Florida State defense has proven it can finish strong; the goal now is to ‘start fast’

Florida State defensive coordinator Adam Fuller met with the local media on Monday afternoon; it was his first session with reporters since the Seminoles’ 31-24 overtime win at Clemson.

Fuller was, of course, asked about the way his defense played in the second half, how it limited the Tigers to just seven points and actually scored seven itself on a perfectly timed sack and scoop-and-score by linebacker Kalen DeLoach.

He said he was pleased with the way his defense responded in the win — just like he has been pleased with the way it’s bounced back from tough starts all season long. But, obviously, he’d like the defense to start stronger than it has through the first four games of the year.

“When our backs have been against the wall, we’ve played our best,” Fuller said. “That’s great, right? Let’s play our best when we’re not near the wall.”

In other words, don’t let Clemson score on three of its first four drives before you shut them down. Don’t let Boston College score 10 quick points before you start getting stops. Then don’t let them cut the lead down to two before you make the big play to end a threat.

The response is great. Absolutely. Fuller loves it. He says he really appreciates how his players have rallied and played their best — like in overtime against Clemson — when the game is on the line.

At the same time, maybe the game wouldn’t be on the line if they played better sooner.

“It’s taken a lot of work to get that mental toughness and that belief and that fortitude,” Fuller said. “Whether it’s a goal-line stop or whether it’s a critical third down, whether it’s in the fourth quarter and we’ve got to go create a takeaway and score. Whatever that all is, I’m really happy we have that to us. Because that’s an important trait. Toughness, mindset, ability to respond, all those things.

“I use the word urgency. How do we create that constantly? Because we try to do it here in practice. We do it in meetings. … You want to force the action, you want to make sure your guys are always the aggressor. You want to make sure you tackle well coming out of the gate.”

That hasn’t been the case through the first month of the season.

In three games against Power 5 opponents, Florida State’s defense has a grand total of two three-and-outs in the first half. Out of 15 possessions. Meanwhile, the Seminoles have allowed five touchdowns and two field goals and had two other long drives — against LSU — stall out deep in their own territory with critical fourth-down stops.

In the second half, they’ve mostly flipped the script and been dominant, save for a hiccup in the fourth quarter against Boston College.

After the win over Clemson, head coach Mike Norvell said he liked the adjustment Fuller made after halftime, becoming more aggressive, more physical, more proactive instead of reactive to what Clemson was doing.

Norvell was asked on Monday if that’s what he wants to see moving forward. Not just when the team is behind, but from the opening kick. And what being “more aggressive” even means.

“That doesn’t always come down to blitzing,” Norvell said. “When you say how you attack, it’s playing with confidence in what you see and [how] you react. … I want to see our guys go out and, yes, absolutely play with confidence and attack. Whether that means pressure at times, whether that means rushing four and how we fit and how we communicate and the sense of urgency with which we play is important.

“I thought there were some good adjustments made (against Clemson) that allowed us to be more aggressive there in the second half. But we want to have that mindset regardless. And that’s one of the things we talked to our team about. We’ve got to come out and start fast.”

Does that mean bringing more pressure early?

Just like the last two games, Florida State will be playing an inexperienced quarterback on Saturday. Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones has only made three starts in his career so far. And while he’s coming off a big game against Pitt, Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium should be a much more difficult challenge for the sophomore signal-caller.

But Boston College’s Thomas Castellanos and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik picked the Seminoles apart early in their games. Will that happen again? Will Fuller’s defense build on the second half against Clemson and confuse and confound Drones? Will they bring extra pressure more often?

“If blitzing was always what’s going to work, we would blitz every single play,” Fuller said. “We have blitzes ready for each play, to be honest with you. Whether they’re in empty formations, unbalanced formations, condensed formations … you have mindsets going into each game.

“There’s times we played a lot of coverage, there’s times we pressured a lot. I hope in both of those instances, they both work. It’s my job to continue to work through that and put them in the best situation. That’s the job every week.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

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