#96 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ #6 R.P.I. Florida State:

Today’s word of the day is… Seminole!

Sem·i·nole
/ˈseməˌnōl/
noun.
plural noun: Seminoles

Origin: via Creek from American Spanish cimarrón ‘wild, untamed’.

1. A member of a North American people of the Creek confederacy, noted for resistance in the 19th century to encroachment on their land in Georgia and Florida. Many were resettled in Oklahoma.
2. Either of the Muskogean languages, usually Creek, spoken by the Seminole.
3. The team whoppin’ and hollerin’ and Tomahawk chopping on us come 8 PM?

Florida State Head Coach: Michael Kelly Norvell: age=41 (happy B-day-4), (22-16 @F.State and 6o-31 overall); has a rep’ for: Wr’s and Qb’s and passing itself, duh. Special-Teams and takeaways on D too!
$8,050,000.oo.

Baller and all-time Wr1 Norvell attended the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) from 2oo1 to 2oo5 and played wide receiver. He set the school’s all-time reception record with 213 pass receptions for 2,611 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and 2 passing touchdowns during his career. WOW. Resurrect the N.f.l.’s Punt, Pass, and Kick! During his senior season in 2oo5, Norvell was part of a UCA Bears team that won the Gulf South Conference championship, and made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs, finishing the season 11–3. Impressive.
That’s playar and winner 1o1.

Scholar Norvell earned two degrees from Central Arkansas, completing his bachelor’s degree in social science in 2oo5 and his master’s degree in training systems in 2oo7. “Yes Master…”

‘whistling’ Norvell started out at homegrown Cent.Ark’ then out to Tulsa and then up to Pitt and then further out to ‘Zona State.

Medium-whistle Norvell took over at Memphis after four years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State. Where they averaged 38.1 points per game and scored nearly 2,ooo points in his four seasons.

Ladder climber Norvell spent one year as Pitt’s co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach, and director of recruiting. From 2oo7-1o he coached wide receivers at Tulsa, adding passing game coordinator duties in 2oo9 and director of recruiting responsibilities in 2o1o.

Norvell spent the 2o16-19 seasons as the head coach at Memphis, -taking over for you know… Fu’- then compiling a record of 38-15, including the 2o19 American Athletic Conference championship and a spot in the New Year’s Six Cotton Bowl. His 71.7% winning percentage was the highest in Memphis history and included wins over Power Five opponents Ole Miss, 25th-ranked UCLA, and Kansas. Memphis was the first school to appear in three straight American Athletic Conference Championship Games. Norvell is one of 16 head coaches in any conference to appear in three straight conference championship games. He is also one of only eight to make three conference championship game appearances in their first four years as a head coach. The Tigers flourished academically under Norvell as well, posting single-year APR scores of 991 in 2018-19, 988 in 2017-18, and 976 in 2016-17. Under his guidance, the football team earned its highest grade-point average in program history in the fall of 2017. Through his first three years, 55 players earned their bachelor’s degrees, including eight on the 2019 team. MU.edu love insert (_____), here; check! Impressive.

Big Cheese Norvell started in a rocky way down in Tally. 3 wins then 5 wins -including being upset by Coach Prime- tends to speak on this. Last year’s BIG 1o-wins were a much-needed turnaround capped by a bowling victory. Norvell teams have a tag for slower starts and harder finishes in generic terms. This speaks to coaching and/or developing the verb(s) and to being in very solid S&C metrics to close stronger than most. He also carries a tight in-conference rep’ what with being 17 games north of .5oo in League play @Memphis and now above .5oo @F.s.u. to boot.

Makes his team wear business etiquette savvy matching gray game-day suits with marron ties.
(Eye like this… very professional and next-level G.Q.).
We did the 3o4 AAA Title same.

Coach Norvell has 1 title bling: A.A.C. (2o19)
Florida State extended Mike Norvell in 2o23.

Dad1, m.Norvell is married to Maria Norvell (Chiolino), with whom he has a daughter.

2022 record: 1o up 3 down and 5-3 in the A.c.c.

Florida State Portaling:

• Rb Caziah Holmes (from Penn State)
• Wr Keon Coleman (from Michigan State)
• Te Jaheim Bell (from South Carolina)
• Te Kyle Morlock (from Shorter)
• OLine Casey Roddick (from Colorado)
• OLine Keiondre Jones (from Auburn)
• OLine Jeremiah Byers (from UTEP)
• DLine Darrell Jackson (from Miami)
• DLine Braden Fiske (from Western Michigan)
• DLine Gilber Edmond (from South Carolina)
• Cb Fentrell Cypress II (from Virginia)
• K Tyler Keltner (from East Tennessee State)

Florida State Defense: (starters back=8 ’22 holdovers, tho 7 portal ex-starters somewhere else are in two too!, wow!)

