accordign to Dabo Swinney.

"Trevor played awesome, I think he had four ... six rushes for 40 yards, so he's just doing a great job making some big plays for us with his legs," Swinney said. "Threw three touchdown passes, probably should have hung on to a couple more to be honest with you, but a really good day and didn't play much after I think the first series and the third quarter, I don't think he went back in, but did a nice job."

Running Backs: B+

After Travis Etienne and Lyn-J Dixon combined for a meager 87 yards against the Tar Heels, the Tigers made a concerted effort to establish the running game—eliminating many of their RPOs in favor of guaranteeing Etienne touches.

"Travis Etienne, he looked like Travis Etienne today," Swinney said. "He's had a couple weeks of Robitussin and NyQuil. We all know how bad that tastes, because he played not a good game up there in North Carolina. We didn't protect our quarterback, put the ball in the ground, did not play to his capabilities, but great players respond, and he responded like a champion today and really played with eye of the tiger. I mean, he was awesome.

Etienne made the most of his touches, as he amassed 127 yards on the ground. Dixon and the rest of the running backs, which included seven additional rushers, amassed 193 total yards—bringing the Tigers total rushing yards to 320 for the day.

Wide Receivers: B+

The receivers, as a whole, caught the ball thrown to them—however, Swinney felt like they left a few big plays on the field. 

As a group, the wide receivers caught 232 yards of passes from three different quarterback and accounted for three touchdowns. 

"We had a bunch of (big plays) today," Swinney said. "Missed on a few, got some of PIs and just think we needed to kind of get back and really establish our confidence and who we are and attack."

Tight End: C

The tight ends get a passing grade because they were not a factor in either a positive or a negative way. The Tigers have, either by design because they don't have one they are comfortable throwing the ball to or because of lack of trust, all but removed the tight end from the playbook. 

The Tigers tight ends caught only two passes for a total of 11 yards. It is hard to knock them down in their grade or to raise their grade when they have become a non-factor.

Offensive Line: A

After having their worst game of the season, the Tiger offensive line played one of their best of the season.

Facing, arguably, the best defensive line that they have seen this season, the Tigers allowed no sacks and no quarterback hurries. 

"OL did a great job, no sacks," Swinney said. "Offensively we set the tone early and really threw and caught the ball well although I felt like there was probably at least three other balls that we should have come down. But our physicality on the offensive line. I thought Jackson (Carmen) played a great game."

Defensive Line: B

After the defensive line accounted for only 2.5 of the Tigers nine TFLs and only 17 of their 64 total tackles in the game in the Tigers' game at UNC, they responded in a big way.

The Tiger line accounted for two of their five tackles for loss and one of the three sacks. 

Linebackers: B

The same problem of missing tackles that has plagued the linebackers through the first four games snuck up and bit the Tigers numerous times this weekend, but not with the starters—with the backups. 

According to Swinney, the play of the backups is something that will have to improve.

"We weren’t great on third down. Later in the game with some of our backup guys," Swinney said. "I think that is the biggest thing on both sides is our depth. We need to really improve some of these guys that we know we will need at some point."

Secondary: A+

The secondary earned a perfect grade due to the fact they held the Seminoles to 150 yards through the air, forced one fumble and had two interceptions—including a pick-6 by Derion Kendrick.

"Well he has worked really hard to get better and he has really been good," Swinney said. "From the first day he moved over there you could just tell he had the right mindset and is a natural. We knew those guys were going to challenge us and we were going to be on an island a little bit at corner. It was good to see him play well. 

"I thought he played really well. But that play in particular was a huge play. That is the type of play, especially when you are a young player that can really create confidence and hopefully good momentum going into the rest of the season for him.”