Memphis vs. Florida State from the Seminoles' Perspective: 'The Sky is Falling'

The Daily Helmsman: After two tough losses, how does the Florida State fanbase view this season?

Will McBroom: To summarize the feeling around campus in one phrase, I would say “the sky is falling.” To enter with such high expectations coming in and immediately watch a team not only lose, but not really give any reasons for optimism, has crushed any real momentum this team had coming into the year. Being in the crowd for the Boston College game, there was no real buzz by the end of the first quarter. Part of that was because of the Boston College game plan that gave them the ball for almost the entire first quarter, but another part was the lack of faith in the FSU offense to be able to counter with real points of their own.

The Daily Helmsman: How do Noles fans feel about Coach Norvell?

In terms of Coach Norvell, there has been a lot of scrutiny placed on him for two key reasons: the play calling and the decisions that he made in the transfer portal this offseason. The play calling decisions for Florida State have been egregious the first two weeks, highlighted last week by the lack of any real attempt to get the run game going. On the transfer side, it starts with DJ Uiagalelei at quarterback, but it goes much deeper than that. The receiver room, defensive line, and interior of the offensive line all relied heavily on transfers brought in this offseason, nearly none of whom have contributed in any positive fashion. Norvell’s development and overall culture is under significant fire, and while I don’t think any coaching change is impending or even realistically possible, he risks losing the fans beyond the point of no return if FSU doesn’t give some reason to believe in these next few weeks.

The Daily Helmsman: Is there any chance of a QB change coming into this game? If not, what changes should we expect?

Will McBroom: We really haven’t heard much to indicate that, despite the desire of just about every fan in Doak-Campbell Stadium last Monday for anyone to start at quarterback besides D.J. Uiagalelei. For all of the talk about Brock Glenn, people seem to forget that he was extremely ineffective in his two starts a season ago, to the point in which Lawrance Toafili was put in at wildcat for a great deal of the second half of the game against Louisville. Fans will always want to shift from the devil they know to the devil they don’t, but the truth is Glenn struggled in practice this Fall and has given no one any reason to believe that he will be more capable than Uiagalelei has been so far. Part of that is also an indictment on Norvell’s ability to develop recruits, which has been a mixed bag at best thus far in his tenure. In my personal opinion, I think getting a young quarterback reps would be the better move specifically because of how bad Uiagalelei has been. However, barring another disastrous performance where Uiagalelei can’t hit routine throws underneath and turns the ball over like the BC game, I don’t see any changes coming there. I do think the game plan will be significantly different, and you can count on a lot more touches for the FSU running backs, specifically Lawrance Toafili. I would think that young players will get more reps on defense as well to try and develop the future of the team, but at the same time there aren’t many players on the two deep and three deep that inspire much excitement from Florida State fans. Tallahassee is hoping to see sweeping changes, but I think any changes are going to come in the form of play calling adjustments and hoping for improvements from individual players. 

The Daily Helmsman: Who should Tiger fans be weary of on the FSU offense?

Will McBroom: Honestly, not an easy thing to answer right now. Florida State has a strong stable of talent at running back, starting with Lawrance Toafili and Alabama transfer Roydell Williams. However, the offensive line struggled to give them any help in week one, and the staff refused to even give them the ball in week two. However, if adjustments are made properly, they can be dangerous. Freshman Kam Davis was one of the only bright spots on limited touches for the Seminoles last week, and we could see more of him this week. Kentron Poitier also had a strong series and caught Florida State’s lone touchdown of the game, and if he can be more consistent, he has the range as a receiver to make up for Uiagalelei’s inaccuracy.

The Daily Helmsman: What has been the biggest issue for this FSU team so far?

Will McBroom: A lot of people will immediately say the quarterback position, but I’ll look to the defensive side towards the front seven. The defensive line for the Noles was a heavily hyped group entering the season, and they have looked nothing short of lethargic for the first two games. Georgia Tech and Boston College both have solid offensive lines, but Florida State’s athletes are superior and should have made far more plays against them. They have been gashed in the run game in the opening weeks and created little in terms of pass rush. There were times when Castellanos (Boston College QB) had what felt like a full minute to stand and look for an open receiver. The other component, the linebacker room, is and has been the worst unit on this team. DJ Lundy is the only experienced player and he has struggled mightily thus far. The same can be said to an even greater extent for Cam Riley and Omar Graham. Blake Nichelson has been solid at best, but overall the linebackers have been the biggest issue along this defense and the second level tackling has been absolutely abysmal for this Florida State defense. The lack of talent at linebacker was a concern coming in, but I don’t think anyone expected it to be this bad.

The Daily Helmsman: Despite the season ending injury to Sutton Smith, Memphis has a strong running game. Given the rushing success of BC and Tech, is this an area that the Tigers could take advantage of?

Will McBroom: Absolutely. Mario Anderson is in position to have a field day against this front seven. Between poor initial ability to get penetration on the part of the defensive line and dreadful tackling by the linebackers and safeties at the second level, Memphis can easily rack up chunk plays and dominate time of possession similar to how BC did all game and Georgia Tech did in the second half. Memphis will need to focus on the run game because the corners for FSU have actually been the only real solid part of this team thus far. Azareye’h Thomas is a solid NFL prospect, and Fentrell Cypress has improved mightily in his second year starting. However, Boston College was able to dominate with Castellanos completing 10 passes for 106 yards. The run game will be the most important factor for both teams in this game.

The Daily Helmsman: How does the FSU fanbase view this game/ Memphis as a program?

Will McBroom: I think Memphis being the year in, year out top tier group of five program that they have been has raised the respect level of the fanbase towards this game. Even entering the season, it was a similar feeling to the bewilderment that fans feel from seeing a team like Appalachian State or Boise State on their schedule. That feeling has been greatly enhanced by the slow start, and honestly I feel like the panic is at a very high level from the fanbase knowing how dangerous Memphis is as a team. I still think there is some cautious optimism that changes will be made and FSU will take advantage of the talent differential, but the concern levels are higher for this game than they have been over the last two weeks.

The Daily Helmsman: Prediction?

Will McBroom: As I said, as much as fans want to see wholesale changes, the truth is this Florida State team doesn’t have the developed depth on this roster to do that. The Seminoles will run the ball more and the offense will not be quite as stagnant as it has been. However, Memphis will keep pace and will be able to run the ball efficiently, and with the gaping difference at quarterback, the Tigers will build a lead that Florida State cannot overtake. Memphis wins, 38-28, and the pressure builds even further to bench Uiagalelei after another poor performance. Meanwhile, the Tigers take the driver’s seat in the race to the G5 college football playoff bid.