• Forty-two or a hybrid 4-2-Nickel base D.
• 95th in Total D!
• 57th vs. the run.
• 116th vs. the throw!?!
• 40th in Passing Efficiency D!
• 19th in zone-D!!
• 9.5 of 10 in dLine Havoc. Disruptor De1 Jared Verse was a one-year star at Albany. Quiet possibly Albany’s best dLinemen, ever. Dt1 Fabien Lovett, returning from injury after a solid 2o21 came up from Mississippi State. Western Michigan Dt1 Braden -the wrecking ball- Fiske is legit and South Carolina De1 Gilber Edmond is prolly north of that. Fiske in particular is a northward-bound ultra-active veteran Dt1 from who’ll camp out behind the line of scrimmage (L.O.S.). 13.5 sacks and 27 tackles for loss (T.F.L.) in his last 2 seasons say so. Lovett is a fringe Sunday pro’. This is a very good starting front-4. There may be a little drop-off here tho’ the forward-4 are right as rain. And Eye nearly forgot… returning A.c.c. Defensive Rookie of the Year Mr. Patrick Payton. As this Payton Place is in your backfield with 6 Sacks and tweleveteen T.F.L. And did I mention the potential 1st-round De1 (Verse) who has sung to the tune of: sacks (9) and tackles for a loss (17) in his last half-season of work alone? Now mix in Dt3 Darrell Jackson Jr. (Miami) who can’t even start and you see just how Talented and Deep this front wall is alike.
  As Fiske is a fun one to watch at Dt1 when fresh; he goes full-tilt Carlton Powell rodeo and bulls his way home.
  Starting Dt1b, Fabien Lovett Sr. is also back and nearly 100% o-ver-looked; clap-clap-clapclapclap! That’s just how good and how deep FLA.state is on their defensive front line.
  That and an assortment of ongoing ’22 dings gained a lotta P.T. (playing time) for the yesteryear Dt’s who are thought to be a year ahead of schedule for it in ’23 early returns.
  D-front displays 3o, 4o, 5o even 7-man fronts at times.
  Dline is variably sized; not small, just multi-size. They are a whopping penta or 5-Dt deep and 3+ at De. We shall see how our blocking 1’s who HAVE to go the distance handle that in the 4Q.
• 7 from 1o in Linebacking Havoc. Both ’22 Lb1’s both returns. Did Eye mention 100% of the 2nd-layer is back for ’23, yet?
  Linebacker Tatum Bethune from UCF; and homegrown contributor Lb1 Kalen DeLoach is a downright solid holdover who may flirt with greatness if he is not careful. The 1-2 punch of: Tatum Bethune and Kalen DeLoach will make a metric ton of plays.
  DeLoach is very keen in coverage, and gennies a lotta PB’s (passes broken up or a mini-me Phillip Villapiano), whereas Lb3, Tatum Bethune is a savvy blitzer on Lo.FM’s. He has a pass-rushing or disruptive knack.
  Linebacker is a little, little on the Wide side. Tho’ they are deeper than they are little. 6 to 8 if you needs ’em. And, they deploy more of an ILb-twins look than most in a pseudo-forty-Nickle.
• 7.5 outta 1o in Secondary Havoc. The only big departure is first-team All-A.c.c. Fs1, Jammie Robinson. However, F.s.u. returns the other four starters in the secondary or 80% of their ’22 1’s in their hind-5.
  virginia Cb1 Fentrell Cypress II is among this year’s marquee transfers. In ’22 F.s.u. ranked ninth in yards allowed per drop-back and fifth in sack rate, and opponents ran the ball 5% more than the national average on both standard and passing downs. Db1 Jammie Robinson is however a major departure (c.Panthers). He leaves an Fs1 void if not at least a small-sized hole itself on his very own hard-to-surpass (pardon the assonance) metrics. Renardo Green (an aggressive willing Cb1, a few % Oaktown Raider works here) and Jarrian Jones are strong; S1 Akeem Dent (hammie, St.Nikon help) is borderline very good. Only thing semi lacking is the 2nd-string. Tho 1st-strings first and this 1st-string is a taunt one; to be sure. (Some even say this is the strongest layer of the F.s.u. D). (That, and the other alpha layers’ pass rush only aids and abets here). Technically, there are 4 ex-starters back from some season or the other, plus the hooVa starter. Dang… P.T. may be hard to defend here. As Eye can see at least 2 caddies who would start for at least half of the rest of the A.c.c. in the film room for F.s.u.
  The defensive backfield is tall and weighs enuff, if not brawny itself.
  Cb -same as Dt- rotates five-deep. Green might just be a $unday payday baller if he settles in.

• D overall: The bulk of this ’22 unit ’23 returns -same as the O- and the Seminoles went out and landed several high-profile transfers to add to a veteran-laden group.
  As in… in ’22 Florida State ranked 3oth on Total Defense. This included the 3oth-ranked run defense, 38th-ranked pass rush, and 54th-ranked secondary. The Seminoles depart 3 ’22 starters, headlined by S1, Jammie Robinson. Still, yet, some forecast this to be better in ’23. As the ‘noles brought in four transfers and five recruits of at least 4-star caliber.
  Curiously enuff, F.s.u. tends to deny the pass 1st; kinda a Bud Foster^-1 power if you will. And nevertheless, they want to force you to nickel and dime your way downfield in lieu of chunking them on bigger/deeper things. This way their maxed-out defensive speed will garner more chances and garner a Takeaway due to individual metric advantage(s) itself. F.s.u.’s D will take risk(s) to max’ out said velocity all the mo’  As this is a penetrating halt-unit via schematic design.
  At least ^that^ was what Eye was told in the springtime theory… here, however, is what Eye Fall ’23, saw…
• (film-study):
  Honestly? Very first D play surely reminds of ’23 VeeTee. Lb’s may have bad-call obedience (not on them) or they may be dum’. Not Pt.Guard1’s in another life as court-vision or football I.Q. goes. As you can see pretty quickly why they miss some chunky thingys here-n-there when an opposing O breaks their shape/contain. That said, you can quickly see that this D at least tries to hit hard, they play to the ‘echo’ of the whistle. Not dirty, maybe just a bit morally stingy. They also do a lotttttta high-level passing off thingys from Cb’s to S’s and S’s to Cb’s. Very mixy team. Prolly make good clubbin’ DeeJays in some cruise ship disco someday. They have a 3o-look for compressed medium to short-yardage thingys that really under-zone floods the whole shebang. They are run-fighters first; (on: tape). Tho’ as said, rather exotic behind that. They will blitz a bit, tho’ they drop 7 mo’ than most which tells you just how much they trust their front-4 or 3. Lb’s are very athletic on hook-zone drops. Handsy even. They frankly (f0reshadowing intended) look a bit Fosterionian upon breaking tape. Including his wide-azz Stud-De split to the short side. Wild. Trippy even. They clearly trust their ATH’s to get there and make plays, even on deeper halves S drops. ATH’s they gots, too. Very bendy D. Lotta lowercase leg-tackling here; Eye has to presume this much is coaching the verb. They do over-pursue and miss some of these lowercase stops in the open field. As that’s kinda a ‘knack’ thingy. Some Mel Blount have it and some J.T. ‘toast’ Thomas and not so much. Pretty plucky D in the front 4+ when it decides it wants to be and bows its back a bit.
• ∑ (summary): returning D production=% see pic!
  Mr. Albany De1 is your conflict defender here. Understand… the only foible or maybe worst-case bugbear is run-stuffing here. To compound fracture that all the mo’, they were only 93rd in chuck-runs allowed. Which is most curious when you (cor)vette this kind T&F quality ATH’s or track-stars here. That, and this hind-4 did not seem to adjust well -or quickly- to Qb1’s in heat. Kind static schematically if you will. That, and this is a run-1st D. The caveat being said Buster Poindexter opposing Qb1’s… as in… In 2021, FSU was o-4 when allowing teams to get to the 65% aerial marker. Thus, making the program 1-12 under Norvell against offenses that got 6.5 in 10 completions, there. You will need some balance if not some active play-action passing downfield to stretch the run-fills out a bit.
  Capital-D:
  So, the LONG and the short of it is… this D is NOT short on Talent. Nor on depth. Nor on experience (r-shirt guys are all well-stocked all over the place here). They have suffered just a little bad-beat(s) HR plays give up luck. They do go for and play the ball and that is a high-risk vis-à-vis high-reward set. They however have been straight smoked and housed on numerous fluky and/or just bonehead plays. A bit of that is not entirely on them schematically-wise, though more than a bit of it is. As this D should be better… and yet again… if my Aunt Kim had nutz-n-a-bolt? She’d be my Uncle… Tim.
  The ‘Noles have struggled a little bit with running quarterbacks same as the Gap-spilliing, not Man assignment-centric Foster sets always were. They end up –1, here. Including allowing Pivotal busted-shape chunk-yardage gainers to boot.

