Game Preview: Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles

Will the Seminoles avoid a letdown on Saturday following an emotional victory on Labor Day weekend?

Florida State comes home after a thorough beatdown of the No. 14 Louisiana State Tigers, who were ranked No. 5 at the time of the game and will welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to Tallahassee in the Seminoles' last non-conference game until late November. 

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Southern Miss has some talented playmakers and had a big win over Tulane last season, so the Seminoles will have to focus after a massive win Sunday night. 

This will be on the ACC Network for an extremely late 8:30 PM kickoff, with the Seminoles currently favored by 31 points with an over/under of 53, according to BetMGM. 

Seminole Headlines

Obliteration in Orlando Offers Different Obstacles

Florida State handled business against LSU Sunday night, but now has a short turnaround to prepare for Southern Miss, and left Orlando with a No. 4 ranking in the AP Poll. Luckily, FSU comes home relatively healthy but has to re-focus. Southern Miss head coach Will Hall, who spent some time with Mike Norvell at Memphis, is doing his best to further inflate the Seminoles' ego by saying “they’re probably the best team I’ve ever coached against. I played ‘Bama in ‘21 and they played for a national title, and I think this team is a little better than them.”

While Norvell will likely stress focus and consistency like he has all summer, and all reports from practice this week seem like they're responding well, this is a new challenge for the 'Noles, as they're not used to having expectations and having the target on their back. Pretty much from here on out, they're going to get everyone's best shot. 

Dominant Defensive Line Looks to Build Off of LSU Win

Florida State's defensive front was a big reason they were able to have success against LSU, holding the running backs to 49 rushing yards, and if you take away Josh Williams' big run at the end of the first half, they only had 14 yards on 12 carries. Southern Miss brings Frank Gore Jr. to town, who has rushed for 2920 yards and 17 touchdowns in his career so far, but he's also capable out of the backfield with 478 receiving yards, and has even thrown 30 passes with 7 touchdowns in there. I'm fully expecting Southern Miss to utilize every part of Gore Jr.'s game to make some plays. Reserve back Rodrigues "Dreke" Clark rushed for 54 yards last week against Alcorn State, having the most carries in the game for the team, and it'll be interesting to see if Southern Miss was not wanting to show more than they had to with Gore, or if Clark will be a part of the game plan moving forward. 

Southern Miss is returning a lot of experience on the offensive line, with all five starters having started at least five games last season, though they were susceptible to pressure last week, allowing four total sacks (two with the starters, two with the backups). I'm expecting a ton of pressure from FSU's defense, and think they finish with at least five sacks, assuming Southern Miss doesn't come in with a game plan of just a ton of quick passes. 

Confidence in the Defensive Backs

Defensive Coordinator Adam Fuller showed a lot of faith in his cornerbacks early in the LSU game, as on the goal line, he was perfectly fine leaving Renardo Green and Fentrell Cypress in 1-on-1 situations against a really talented receiving corps. 

If Fuller was trusting them against Malik Nabers, Kyren Lacy, and Brian Thomas, I expect him to take more chances up front to get home to the quarterback in this game. And that's no disrespect to Southern Miss' Jakarius Caston, who looked really good against Alcorn State. He's just not Nabers. So I'm expecting a ton of man coverage across the board and letting Green and Cypress do what they do best. 

Re-Establishing the Run Game

It took a little while for Florida State to establish the run game against LSU, though it wasn't for lack of trying. Trey Benson wasn't quite reading the counter blocks correctly, though Lawrance Toafili and Rodney Hill did well in their carries. Part of it was obviously the freak that is Markevious Wingo; you don't play guys like him very often. Another part of it was blocking assignments getting muddled, something I believe we'll see FSU start to clean up this week.

Burning Questions

Does the Short Week Factor Into FSU's Performance?

I don't think this will be an issue for the 'Noles, but it's certainly something to take note of. Since FSU came back relatively healthy, the one less day of rest wouldn't matter as much as it normally would, and they're coming back to play a Group of 5 team. 

Florida State has been on the wrong side of this situation recently though. Look back just two years ago, and the Seminoles were very competitive in an overtime loss to Notre Dame on the Sunday of Labor Day, before coming back the next week and losing to Jacksonville State. This is going to be fresh on Norvell's mind, and he's going to have these guys ready to go. 

Can the Offense Find Another Gear?

Florida State's offense was humming in the second half against LSU, but especially the 4th quarter. The Seminoles were already averaging 7.5 yards per play for the game, but that turned up to 8.3 yards per play in the second half. Establishing the run game and having success on the ground is a big part of what FSU wants to do, and they'll have a good chance to do that on Saturday night. 

The player to avoid on Southern Miss' defense is safety Jay Stanley, who intercepted two passes against Alcorn State and five all of last season. While FSU isn't going to shy away from anything or anyone, they will do what makes them the most unpredictable, and that starts with getting the running backs, and especially Trey Benson, going. 

How Much of an Impact Does the Coaches' Familiarity With Each Other Make?

Will Hall was Mike Norvell's Tight End coach at Memphis in the 2018 season, and is as familiar with what Norvell wants to do as much as anyone. 

It'll be interesting to see how he schemes looks for Frank Gore Jr., and if his defense will align differently since he's sat in on some of those offensive meetings. While the talent around the programs has seen a drastic change, a lot of Norvell's themes have stayed the same. 

Game Forecast

While Florida State has the potential on offense to light up the scoreboard, I have a feeling Norvell will step off of the gas just a little bit for one of his former coaches but will cover the spread and easily go over the projected total. 

Florida State 49, Southern Miss 13

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