Monday Mailbag: LSU, injuries, and passing attack
The Seminoles kicked off their 2022 season with a thrilling 47-7 victory over Duquesne on a rainy Saturday night. It was exactly what everyone wanted to see Florida State do against an overmatched FCS team; dominate and get out of the game relatively healthy. The team accomplished both of those goals and now sits in a good spot as it heads into a crucial matchup with the LSU Tigers.
READ MORE: FSU President says Seminoles will be "very aggressive" in conference realignment
The offense ran through the Dukes to the tune of 406 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground. It was an impressive performance from the rushing attack that produced three 100-yard rushers for the first time in the same game in program history. Treshaun Ward, Trey Benson, and Lawrance Toafili are all going to have the opportunity to do special things within the offense throughout the year.
Defensively, Florida State held Duquesne to 164 yards and 1/10 on third-down. The Seminoles limited the Dukes to 93 rushing yards (3.1 YPC) and 71 passing yards. It's been nearly six years since the last time the program was able to hold a team to less. Despite a mostly vanilla night where defensive coordinator Adam Fuller limited his blitzes, the unit was still able to wreak plenty of havoc at the line of scrimmage and in pass coverage.
Let's reach into the second mailbag of the season to see what's on the docket ahead of a trip to New Orleans.
Why did they do the two-point conversion of the first touchdown? - @dani.chv
Matching up against an FCS team, you want to try out different scenarios that you might not be able to work on during the course of a normal game. I think this was just Mike Norvell giving LSU's coaching staff something else to prepare for throughout the week. It would be a little surprising if Florida State breaks that out against the Tigers. Then again, If Wyatt Rector would've realized that ball about half a second earlier then the play might've worked.
Who is the leading rusher by the end of the season? My vote is Treshaun Ward. - @stone_quill
It's tough to say because I feel like the Seminoles are aiming to be pretty balanced on the ground throughout the year and they should with the amount of different talents in the backfield. If I had to pick, I'd probably go with Trey Benson because it feels like he's the most explosive of the trio and is a tough runner to boot. He averaged 9.5 yards per carry on Saturday, his first time touching the field since a serious knee injury. The best is yet to come for Benson.
How is Johnny Wilson doing after his injury? - @limon5073
Wide receiver Johnny Wilson came up with the biggest play of the night, reeling in a 51-yard deep ball from Jordan Travis early against Duquesne. However, on a touchdown run a few plays later, it seemed like Wilson got banged up. He didn't return to the game after that play.
Head coach Mike Norvell addressed his status on Monday and it appears that the Seminoles decision to remove him from the lineup was mostly precautionary.
He was feeling definitely better yesterday and it was one of those things in the game that was close to see whether or not, he wanted to get back in there," Norvell said. "He was definitely moving around pretty well, but obviously we held him for the rest of the game. Yesterday was a normal day after a game where you’re a little banged up, but I’m excited to see how the progression of that goes.”
Was the shuffling of the offensive line due to injury or just testing different guys? - @c1int0n_t
A little bit of both. With how quickly this game got out of hand, Florida State wanted to rep as many players as possible on both sides of the ball. That meant over ten players along the offensive line rotated in and out of the lineup at different stages of the night.
With that being said, redshirt sophomore Darius Washington did appear to leave the game early due to an injury. Washington was listed as a co-starter with Maurice Smith at center on the depth chart that Florida State released for LSU on Monday.
Will the passing game come alive against LSU? - @antonioalicea.23
I don't see why not. There were some signs against the Dukes but Florida State kept things mostly simple while relying on its dominant ground attack. Regardless, we got a small taste of the improvements that quarterback Jordan Travis has made. He didn't throw a touchdown but he did complete 11/15 passes for 207 yards while displaying precision on deep balls to Johnny Wilson and Kentron Poitier.
The Seminoles will go to the air more often against LSU and it won't be surprising if they have success. Three of the top four receivers against Duquesne were transfers. The depth of the unit has taken a legitimate step forward.
Did you see enough from Jordan Travis to think we can move the ball through the air against LSU? - @kdock24
Yes, he threw two battle deep passes to Wilson and Poitier. He missed a throw in the end zone but didn't benefit from drops by Wilson and tight end Cam McDonald. Travis did what he needed to do with his arm. What did concern me some was that he didn't take more liberty to try and avoid contact.
There were a couple of passes where Travis could've gotten the ball out quicker and limited taking a shot from a defender. He only scrambled a few times but on one play, Travis ran into the middle of the defense and let a player hit him low rather than slide. That's something I'd like to see change against LSU.
Do you think we will be able to run all over LSU like we did Duquesne? - @maupinthefloor13
I'm not sure about run all over but I expect Florida State to continue to have success on the ground. It's all going to start with the health of the Seminoles offensive line. Redshirt sophomore Maurice Smith was listed as a co-starter at center alongside Darius Washington on the depth chart for LSU. Smith didn't play against Duquesne after getting banged up during camp while Washington appeared to get hurt during the game.
The running backs are talented, there's no doubting that. But the five guys up front are going to need to open up some holes against a long and athletic defensive front.
Most important individual matchup against the Tigers? - @sam_watkins53
There's so many to choose from. Florida State only produced one sack on Saturday night against Duquesne. It's important to note that the Seminoles didn't blitz often, but it's still a stat that's being brought up on the cusp of the team taking on LSU. The defensive line is going to need to show up in a big way against a defensive line that doesn't have a ton of experience.
The Tigers will be starting a true freshman at left tackle in Will Campbell. That means Campbell will likely be taking on redshirt sophomore defensive end Jared Verse. During his debut against the Dukes, Verse tied for a team-high four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and the lone sack by the defense. The result of this battle will play an impact on the game as a whole. If Verse is consistently getting to the quarterback, life will be tough on a revamping LSU offensive line.
Score prediction against LSU? - @landonbooke08
I'm close to picking Florida State to come out on top of this one. However, I'm in show me, don't tell me, type of mindset with the Seminoles. Hopefully this is the game where they can truly prove the improvements that have been made across the roster.
I'm going to pick LSU 31-28. But I won't be surprised if Florida State finds a way to come out on top.
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