Duke Head Coach Manny Diaz Talks Florida State Prior To Friday Matchup

The Blue Devils are looking to defeat FSU for the first time in program history.

Robert Malcom | 20 Hours Ago

Aug 30, 2024; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz runs out onto the field before the game against the Elon Phoenix at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images / James Guillory-Imagn Images

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Florida State Seminoles

The Florida State Seminoles return to action this week following a much needed BYE week. After a 1-5 start to the season, expectations for this team are lower than ever, and rightfully so as this is the worst start to a season by the the program in nearly 50 years. With that being said, there seems to be a new spark in the team with Brock Glenn taking over for DJ Uiagalelei following a hand injury.

With the 'Noles just getting into the hardest part of the schedule, the chances of making a bowl game are slim as they can only afford to lose one more game, and this week's game against the Duke Blue Devils is a must-win if this team plans on playing in December.

First-year Duke head coach Manny Diaz, who started his coaching career with the Seminoles as a graduate assistant under Bobby Bowden during the 1998 and 1999 seasons, making two national championship appearances in that time, discussed the upcoming game as his squad looks to get their first win over FSU in program history.

Diaz opened his press conference by acknowledging the noticable difference he has seen in his team in their first practice following their own BYE week, and how he expects Florida State to be in a similar situation.

"If you closed your eyes on our practice field yesterday and today, you would have been able to hear the difference coming off the bye week. It's not that we practiced poorly before the bye, but there's definitely a renewed energy and enthusiasm amongst our football team. It came at an important time for us and our players were able to refresh themselves as much as possible midway through October," Diaz said according to Duke Athletics.

"Of course, Florida State is in the same situation, so I'd imagine they've got the same boost in their practices that we have in ours. I got to watch a lot of really, really close games this past Saturday that were all decided by a handful of plays and were tight going down the stretch. I expect that same thing to happen here on Friday night," Diaz continued.

Scouting is a part of football, teams will do just about anything to get an upper hand or just have an idea of what to expect, but Diaz mentioned that he had his coaching staff self-scout earlier in the week. He added that his offensive staff scouted the defense, and the defensive staff did the same for the offense, and while it is an interesting approach, he noted that it was very beneficial to the team following their first loss of the season to Georgia Tech.

"On Monday, we had our offensive staff watch all of our defensive plays and our defense staff watch all of our offensive plays and give feedback as if we were getting ready to play one another. You'll always see yourself through different eyes, right? But you have to be intimate with your reality, that's one of my favorite statements, and know what you do well and what you're not doing well. Why are you not doing it well? What can we do to improve those things? What can we do to accentuate the things that we are doing well and try to get more of that? It gave us a great opportunity to see everything," Diaz said.

Despite the offensive struggles Florida State has seen throughout the season, the defense has been relatively solid throughout the season, allowing less than 24 points in four of the six games played, and being put in poor situations due to turnovers. Coaches have said that the Seminoles' defense is a major threat to the passing game, and Diaz is no exception to that as he discussed how different this will be for Duke's offensive line and passing game altogether.

"You have to minimize putting yourself in obvious passing situations. This will certainly be the most talented group of pass rushers that we've gone against all year. Our line has done a good job in the first half of the season of keeping our quarterback upright, but they haven't seen anything like what Florida State has, and they do a great job because they play a lot of press man coverage with a quarterback," Diaz said.

"So with the quarterback sitting there, passing the ball, waiting for someone to come open, the odds of you winning for those one-on-ones against their four guys are going to be diminished. You have got to figure out ways to help keep that guy upright. I think that'll be the story, what offensive football team can best support their quarterback with run screens, they all do a phenomenal job in the screen game," Diaz continued.

The Seminoles and Blue Devils will face off Friday, October 18th for their 23rd matchup all time. Florida State has won all 22 games that have been played, but could this be the year Duke gets the job done? Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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