Defensive letter-grade:

F.S.U. Offense: (returning starters=8 homesteading, tho’ 15 from ’22 anywhere overall)

• 46th in Total O.
• 79th in ground O.
• 33rd in aerial O!
• 18th Passing Efficiency O!!
• 1st best in zone-O!!!
• Other than Rb1: The Seminoles lost their second-leading rusher Treshaun Ward to Kansas State. However, they return lead rusher, Rb1, Trey Benson; and pass-catching Rb2a, specialist Lawrance Toafili.
  r-Jr., Rb1, #3, Trey Benson; this is not the biggest set of ball-carries you will ever see. Trey has a legit set of measurables and the rest are scatbacks via dimensional trade. Benson can chuck the ball in a pinch as footage showed. Trey tips the Toledo’s at: 223 lbs. at: 6′1″. He is a transfer Rb1 via the Oregon Trail. Where he ran for a whopping 22 yards in two seasons b4 making like a baby and heading out to FLA. This is after what was (sadly) described as a: ‘major knee injury’ for the Ducks (St.Culbreth bless). This was followed by what was described as a: ‘miraculous recovery’ from said ‘major’ knee hurt. Coach God Bless. Truly… as pooooor Benson tore his: ACL, MCL, both his lateral and medial meniscus, and his gracilis tendon (hamstring). Good God!
  I mean, that’s savage bad, and yah; this kid will know when it is about to rain for the rest of his Game of Life, days. wow. Truly. That said… Trey was the 34th overall baller per 247Sports prior to this heinous hurt. He had very good final two-season numbers along the way to racking up two AAA Mississippi H.S. blings. Where he routinely tallied between 30 and 5o (yes, fiddy) PPG, himself! Very fluid guy who smoked peeps for points on O, on ST’s, and even over on D. Dynamic kid; or at least he surely was. Now, however, he is more mid-range than TNT dynamite. Kinda akin to g.Sayers his final “da Bears’ year. He was also a pretty fair-to-middling Miss. H.S. hoopsters. He has also shown a big-stage limelight spotlight penchant to boot. And yet you gotta seriously wonder where this kid is on 2.o good wheels. As he did play better and hit it a bit longer (ypc) later on in ’22 last year still working his Cold November Rain way back. Accordingly, dig this… Trey ranked 1st in ’22 A.c.c. play and 13th nationally with an average of 6.46 yards per rush… he ONLY broke PFF College single-season record by forcing 0.51 missed tackles per rush! Thus bettering the previous record of 0.48 since the stat started being tracked with 2o14 season. WOW. Or, where is this kid on 1.9 good wheels for that matter?!? Kra-kra to the point of unheard-of maths post-massive surgical repair. Gutty gamey kid to not spit the bit and make it *this* far back. He can also return KOs (as he housed one last year outta 18 KO returns) in a big-game pinch. Benson proved hyper-efficient, averaging 4.53 yards after contact, and forcing a missed tackle on 51.3% of his attempts. WoW. That’s a beat-up and sometimes beat-down Benson at that.
  This year Trey-B’ is more of a… latent A. Kinda feels like he is due to pop-clean; too!
  Rb2, r-shirt, Lawrance Toafili is a: 5 ′12″, buck-eighty-eight (188 lb.) 4th-year carrier. He has also seen his rushing average decline each and every colligate year. A 195% decline/carry if you are keeping score @home. This after winning the ’21: F.s.u. Offensive Most Improved Player award. Go fig’ here? Placing: no.14o in ESPN’s Top-3oo overall is pretty alluring. As this was a dual-threat mini-me Roger Craig (rush+recieve) flavored H.S. Rb1; who got a few roundball or hoops college looksee’s on the moonlighting football, side. So, you know this is an athletic kid. And he does keep a massive orange-frosted twist-top so that has to count for something. Lotta talent seems to be here, although the college rushing markers (thus far) are a bit marked-up so to speak from a guy who seems to be pretty well dent-free and not very dingy itself. That said, 24-snags on 25 ’22 targets speaks to some new-outta-the-box fur-lined Isotoner soft, hands.
  Rb3(s): To ease the departing Ward, Florida State grabbed Caziah Holmes from Penn State in the transfer portal. The Seminoles also added 4-star freshman Samuel Singleton. Even Rodney Hill returns, who carried 27 times for 144 yards last year. This is a very deep Rb-room folks; about as deep as we will see all year.

