Advertised As A Strength, Florida State's Defensive Front Played Like A Weakness In Ireland

It's time for the Seminoles to look in the mirror after being physically beaten down by Georgia Tech.

Aug 24, 2024; Dublin, IRL; Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King passes the ball against Florida State at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tom Maher/INPHO via USA TODAY Sports / Tom Maher/INPHO via USA TODAY Sports

Florida State's defensive line picked up a ton of hyperboles leading up to the 2024 season. Whether it was the 'freaky' duo of Joshua Farmer and Darrell Jackson being highlighted or Patrick Payton's numerous first-round draft projections to the 'breakout' buzz surrounding Marvin Jones. There was a lot of excitement surrounding this front four, to say the very least, heck, College GameDay even reported that multiple NFL scouts were expecting the Seminoles to field the best defensive line in college football.

That certainly wasn't the case on Saturday as the hype went up in a puff of smoke and FSU's defense got a harsh taste of reality. Georgia Tech, which slotted in as the No. 9 team in the ACC preseason poll, ripped up the paper and put on a pair of boxing gloves, punching the Seminoles in the mouth right from the get-go. The Yellow Jackets never let up, running the ball at will whenever they wanted to. By the conclusion of the game, GT had accumulated 190 yards on 5.3 yards per rushing attempt, nearly doubling Florida State's total. Oh, and the quartet mentioned above combined for just six tackles (zero TFLs, zero sacks), less than half of safety Shyheim Brown's number of stops (13).

READ MORE: Three Thoughts on Florida State's Head-Scratching Loss to Georgia Tech

It never truly looked like the Seminoles were willing to match Georgia Tech's physicality which is a disappointing aspect in itself. What might be even more worrying, however, is that a unit thought to be a strength for Florida State resembled anything but that in Dublin, Ireland.

Did expectations climb too high? Is this performance a fluke? Are we wrong about this group? That is to be determined by the response. But it's worth noting that even with knowledge of Georgia Tech's explosiveness on the ground, Florida State was still outplayed over and over again. Of course, the linebackers didn't have a great game either but it all starts up front. Run fits, controlling the edge, and sound tackling are all marks of a capable defense and the Seminoles were lacking in that department from beginning to end.

"We knew it was going to be a fight," Mike Norvell said after the game. "Defensively, that rushing offense was the number one rushing offense in the league a year ago, and they returned everybody and they've got a lot of dynamic players, and do things that force you to have to be great on your fits and obviously execute in those moments. And I'm going to go see the film, I didn't think it was from a lack of physicality."

"There were some plays here and there, where we're on the edge of blocks, we got to be better and tighter in certain situations. Make some of those space tackles when we get the opportunity to do that," Norvell continued. "You know, obviously up front, there's times that you offensively that we have to do a better job of maintaining leverage. They were fitting with safeties inside and outside, they did a good job of changing up their their schemes. And we had our we had our chances, and whether it's in the run game, pass game, something we will be able to go back and evaluate and work to get better at."

Outside of Jamal Haynes, who lit the Seminoles up for 75 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Haynes King ended up as Georgia Tech's second-leading rusher. The dual-threat signal-caller was the first in a line of many athletic quarterbacks that Florida State's defense will face this year. Namely, Thomas Castellanos, the next challenge awaiting the team on the schedule in just over a week.

King ended up with 54 yards on 11 carries, including some timely runs in dicey situations. Florida State's defense looked to have King stopped on a few of his attempts that turned into longer carries after failing to maintain the edge. That's going to have to be adjusted quickly with an even more dangerous scrambler gearing up for a trip to Tallahassee.

Castellanos passed for over 2,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 yards in his first year as Boston College's starter. That included an insane performance against Florida State where he nearly led an upset bid while totaling 400 yards of offense to light a fire under the Eagles. The Seminoles escaped but round two has to be on their mind in a big way, especially now.

"There's some times where we were in position but he [King] did a good job of getting to the edge. We've got to do a better job of setting the edge and keeping him contained but that was definitely an x-factor in this game and I thought he played at a very high level being able to extend that," Norvell said. "Even on the times when he wasn't necessarily the ball-carrier, he still brings a dynamic where it forces you to account for him. I thought their running back ran hard, we know he's a good player but it all starts with that quarterback. I thought he did a really good job being efficient and it was kind of what this game turned into. They were able to extend drives, they were able to keep possession, and they responded well whenever they needed to."

Florida State also allowed Georgia Tech to convert 5/9 third-down attempts while surrendering three touchdowns on three attempts in the red zone. No matter the area of the field or situation, the Seminoles couldn't consistently figure out the Yellow Jackets. That's troubling but maybe more game reps together can allow a defense that is replacing seven starters to gel as the season progresses.

But you certainly have to wonder if this unit is going to end up being the backbone of the team that we anticipated during the spring and fall. There's no doubt that FSU will have to learn from this defeat but the team can't let one game define them in the process. It's a long season and there is room for bumps in the road in the new 12-team College Football Playoff era.

The bounce-back process has to start right now for the Seminoles. It could end up being a challenge for Mike Norvell with a ton of new players and new leaders in the locker room.

"For our football team, it's about where our response goes from here. Obviously, we're all hurt. You come, you work, you want to start off the season a certain way, and we came up short of that tonight," Norvell said. "I think a lot of that Georgia Tech team and the players that they have and the things that they have done and they played well tonight. For us, there's going to be a bunch of plays we're going to look back at the course of that game and if the result of any of them is different, it's probably going to be a different outcome to end that game. But we get to take ownership.

"I take full responsibility of all things that this team does. And I've got to make sure that I'm doing a better job of helping prepare them to go out there and be in position to capitalize on every play," Norvell continued. "Regardless of how many you get, or how many you don't get, we've got to obviously make it happen with those opportunities."

Florida State returns to action on Monday, September 2 in the home opener against Boston College.

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