For the first time since claiming its third national championship, Florida State will be at the friendly confines of Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday as it plays host to The Citadel. With the defending national champs taking on an 0-1 FCS school that finished just 5-7 a season ago, the outcome may be a forgone conclusion, but Saturday’s contest should display some of the Seminoles’ young talent.
In Florida State’s season-opening 37-31 victory over Oklahoma State, FSU had very noticeable depth issues at key positions and in many cases, the answer to fixing them has to be freshmen.
The most glaring positions in which Florida State was thin was at wide receiver and along the defensive line. While the suspensions of receiver Jesus Wilson and defensive end Chris Casher certainly didn’t help, a number of youngsters will need to step up to fill those holes.
At receiver, the guys ready to step in include true freshmen Ermon Lane and Travis Rudolph. Though neither had a catch in the season-opener against Oklahoma State, Rudolph drew a critical holding call to keep a drive alive.
With Lane standing at 6’3″ and Rudolph at 6’2″, each could bring a much-needed big, physical presence to the FSU receiving corps. With Kelvin Benjamin leaving early for the NFL Draft and Isaiah Jones ruled academically ineligible, the Seminoles sorely need a large target that can high-point the football.
On the defensive side of the ball, true freshmen defensive tackles Demarcus Christmas and Derrick Nnadi should see extended time against The Citadel. After a hot start last week, the interior of the defensive line wore down as the game went on due to a lack of depth.
While the defensive line was the most noticeably thin spot on defense, the young corps of linebackers also appeared very to lack depth. With Ukeme Eligwe, redshirt freshman Matthew Thomas and true freshman Kain Daub all out this week, we should see more of true freshman Jacob Pugh and more of redshirt freshman Ro’Derrick Hoskins. Pugh saw action last week on defense, but failed to make a tackle.
Though the front seven of the defense and the wide receiver position look to be the biggest points of concern for Florida State, Saturday should bring about a number of other highly-anticipated debuts. Mario Pender shined in his debut behind Karlos Williams at tailback in the season-opener, but look for 5-star recruit Dalvin Cook to be the third running back to carry the ball this weekend for the Seminoles.
Cook could find himself running behind 6’7″ tackle Roderick Johnson and taking snaps from a Florida State quarterback making his FSU debut. After starter Jameis Winston, Sean Maguire should see time under center, but true freshman J.J. Consentino or redshirt freshman John Franklin III could also see action.
Although Florida State looks to easily blow by The Citadel and set a new school-record by winning its 18th straight game, Saturday’s home opener could prove important down the stretch. For the Seminoles, this weekend’s contest with the Bulldogs is a chance to develop younger players, establish much-needed depth and to build confidence for Florida State’s upcoming ACC opener with Clemson.