• Wr(s) & Te: “Heeeeeer’s… Johnny!” Wr1: j.Wilson of towering 6′8″, Small-Forward sized, 238 lb. frame, or fame itself. Beachy highlife kinda guy who really is a WWII nickname savvy: ‘stretch’ or man among boys. Had his hoopology looks in H.S. terms for it unsurprisingly. 6. Johnny Wilson, ex-of ‘Zona State and now of: Florida State. No. That’s not his jersey number that is his National Ranking at Wr individually. Did I mention the height(s) yet? K. And anywho… this is a 6 foot 8 inch skyscraper who only tallied: 43 receptions, for 879 receiving yards, and 5 receiving touchdowns down in Tally itself. And he coulda/should had nearly fiddy-snags per his seven, that’s (7) ’22 flat-out, drops. And he is a legit power-hitter or HR threat; what with having paced the A.c.c. with twenty-two, that’s (22) 20+ yard grabs in ’22. That being said, he is something of a lack of concentration same stage Randy Moss. As j.Wil’ will drop an easy-to-intermediate catch every bit as much as he will haul a long grab in. Said to be bigger/stronger and working on his route-running or summoning his inner Don Maynard as I type. (The Kevin McHale of N.f.l. routing/footwork).
  And as if that was not enuff… the rich got richer yet when ex-Magic Johnson State Wr1 Keon Coleman portaled in a few months ago. Coleman who led Michigan State in receptions (58), receiving yards (798), and receiving touchdowns (7) gives F.s.u. one helluva a 1-2 punch out on the edges. Eye dare type he nearly surely gives them an N.f.l. 1-2 punch at that. Coleman may be a bit more of a Charlie Joyner or possession medium-case guy underneath, though at: 6′4″, 218 cut-up-lbs., this ain’t nobody’s set of Smurfs and this is a big ole pair of Wideouts. Both uppercase **** or 4-star guys who have only developed all the mo’ in college terms.
  The final starter could be former west virginia Z or Slot-Wr1, transfer Winston Wright, who sat out last year due to injury. He good, and he jitterbugs quickly when he has both legs fully under him. Or when not involved in a major car wreck that required his second major off-season leg surgery in as many years. St.Brenden the Celtic Navigator bless and intercede.
  For depth Deuce Spann, Ja’Khi Douglas, Darion Williamson, and Kentron Poitier all return. Poitier caught 14 passes for 283 yards. Williamson caught eight passes for 131 yards. Douglas caught 10 passes for 123 yards. Spann also grabbed eight passes for 64 yards. Florida State also landed ***** or 5-star freshman Wr1, Hykeem Williams this offseason. This is in addition to **** Wr1a, 4-star recruit Vandrevius Jacobs at the position. Clearly, the Receiver position should be loaded for Florida State bear this year.
  Then they went out and scalped: Te1: Jaheim Bell (South Carolina). Bell, who flashed impact ability, could quickly become another key offensive weapon for a team looking to make a CFP run. Bell -and his whacky purple/orange Predator twist-top- rang things ’22 up as a cinderblock of a Te1 who nearly looks like a great-catching Fb1 or H-back1 playing Te1 itself. Kinda sawed off a bit at a short 6′3″ and a stacked 239 lbs. of pluck itself. That said, his ≅17 yards/snag last year means he can rumble when he gets it and he can lower the boom when he shoulder-drops it. Not a Te1 your smaller Cb’s or Fs’s will wanna mix with, twice. (And this does not include: Kyle Morlock (Division II Shorter); a stud who some say has the higher ceiling at Te1 down the road).
  Grab-gang is BIG. Tall/heighty and muscular alike.
• Qb1: Jordan Travis …he does carry himself well in particular downstairs as this kid is surprisingly leg-strong to be kinda on the lean/cut-up side or size. Nice passing ratio that does not suggest misQs or much in the way of forcing the rock. Disciplined and cogent passer. He is technically a Louisville transfer where he caught a whiff of a cup of coffee fo’ the Cards before stuffing off to Tallahassee. Curiously, a mere *** or 3-star prospect from FLA. Older bro’, Devon Travis, only played baseball at FSU from 2010-12 and played four seasons in MLB with the Toronto Blue Jays. So NC2A arms-race D.N.A. appears to be legit here. Jordan was only the 181st in-Sunshine-state recruit from ESPN.com. He was Trip=A FLA Player of the Year and yet he had a very mixed offer list, a few bigger names, and mo’ than a few smaller names alike. Something musta moved the needle or scared someone(s) off here. As Jordan had nice scholastic dual-threat throw/rush metrics tho’ not great and surely not epic ones. And yet he was just listed this past summer as an S.I. Top-5 Qb1 prospect. Go fig’ on all of this? Do know this is the farthest right-tail of the Experience Curve 6th year non-r-shirt Senior (due to: the cv19 mulligan year). So, you’d have to expect this is a well-fashioned well-honed Qb1 who will not give you much of anything as gifting throws go. As Travis’ Comp% has risen 11% since getting to Tally. His Qb-rating has ascended by nearly ~50-points and yet his rushing average has nearly be cut in half. That’s a throw-fit developing the verb. And here’s the passing-fancy kicker, his TDs have summited by a whopping +400% with nearly no change in his INT%. i.e., he was never making dum’ throws; it is rather that he learnt how to make smart throws along the way. Don’t see that very often and someone merits some Qb pipeline H.S. or Clinic coaching love for it. Meaning: that last year Jay-Tee was only: PFF’s highest-graded FBS quarterback and highest-graded offensive player in ACC (91.7)… only second-string All-A.c.c. for it too. LOL. He is better later in the year as the season ages by ≅10%! The only nag I could find was he drops by about 5% 1Q:2Q and the same 5% 3Q:4Q, which could speak to arm fatigue or throwing his arm out a bit in 1st-school terms. Additionally, he not only looks to red-zone run, he also looks to score with his wheels and he holds the 2-longest F.s.u. Qb rushes in history! Mo’ impressive consider his so-so 4.63 forty. As Jordan Travis also averaged 8.o yards per nonsack carry and 9.7 yards per scramble. Opponents hold their breath the moment he looks to leave the pocket. Has a tag of a better medium to deeper hurler than a short-passer. Does have a B+ strong arm, not a howitzer, tho’ clearly north of average. It’s a Pro’ arm. A quick-release zippy kinda guy. Said to needs a little work on longer progressions when pocketed into 3rd or 4th options. Still, yet, this is a gamer; the only wonderment Eye have is: ‘headroom’. As I’ma not real sure there is a lot remaining here— albeit while also being sure that 125’ish D-1 menz football schools wish they had his headroom, problems. As this is a fringe Pro prospect and there are worse things you could say than that. Finally, ESPN has him ranked 3rd best overall as all D-1 chuckers go. That and he only had the highest final-6-games Passer Rating in all of ’22 ‘ball. He also only eclipsed 5oo rushing yards in back-to-back years. Which ain’t ½-bad wheels from a kid who is prolly a couple mo’ parts chucker than pure grounder.
  Qb2‘s: Florida State returns 2o22 4-star or **** recruit A.J. Duffy. Duffy did not see much time last year, though he could jump Tate Rodemaker as Florida State’s backup. Either way, this team brings pretty good depth inside a pretty crowded quarterback room.
• oLine: The Seminoles did depart two ’22 starters on the offensive line, including All-A.c.c. hard-grinding G1, Dillan Gibbons, However, they brought in three proven college transfers: Casey Roddick (Colorado), Jeremiah Byers (UTEP), and Keiondre Jones (Auburn). More on that below or right now, actually…
  Upfront All-conference G1 D’Mitri Emmanuel started at Charlotte. UTEP Ot1 Jeremiah Byers started out in El Paso. As Talented QBs and WRs are useless without a good O-line and F.s.u. used the ’22 portal well to address departures upfront. The school added multiple players with starting experience in Keiondre Jones (22 starts at Auburn), Byers (3o starts at UTEP), and the versatile Casey Roddick (31 starts at Colorado), who has played multiple positions. Now mix in all-world and promising ESPN 3oo Ota Lucas Simmons. Who has the physical tools to be a high-level multiyear starter. Make no misQ folks… this oLine is loaded for bear. As Robert Scott is an N.f.l. Ot (dented, may be OUT here; Godspeed!) and Maurice Smith should be among the Atlantic’s best C’s. Now, throw in the return of ex-Ot1 Bless Harris from an injury that cost him most of last year, and this should be one of the team’s deepest strengths. Prolly the blocking-best and deepest we shall face all season long. That, and this scheme spends a lotta practice-field time on Pass-Pro’. This V-cup is reps reinforced to not, leak. As the Top-3 here combine for well over 4K in college football snaps at this stAGE of their careers! (Which does not account for a whopping >4K in college football snaps via the transfer portal on the Tally way!) WoW.
  oLine is right-sized tho’ not S.e.c. super-sized. Like a combo’-sized if that makes any blocking mechanics sense. (i.e., a little power+a little quicks, just not alphas at either).
  VERY experienced oLine. Like most snaps combined in the D-1 nation most experienced FYI.
  There are vibes that say there are dings at blindside-Ot1 and C1 here. Might be with an attacking looksee early to see how well they move/hold up. (Pardon the pun). Right, or even-Ot1 (Beyers) is pass-pro’, “available” in a word.
• O overall: S&P+ projects F.s.u. as 19th best on O in ’22 and frankly that seems a mite low to me. As this O is stacked for ’23, they’re nearly all ’22 back, and then they went out and portaled in not less than six, that’s (6) former starters from ’22 somewhere else. wowow! With eight starters returning from a unit that ranked 16th nationally in scoring (36.1 per game) and 1oth in total offense (484.2 yards), Florida State should have a great big-O in 2o23. As anything superlative less than that would prolly disappoint. And yes; nearly everyone else would love to be that offensively, disappointed.

