Monday Mailbag: Louisville, coaching, and running backs

The Seminoles enter week five and the month of October still searching for their first win. It hasn't been easy to this point but this team hasn't shown any signs of laying down. Florida State has another opportunity to get that first elusive win in the column on Saturday with Syracuse coming to Tallahassee.

It won't be a simple task, especially since the Orange have some momentum after upsetting Liberty. That said, the 'Noles need to carry over the effort that they brought in the final 30 minutes against Louisville, it's their best chance of coming away with a victory this weekend. The defense, in particular, stood out over the third and fourth quarters in the close loss to the Cardinals. After letting Malik Cunningham do whatever he wanted in the first half, they shut him down consistently.

The game plan to defend the quarterback will likely be a lot different against Syracuse since starter Garrett Shrader isn't the running threat that Cunningham is. This match-up is going to come down to Florida State's rush defense, as running back Sean Tucker carries the load for the Orange.

Let's check out the mailbag for this week.

When you have two running backs averaging over 5-6 yards a carry, why would you consistently abandon it and go to the pass game which has been suspect? - Matt Field

I don't disagree that it's a puzzling strategy but let's revisit the context. Florida State was down 17-0 in the first quarter and trailed 31-7 with less than two minutes to go until halftime. I thought they should've tried to establish the run more early on in this game but once you're trailing by a significant amount, pounding the ball also grinds more clock.

The key to the Seminoles having a successful running game is to utilize these backs early and often. Get them firing on all cylinders in the first quarter so you don't have to complete massive, unlikely comebacks.

When will we fire our OC and DC?! There’s no way we fire Norvell. - Stan Hays

Based on the way that head coach Mike Norvell has spoken during his press conferences, I get the feeling that he's not looking to make any coaching changes anytime soon. He still truly believes that he has right the guys in place to help turn this program around.

Yes, there are warts in the defensive backfield and at linebacker but Adam Fuller has been better this season. As for the offense, Norvell has been taking the blame rather than putting it on Kenny Dillingham.

Can this team ever catch a break? - Michael Carpenter

They've got to eventually, right? This team has shown signs of being able to compete and make plays, it just hasn't happened consistently enough to win a game yet. At this point, the goal needs to be to make it to the BYE week.

Florida State is limited on offense right now due to a banged-up offensive line. A week off might do everyone some good, fans too.

Why are we calling trick plays? - Justin Hill

I can't even tell you at this point. The wild cat has worked in spurts for the Seminoles' offense but the direct snap play while trying to confuse the Louisville defense on fourth down was simply a bad call.

When will we see Chubba Purdy? - Elprofetrol Zucked

If I had to guess, sooner rather than later. The redshirt sophomore quarterback was listed as a co-backup with Jordan Travis to starter McKenzie Milton in the most recent depth chart that was released earlier today. More importantly, it was the first time we've seen Purdy crack the two-deep this season.

In a season that is inching towards being lost, having an opportunity to develop your future signal-caller in a no-stakes environment would be a lone bright spot.

When the DB's are in press coverage, are they jamming the receivers at the line of scrimmage or are they are getting a free release? - Mike Tee

From what I saw on Saturday, the defensive backs don't even really get into press coverage. They line up four, six, ten yards back and just get feasted on due to the amount of space they are giving up to wide receivers.

It's frustrating because there is a ton of talent in that defensive backfield and they just haven't been able to get it together. It's been a consistent issue for years now.

What do you think Norvell will say to the recruiting class coming in to keep them on track with FSU - Bryan Vega

Well, he can certainly say that there is a lot of playing time up for grabs, particularly at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end, linebacker, and defensive back. There are multiple spots on the roster where the Seminoles could use an influx of talent and Tribe22 projects to be a large part of that.

Norvell needs to preach that he's currently building a foundation and that this has always been a rebuild. He's working with multiple transitional classes right now, which is never a good thing.

Wouldn’t it be funny if Clemson is our one W this year? - Michael Carpenter

It would be funny but not necessarily shocking due to the ACC as a whole this year.

Is there a way to make a time machine so I can prevent all of this? - Nick Breasette

Imagine if we could just dial things back to Ryan Fitzgerald's field goal in overtime against Notre Dame. What could have been...

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