Florida State Seminoles vs. Louisville Cardinals: Three Key Matchups for ACC Championship
The Florida State Seminoles have plenty to play for on Saturday. They take on the Louisville Cardinals at 8 p.m. ET, as the game will be broadcast on ABC, for the ACC Championship. On top of this, the Seminoles were ranked No. 4 in the recent College Football Playoff rankings. The final rankings come out after the conference championship games. If the Seminoles win, they will secure their spot in the playoffs.
To add to the emotion and narratives surrounding the game, the Seminoles clinched a spot in the ACC Championship before Jordan Travis went down with a season-ending leg injury.
Here are three key matchups as the Seminoles hunt their first ACC Championship win since 2014.
1. Florida State Secondary vs. Louisville Passing Game
In the last three games, Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer has thrown at least one interception. In a game where the Seminoles will be playing behind backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker once again, forcing a timely, critical interception could be huge.
On the season, the Seminoles have nine interceptions. If they can disrupt the Cardinals' offensive rhythm with an interception, the rest of the defense can rally behind that to give the Seminoles a much-needed boost.
2. Tate Rodemaker/Brock Glenn vs. Louisville Defense
The Cardinals hoist an ACC-leading rushing defense. This puts pressure on Rodemaker to perform. They allow 96.8 yards per game on the ground and have let teams score just 12 total rushing touchdowns on them this season.
So, plenty will ride on Rodemaker, who led the Seminoles to victory over Florida a week ago. He threw 25 passes, completing 12 of them for 134 yards. With the Cardinals being a middle-of-the-pack pass-defense team in the ACC, this provides a good opportunity for Rodemaker to make a bigger impact this time around.
Not to mention, Rodemakder now has a full game under his belt and an additional week of practice as the starting quarterback. As an experienced backup quarterback, Rodemaker will now travel to another situation with plenty of pressure riding on his team.
With Rodemaker being a game-time decision on Saturday, that pressure could fall onto Brock Glenn, the four-star true freshman. Glenn has thrown just four career passes and, while his dual-threat talents fit the mold of the offense, he has seldom experience and that will play a huge part in the championship game.
3. Seminoles Offensive Line vs. Louisville Defensive Line
The Seminoles will have to win in the trenches if they want to win this game. The Cardinals average 33 points per game, just 5.8 points per game less than the Seminoles on the season. Without Travis, it's up to the Seminoles to keep up offensively.
As mentioned, the Cardinals allow an average of 96.8 rushing yards per game. The offensive line will have to create opportunities for Trey Benson to be an impact player. If Benson can get going behind the offensive line, the Seminoles will be in a much better position to run a balanced offense and catch rhythm.
Furthermore, the pass protection will have to be solid. Rodemaker will have to get the ball out quickly and find rhythm with his receivers to keep a sense of momentum on that side of the ball. In both facets of the Seminoles' balanced offense, the offensive line will be playing a huge role.
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