• ∑ (summary): returning O production=% see: pic!
  After averaging 43.3 points through the first four games of the season, F.s.u. (4-o, 2-o Atlantic Coast Conference) is expected to have receivers Ja’Khi Douglas (preseason ding) and Deuce Spann (illness), back in the mix for the meeting with the Hokies. Wideout Kentron Poitier (foot), also could make his return from an injury that has limited him to just one snap in the season opener. Godspeed^3.
• (film-study):
  Will run from a shotgun split-back look at double Hb’s in a narrow ‘bone look at times. Will throw to set up the run and versa-vica in situational toggles at times. Did like the old-school hind-side G-pull for the Qb1 personal protector on the Greenwood/Cox era roll-outs. Will feature throw to Rb’s on Down-n-Outs, Wheels, Bananas, and so forth as they are 4th and 5th in pass catching itself. Will screen mo’ than most do too. Will also motion into an I/Pistol look with an H-back upfront as a Wing and another H-back as a Hb right beside the Qb1 in the Pistol. Lotttttta looks to account for/key here. Rbs are quick/willing tho’ not huge. Run low/hard to the ground. oLine is very useful on their version of zoning; kinda outside-in if you will. Qb will reverse pivot off the play-side run(s) and sell the back-side bootleg very well. J.Travis has some tradecraft poured into him. Few % R.Staubach on his fakes. There is a lotta shifty/motioning here to get you to show your defensive hand pre-snap. F.s.u. makes a lotta calls play-clock late on ‘hot’ reads or Lucy/Riddells (left or right). Their even-G1 (right) either has a hearing thingy (St.Frederick bless) or they have staffed him with making a lotta blocking/helping calls. ^this^ can be snap-count Keyed, MEMO: @J.C. here. Though they pull harder/quicker than they roly-poly bug look. Throw-fits do work all three old-school passing Triangle vertices. Te’s get a very 70’s amount of love here. As they + the Rb’s are 4 of the Top receiving 6! F.s.u. will work shallower to mediumer early to stretch you/sneak you deeper late. Wideouts will stack and yet they both run/pass or Read-Option here. They will also high-side 3-wide. Again, there is a lotta sets to film-room get with on a normal work-week here. Qb will Dennis O’Connor sail a few throws. And they did hit pretty quick on the shorter mo’ West Coast looks. Rb’s are not all dat and a blocking ‘snap’. I did read they had tried to simplify thingys for Travis and that seems to have helped here. a 10:1 passing ratio is an A+++ problem to have. So is his approaching/progressing (pun intended) level of Defensive reads. Not a dum’, jock; here.
• 125:125 or perfectly 5o% run:pass  5o% mix. Never seen exactly split b4, either???
  Those returning Wideouts are your (not: so) secret sauce offenders here. The Mike Norvell rushing offense is designed for one thing. At Memphis, his attacks created wide-open lanes for his speedy QUICK hitting backs to fly through and gouge defenses for yards in chunks. This is a run-shape that does not hit for contact or singles. It wants doubles, trips, and HR’s. It was good at F.s.u. in 2o2o and 2o21; then last year it was far more consistent with over 2oo grounded yards in each of the last seven regular season games as it finished No. 1 in the A.c.c. in Rush O and 13th in the nation averaging 214 yards per game.
  The couple of Qb-splits thingys Eye saw were… Travis is a bit of a homer. He throws better in Tally by about ~+5% to the good. Though he is nobody’s closer. His 4Q vitals are: 48%, 54%, and 52% historically. That’s not automatic and that ain’t cardiac or clutch. He is sharper by a good deal earlier than later. Don’t know if that means he tightens up or the run outta ‘go’ plays to fit for him after 45 minutes of calling or a bit or both? Though it is a significant trend if/when this one somehow remains close, late. There are also ‘whispers’ that Jay.Tee (off-arm, St.Christopher bless) has not been at full Qb1 medicine yet this year. So, the OFF week might be the 1st time in ’23 he be livin’ his best life. As oLine blocking has been a mite south of their V-cup passing-pro’. We shall see how this clears or clears not on 13-days R&R.
  Finally, Eye kinda got the feel that they have been measuring/saving ’23 things so far. Which makes you wonder what else they have to show. Or, will they view VeeTee as beneath them and pocket mo’ things for the ranked A.c.c. teams they draw post-us?
  Extra finally, Eye did enjoy the Travis baggy/designer jet-setting look. He puts a little sompthin’-sompthin’ into his: COACH (get it?) designer airport A-game attired look. Must be gettin’ dat N.I.L. crack-a-lacking work, too.
• O will go for it on 4th, and they are nearly 1st-place at the same!

