Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Florida State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

No. 4 Florida State (6-0, 4-0 ACC) is set to take on the No. 16 Duke Blue Devils (5-1, 2-0 ACC) this Saturday inside Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

It’s just the third-ever time the two teams will meet as ranked opponents (1994, 2013) as Florida State looks to keep its unbeaten streak (19-0) against the Blue Devils alive.

The last time the two schools faced off was December 12, 2020 (the latest regular season game played in Florida State history), a game that the Seminoles won 56-35.

Ahead of the matchup, we wanted to gauge where Florida State fans sit after the Seminoles’ best start since 2015 — namely:

Who’s performed better, the offense or the defense?

The results are in and it’s almost evenly split on which unit has performed better:

Maybe that’s the sign of a well-balanced football team.

Should Florida State play with more tempo?

  • Yes
  • No, it’s in the right spot
  • No, slow it down

The results are in and Florida State fans definitely feel like Mike Norvell should push the gas more with his talented offense and I somewhat agree. When you have as many explosive players as FSU does on offense give them more shots at the apple but at the same time he also does a good job of not putting his defense in bad positions with too many three-and-outs:


» Florida State hosts Duke inside a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium as part of Homecoming activities on the FSU campus in a primetime matchup on ABC. Florida State, which is also celebrating its inaugural Seminole Heritage game, is playing on ABC for the sixth time in seven games this season.

» The Seminoles defeated Syracuse 41-3 last week to improve to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. The overall and ACC records are FSU’s best start in each category since 2015. Florida State’s defense held the Orange to three points for the second straight game in the series, marking the sixth time in program history the Seminoles held an ACC opponent to three or fewer points in back-to-back games.

» Florida State is No. 4 in this week’s Associated Press poll. It is the seventh consecutive week FSU has been ranked in the top-5, the program’s longest streak since 2013-14 when Florida State was in the top-5 for 27 consecutive polls.

» The Seminoles extended their winning streak to 12 games, the longest active streak in the ACC and the 3rd-longest active streak in the country. During its streak, Florida State has outscored its opponents 506-219.

» FSU has scored at least 30 points in 12 straight games, the longest active streak in the ACC, the 2nd-longest active streak in the nation and the 2nd-longest streak in ACC history, trailing only FSU’s 17 games from 2012-14.

» Florida State is one of two teams ranked in the top-20 in red zone offense and red zone defense. FSU’s offense ranks 8th in the country having converted 95.8 percent of its red zone opportunities into points, and the defense has held opponents to points on 71.4 percent of red zone trips to rank 16th nationally.

» The Seminoles are one of seven teams nationally to have a receiver and a rusher with a three-touchdown game this season. Keon Coleman caught a career-high three scores vs. No. 5 LSU, and Trey Benson tied his single-game career- high with three rushing scores vs. Southern Miss. Coleman is one of 24 receivers nationally with a three-touchdown game this year, and Benson is one of 43 players with three rushing scores in a game.

» Florida State’s defense has faced 35 plays inside their 10-yard line this season and allowed just nine touchdowns. In the 45-24 win over No. 5 LSU, the Seminoles faced 10 snaps inside their own 5-yard line and allowed only two scores. On LSU’s first drive of the game, the Tigers had six plays inside the five-yard line, including four snaps from the 1-yard line, and the FSU defense forced a turnover on downs with a 13-yard sack on 4th-and-1. Syracuse did not have a snap inside the 10-yard line and took only one snap inside FSU’s 15-yard line.

» The Seminoles have scored on 10 of their 12 opening drives of a half this season. In those half-opening drives, Florida State has scored seven touchdowns and three field goals for an average of 4.9 points per drive.

» Florida State made 10 tackles for loss while allowing 0 TFLs, including sacks, in its win at Boston College. It was the first time in recorded program history FSU did not allow a TFL against an FBS opponent and the first time nationally a team had 10 TFLs while allowing 0 against a P5 opponent since Missouri’s 2017 win over Florida. The only other time FSU did not allow a tackle for loss in a game was 2012 vs. FCS Murray State.

» FSU scored 31 points after halftime vs. No. 5 LSU, the most second-half points against a top-5 opponent in program history. It also was the most second-half points nationally against a top-5 opponent in a non-playoff game since September 26, 2020, when Kansas State scored 31 second-half points at No. 3 Oklahoma. That has only happened two other times since the beginning of the 2014 season, both in 2018, when Purdue scored 35 second-half points against No. 2 Ohio State and Ohio State scored 38 second-half points against No. 4 Michigan. The only other team to score at least 31 points in a game against a top-5 opponent this season is Texas’ 34-24 win over No. 3 Alabama.



Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here