GAME 8 PREVIEW: It’s the one everyone has circled, a massive matchup against Florida State

CaneSport is taking a deeper dive inside Miami’s games this season, and today we have your breakdown of a massive game vs. Florida State:

MIAMI VS FLORIDA STATE, SAT., OCT. 26, MIAMI GARDENS, FLA., TIME TBA

GAME PREVIEWS: FLORIDA … FLORIDA A&M … BALL STATE … USF … VIRGINIA TECH … CAL … LOUISVILLE

OVERVIEW

Everyone knows the story of Florida State’s 2023 undefeated regular season that ended with a no-playoff snub after star QB Jordan Travis was injured. FSU beat Miami last year, 27-20, and the team’s lone defeat was a blowout to Georgia in the Orange Bowl with lots of guys opting out, 63-3. Certainly that doesn’t diminish what the Seminoles have accomplished, rebuilding their program from five straight years of seven or fewer wins into a 10-3 and then 13-1 machine. That machine was fueled, by the way, in large part by transfer additions. More than half the starting lineup last year was from the portal, and there are more major transfer pieces this season that will spell the difference between success and just another season. Certainly FSU’s personnel losses are massive from a year ago – the starting QB, top RB, top two WRs, top TE on offense are gone, and on defense there were five NFL draftees off last year’s team. But there’s enough talent back and portal additions to make this a top 10 national opponent. We break it down below.

THE PERSONNEL

A lot of this team on both sides will have new faces from a year ago, many coming via the transfer portal. So let’s get right to it, starting with an offense that ranked No. 19 in the nation in scoring offense last year and No. 52 in total offense. The new guy replacing Jordan Travis behind center is Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei. He hit on 57.1 percent of his passes for 2,638 yards last season with 21 TDs and 7 INTs (adding 219 rush yards and six more scores), and for his career he has thrown 57 TDs with 24 INTs. By comparison the departed Travis threw 20 TDs and ran in seven more last year while throwing only two INTs and completing 63.9 percent of his passes. The run game added Roydell Williams from Alabama (started two games there last season and ran for 560 yards and five TDs) and Indiana’s Jaylin Lucas, who started eight games over two seasons and in that span accumulated 2,052 all-purpose yards courtesy of 1,163 kickoff return yards, 546 rushing yards and 329 receiving yards. Lawrance Toafili also is a returner who had 463 yards, and the team thinks 4-star freshman Kam Davis could have an impact. Certainly there’s a lot of production to make up for with the departure of RB Trey Benson (906 rush yards, 227 receiving yards). The passing game lost its top two wide receivers (Keon Coleman had 658 yards, Johnny Wilson 617) and top tight end (Jaheim Bell had 503 yards). The receiving replacement options include touted Alabama transfer Malik Benson (started six games last season and caught 13 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown), Kentron Poitier (136 yards last season), Ja’Khi Douglas (243 yards), and Hykeem Williams (80 yards) plus LSU transfer Jalen Brown (played in 3 games off the bench last year as a true freshman). Good news for FSU is an offensive line that has combined for 123 starts, with three starters back. The team’s also added UF starting LG Richie Leonard.

On the other side of the ball there are a lot of losses from a D that ranked No. 18 in scoring defense, No. 28 in total defense and No. 6 in team passing efficiency defense. Up front should be a strength despite the team losing DE Jared Verse (team high nine sacks, 1st round pick) and DT Braden Fiske (9 TFL, 6 sacks). The leaders are expected to be Georgia DE transfer Marvin Jones, Jr. (appeared in 25 games with one start in two seasons at Georgia) joined by returning standout end Patrick Payton (14.5 TFL, 7 sacks), former Miami DT transfer Darrell Jackson (27 tackles, 3 sacks in 2022 for Canes, redshirted last year) and DT Joshua Farmer (5 sacks). At LB a big loss is Tatum Bethune (team high 70 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 INT), but DJ Lundy returns after totaling 54 tackles and two sacks. And the team added veteran Auburn LB Cam Riley, who has 121 career tackles. In the secondary the team lost CBs Renardo Green (43 tackles, 13 PBU) and Jarrian Jones (3 INTs), but there is talent on board. Returners are CBs Azareye’h Thomas (29 tackles, 10 PBU) and Fentrell Cypress (All-ACC at Virginia in 2022, had 40 tackles and eight PBU last season), and S Shyheim Brown (53 tackles, 2 sacks, INT). FSU hopes Alabama transfer Earl Little, Jr. can be an answer at nickel – he appeared in 11 games for ‘Bama over two seasons. The team picked up Colorado CB Omarion Cooper as well – he started eight games there last season and had 37 tackles with 5 PBU (he began his career at FSU before transferring out).

QUESTION MARK AREAS MIAMI CAN EXPLOIT

With so many personnel losses a lot will hinge on how the replacements pan out, with several coming via the transfer portal. At QB, for example, is DJ Uiagalelei a fit replacement for Travis? His 57 percent completion rate last year doesn’t really scare you. And the receiving corps also has depth and experience questions. On defense a weak spot for FSU last year was stopping the run (ranked No. 70 in the nation in rush defense). With two of the top linemen gone, there could be some holes for Damien Martinez to wiggle through that can help open up the passing offense.

GAME DIFFICULTY RATING FOR MIAMI

FSU is generally ranked in the nation’s top 15 in the early polls, so the expectation is the program will get right back to its winning ways despite all the personnel departures we laid out above. The losses were massive on both sides of the ball, so a lot will hinge on if guys are ready to step up from last year’s team plus the new portal additions. The potential is there for this to be an FSU team that makes a major playoff run. But there also could be some holes and areas to exploit. As it looks right now on paper, though, this is the most dangerous team on Miami’s schedule. So our game difficulty rating is a 10 out of 10.

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