Offensive letter-grade:

‘nole Special Teams: (both returned)

F.s.u. is a tasty 11th-best in Net Punting and so is P1, Alex Mastromanno. This mastodon 6′2″, 245 lb., bulky P1 by way of: Melbourne, Australia; ‘mate’. To me… he does not quite look his bulk/heft upon breaking tape; though either way… this is not a lowercase pansy/fairy-looking typically fòndue-guzzling P1. There are bonus points available for the trucker/CB ‘breaker-one-nine’ old-school mullet and Alex has a big 1o-4 score on dat. LOL… interesting looking P to be sure. 3rd-year-Soph’, as cv19 confusion goes… who has curiously enuff retained Pt status since he F.s.u. broke in… in spite of going from: 43.5 to 42.7 and then down to 41.8 as (average) ypp goes. The career-long of 65 is decent enough; although in two other years, he only capped a long of 53 and 54 yards respectively. i.e., this is a hangtime coverage -and if need be- a directional (keep-away) P1. With zero fakes (run or pass) on board to boot. Alex is also F.s.u.’s H1 (Holder-one) on F.G.A.’s and P.A.T.’s. Not a big fan of the time that takes to practice field double-dip here. That said, this guy does kick a mean loft wedge. With only 1-touchback in total Punts! That’s incredible accuracy on depth itself. Prolly close to a professional level of footsie control if you prefer that version of punting itself. As this kid’s towering moonshot punts force a lotta ‘fair-catches’ in return. Mr. Mastro’ was also a multi-sport athlete ‘down-under’. Where he competed in Australian Rules football, tennis, and track and field.  Alex scrummed for: Collingwood in Victorian Premier League and helped lead Brighton to back-to-back APS premiership rings! Or is it belts? Or trophies/plaques? Either way, he has Paul Hogan won, twice! i.e., this is a very skillful P1, if not quite a bionic-legged P1 itself.

• 1o8th in Punt Returns | 95th in KO returns. (Surprising, ain’t it? That, or they: ‘due’).
• 55th in punt coverage | and 46th in suicide-squad.
• F.s.u. has blocked o kicks and allowed o kicks to be blocked.
• F.s.u. has blocked o punts and allowed o punts to be blocked.
• BONUS: F.s.u. epic ’22 return specialist (Mycah Pittman) had hip surgery. St.Winfery bless. He had it out in Utah and has apparently elected to remain out in the same. This prolly was the PR1 for all the A.c.c. to boot.

Sorta-K1, Ryan Fitzgerald endured a brutal 2o22 season, due partly to a change in his kicking technique; he connected on just 12-of-2o field goals. After switching back to his previous (wide-wind-up) kicking approach midseason, Fitzgerald looked better late in the season. That said, he had better look better as he will have to fight off a challenge from E.t.s.u. Buc’s transfer K1: Tyler Keltner. Keltner cracked 18-of-23 field goals and earned all-conference honors last season. Either way… improvement should be a shoo-in, here.

Thus far in ’23 terms Mr. Fitz’ has emerged as your PK1 and benched the rest of the ’23 K1 Mrs’. for his troubles.

27 leg-swings so far into ’23 have gone great for a perfected 27-makes is tight just like dat. He has collegiate makes out to nearly 55-yards.

Fritzy is your chicks dig the long-ball PK1 to be sure. Check it… he was only one of the top kicking prospects in the country who is known for his explosive leg; truly! He was rated ***** or a: five-star kicker and No. 14 prospect in the country by Kohl’s Kicking. Fritz’ holds two Georgia state high school career records with 51 made field goals and eight 5o+-yard field goals. As a senior, he made a single-season state-record 22 field goals while earning first-team All-American by MaxPreps, first-team All-American by Kohl’s Kicking, and the leg-up 2o18 Chris Sailer Award. As a junior, he only made a school-record 60-yard field goal, the fifth-longest in Georgia history by a high school! This is along the way to breaking the state’s single-season record with six 50+-yard field goals. Yes, this kid has a very heavy foot and can bust dat long-F.G.A. in lieu of a s short punt. As Fritz’ can kick it from here to Tennessee, even if it sometimes lands in… Kentucky.

Special Teams letter grade:
To me, this is an all-star team that knows it. They are leg-improved and yet their returns are in arrears. As swagg they gots. And to me, you gotta think they are getting ripe to do something bigger/better here. B+ is the best you can do in the meantime.

Unit Rankings:

1. F.s.u. O.
2. …gap…
3. F.s.u. D.
4. VT D.
5. …gap…
6. VT O.

X-factor(s):

• motive: VeeTee you’d think would be up/excited here. Likewise that spearchucker of a Chief on his jumped-up Appaloosa horsey @home. EDGE=push.
• weather: has to favor the O’s and that favors the Seminoles. EDGE=’noles.
• health/off-field: the BYE week really helped F.s.u. here. They were a little catch-cadre banjaxed too. EDGE=’noles.
• penalties: Norvell teams ain’t dull— they can even trend on being a bit rowdy at that. So, 54th is actually kinda tight for dem’. However, we are O&M binge-washing Yellow-Laundry of late… now down to 94th best. EDGE=’noles.
• intangibles: VeeTee is decently winning T.O.P. (time of possession) and yet F.s.u. is decently winning the all-important Turnover Margin. EDGE=push.
• fatigue: F.s.u. faced OPEN before this. So, they are shooting logo-3’s on 13-days’ worth of ‘fresh legs’. EDGE=’noles, BIGtime too.

 

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of  ‘noles who could scalp (tix) @Tech=22 maybe 23?

the takeaway:

…the takeaway is… it is pretty dang hard to not be taken with these ’23 ‘noles!

Under the late legendary head coach Bobby Bowden, Florida State won ten games or more in every season from 1987 to 2ooo.

Under Jimbo Fisher, Florida State won ten games or more in six of seven seasons from 2o1o to 2o16, with the one outlier a 9-4 2o11 campaign before winning the national title two years later. And then soon after there wasn’t a whole lot of fun.

---

---

Over 2022, the F.s.u. won just 2o games over a stretch of four straight losing seasons at a place that hadn’t known a campaign under .5oo  since 1975.

This after they just nailed their first top-15 finish since 2o16, plus a six-game winning streak, plus a Top-1o returning production ranking, plus a Top-15 recruiting class, plus another strong transfer haul equals Top-1o hype. The Seminoles might have a Heisman candidate, too. Quarterback Jordan Travis.

Little ole me you ask?
My only wonderment is… do they have enough footballs to go around?

As this is a very Talented team and P.T. here will be at a premium with this many Constellation Class star-power guys. Or the best problem to have… i.e., too much depth not enuff, reps.

They are Top-1o nationally ranked for ESPN’s 3-year composite index.

Meaning… if you do not get F.s.u. in ’23 you may not get them until after ’26, or beyond.

***

xxx’s & ooo’s
Their staff has been together longer and is more self-familiar with it.
That counts here.

formulae here favors:
A 4-corners O.
Run that clock; take the air outta the ‘ball.

Game Ball or mag·num o·pus:
Chris Coleman.
As this is surely his r-shirt HEAVY pet team ever.

As in… ≅94% of the F.s.u. ’23 2-deep has, red-shirted! This is downright zany in the
myspacebook.me era of: play ME in team right away!

permutations:

1. Δ1=33.33% This is indeed one of those rarefied superior firepower games that we could get humped in. We wet the O&M misQ bed here and we will get pumped.
2. Δ2=33.33% This is only a per se normal beating. Eye mean… how high should they be to play us after how low we’ve recently, been?
3. Δ3=33.33% Now that all to say… Eye do kind hope/wonder if they could be available to get mouf-punched and if Pry & Co. might just get post-Pitt-stop high like the International Space Station and hang around a bit?

#ChallangeA.c.c.epted… there are 1,440 minutes in a day and it will prolly take at least sixty-one, or the proverbially only existant there, 110% here.

the optics…

…third!

As in 3rd ranked overall in Portaling in ’22 would be F.s.u.
And you are not that attractive unless you are doing something(s), right.

the skinny…

…you’d really rather try your chances vs. this many incoming Transfers in the one-hole all other things being equal.

As F.s.u. will only get better and better as they gel more and more.

And by the end of ’23 there is a longshot chance that this is a Play-Off caliber team if/when they Fixodent and gel earlier than expected.

WWI: “The Great War”…

Trench Warfare favors…

Lo.FM (Long-field Management©)

• Vee Tee is an underwhelming 78th best in 1st-down O | whereas F.s.u. is a pretty punchy 37th best in 1st-down D allowed.
• F.s.u. is a shocking off-schedule running to the airport gate 117th best in 1st-down O | whereas VeeTee is a very respectable 32nd best in 1st-down D allowed!
• Vee Tee is a shaky 1o5th best in 3rd-down O | whereas F.s.u. is a reasonable 48th best in 3rd-down D allowed!
• F.s.u. is a below-average 85th best in 3rd-down O | whereas VeeTee is however a virtual matching C- or 84th best in 3rd-down D allowed.

  

Lo.FM. Analysis:
Well(s)… my knee-jerk patella-tendon Rx? This ain’t nobody’s Top-5 team. “aye” F.s.u., Eye’ma typing @you. LOL… though you also have to conclude that this is nobody’s offensive game. Nearly not at Lo.FM. all. As both squadrons very much have tended to chase the ’23 sticks.

The advantage is only found on the halt-unit side(s). Where F.s.u. does mo’/better in defense of getting off the field on D. EDGE=’noles, though not by much at all.

TTT (Time To Throw©)

• The Gobblers are sievey looking 1o3rd best in T.F.L. (tackles for a loss) allowed O | whilst the Seminoles are suitable 48th best in T.F.L. inflicted D.
• The Seminoles are a downright starchy 8th best in T.F.L. O allowed O | whilst the Gobblers are a ‘competitive’ 43rd best in T.F.L. inflicted D.
• The Gobblers are a pipe-taped 87th best in sacks allowed O | whilst the Seminoles are an edgy 36th best in opposing Qb sacks inflicted D.
• The Seminoles are a near dribble-prof 19th best in sacks allowed O | whilst the Hokies are a nearly matching edging 38th best in opposing Qb sacks inflicted D.

TTT Analysis:
Well(s), kinda the same drill as up Lo.FM. above… as both D’s have the edge(s) here. The key part however is found in the sci-fact that the V.P.I. Crooked O is rather anxitizied looking here. As in… if you end up chasing the chain gang vs. this much halt-unit Talent/Speed and metrics? Your English units will be left-speaking pig-Latin or drowning in Swamp People and Lake Okeechobee ‘fish-talk’. The VeeTee O has to do better to have any shot at this one here. EDGE=FLA.State‘s oLine disallowance of negative plays.

3-game splits:
Tech has suffered a modest offensive betterment to the tune of right at +1.5 mo’ first-downs worth of total yards gained recently. The groundings are up by a nearly handsome +5o mo’ ypg even if passing has dropped off by a little over –3o ypg ¦ Drones from Wells if you wills. The Seminoles O has actually contracted or cooled by close to –3o ypg in their last 3 matches. Entirely of which is all via a bit less hurling or a few less deep plays to be mo’ specific. The V.P.I. D has ‘hiked’ its belt up by just over 22 ypg to the improvement of late in total D terms. They have gotten ~9′ better in passing-D allowed and the rest is due to better fill-n-the-(blank) Eye mean fill-n-the-Gaps looks from the 2nd layer and Safeties of late in O&M defense. The Seminoles are virtually tied at 21 less ypg allowed on D in the last fortnight and a change of defense industry. All of this percolating is due to a bit better-passing defense of late. As their run-fits are nearly the same.

Last 3 analysis:
Here Ripley’s Believe It Or Not… the Hokies appear to be winning the coaching the verbiage, battle. As F.s.u. honestly seems a bit flat, underwhelmed, or undermotivated to me more so than injuries or regression itself. Maybe they know just how good they are and they function at only the base-necessity level(s) accordingly? EDGE=VT, technically… though is it, functionally?

H/A splits:
Tech only drops (foreshadowing intended) by about 2 1st-downs out on the road. They run about +3o ypg better though fall off by nearly fiddy or –5o ypg worse in airwaves terms as the visitor on O. The Seminoles’ home O skyrockets or goes BIG-0 by nearly +13o ypg to the great down in Tally! They do this entirely on the ground. Suffering a whopping ~+210% betterment in their rushing-shapes @home. As passing flattens out by a few fewer passes hurled due to such epic homesteading ground-gaining. The Techsters’ defensive delta (or, Δ for change in the scientific fields) only moves by a ginormous 3′, or 1-yard as Road Warriors go. The entrenched Techmen however are much mo’ user-friendly on D on the road, announcing a staggering near 56 ypg bonus coupon code to rushing opponents. Hence the Hokie passing D does not face as many away aerials and hence the lack of net-change. The Seminole D however constricts like a mother, @home. Virtually –142 ypg stiffer as overall resistance goes. In particular FLA.State is vastly mo’ passive-defensive at home with close to –120 less ypg allowed threw the airwaves in the Sunshine State.

Home/Away splits analysis:
Clearly, F.s.u. feels their flow and goes Sean ‘puff daddy’ Combs and catches their sexxy @home. On both O & on D alike— you super rather take your chances vs. them in your very own backyard. Tech is at least H/A reasonably consistent overall; though the ‘noles are a real live beeyotch in Tally. EDGE=’noles by quite a homesteading bit too.

— ///🪓\\\ —

Our handy dandy friend, the so-called: Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is merely asking for a pretty soon round-robin Audubon savvy ask, back.

Triangle Theory says that… we should go bird-watching at the same, time.

the call...

Yes, kids. Florida State really used to be all kinda amazing at college football.
Including the Y2Tech MV1 M.N.C. game.

Where someone briefly went topless for the cameras with a sign that read:

"Peter Warrirk stole my shirt!"

How weird have the last few years been? “Strange Days indeed. Most peculiar momma.”

As the last Coach j.Lennon run of four negative or L’ing seasons in a row was from 1973 to 1976. From 1977 to 2017, how many L’ing seasons did Florida State suffer through?

Zero.

And yet here we are and the recently mighty fallen seem to have gone grave-plating and fallen back up.

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/8db3c5b6-ba4d-4069-9f62-e1f7977f27c4

the sportlight...

…here in the sportlight, we are hoping that F.s.u. goes Sleepy Hollow and takes us, lightly.

That is our only shot here. As it will take some F.s.u. help(s) to do the deed down in Florida. As Eye am inclined to agry with B.P. of TSL fame…

…as you could prolly argue F.s.u. has every alpha (Talent Show) gold or at least silver medal to hold over us whereas we (mostly) do not even know where the trimout podium, be.

F.s.u. Projected S&P+: 7th.
State Projected S&P wins: 9.75 W’s.

♥  ♣  ♦ ∪

The VerdicT:

Tough to take Tech here men.

And you don’t have to be St.Joseph the Carpenter to realize that lying is for… rugs.

• F.s.u. ranks #5 best in explosive O ¦ and #4 best in fewest negative plays offensively allowed. They βeta rate NOT less than 51st best in βeta offensive anything. (And that is just S.O.S., strength of schedule).
• The VeeTee O rates 95th βeta best Σ or overall and only 72nd best in any given metric (Drive Rate).
• F.s.u. ranks #28 best in ’23 D Σ or overall! Including crunching ranking in: 4 categories and not less than 5oth best (vs. Passing Efficiency allowed).
• The VeeTee D rates a reasonable (and gaining) 52nd βeta best Σ or overall and only truly sucky chases (9oth best) in Rushing Efficiency D allowed.

So, the ask to you is… what can the frigid or little O Hokie O do here? They have to keep pace and keep up and did Eye mention we prolly need some Seminole help(s), here; yet?

–oOo–

The Seminoles warparty us and then our post-season Wake-up call buzzer-beater begins!

Let us just hope this is not a seminal moment for them.

Or, that they tipi all over, we!

🙏>>>🏈

upset Index=14%

#wimps!

Virginia Tech=17, Florida State=4o

“LETS GO!“

Please support the VT F.C.A.!

“HOKIES!“

bourbonstreet**