Veteran defense continues to dominate for No. 3 Florida State

After getting off to a choppy start in the season opener against LSU, the Florida State football team’s first-team defense has been very, very good over the last six quarters.

Well, the last 4 1/2 quarters really. Because the starters took the rest of the night off early in the third quarter of the Seminoles’ 66-13 romp over Southern Miss on Saturday night.

Adam Fuller’s unit, which gave up 289 yards and 17 points to LSU in the first half in Orlando, suffocated the Golden Eagles on Saturday night to the tune of 70 total yards and three points in the first two quarters.

And as head coach Mike Norvell pointed out afterward, this came on a short week, off an emotional and physical win over the Tigers.

The Seminoles’ fourth-year head coach said he was incredibly proud of what he saw.

“I thought they played exceptional,” Norvell said. “We talked about stopping the run. That’s a big offensive line. The running back, Gore (Frank Gore Jr.), is a really talented young man. We knew we had to get to him early, try to stop him before he could get started. I thought we executed a really good plan with Coach Fuller and the defensive staff. And guys went out and they committed to it.

“We were what I was hopeful we would be. Our guys played at a very high level.”

Southern Miss finished with 104 yards rushing on 28 attempts. Almost all of that yardage came after halftime, when the Seminoles flooded the field with reserves.

Southern Miss’ last 10 points of the night came against an FSU defense that was playing virtually everyone on the roster: walk-ons, freshmen, third-teamers.

So, the Golden Eagles finished with 258 total yards and 18 first downs. But when it mattered, when the game was still in doubt and the FSU starters were in the game, the Southern Miss offense did virtually zero.

The dominant defensive performance was punctuated by Jarrian Jones’ pick-six on Southern Miss’ second possession of the second half, which made the score 45-3. After that, the veterans watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.

“We didn’t want to take the week for granted,” FSU starting linebacker Kalen DeLoach said. “We wanted to put our best foot forward. Although it was a short week, we knew what we had to do.”

Which was dominate an outmanned opponent.

The Florida State offense has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention so far in 2023. The Seminoles are averaging 55.5 points per game, Jordan Travis is a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender, and Keon Coleman is a walking highlight. But the FSU defense has also been very impressive to start the season.

Going back to LSU’s fifth drive of the opener, the Seminoles’ starters have now gone 13 straight defensive possessions without allowing a touchdown. It’s been field goal, punt, interception, punt, turnover on downs, punt, turnover on downs, field goal, punt, punt, punt, pick-six, punt.

On Saturday night, Southern Miss was 0-for-8 on third downs to start the game and finished just 3-of-13.

“I thought they were great on the cash downs,” Norvell said. “They were remarkable. The first defense, I don’t know if they gave up a conversion. It was a really, really impressive performance.”

And as the season rolls into Week 3, maybe the best news for the No. 3 Seminoles is that they entire defense should be plenty fresh. Jared Verse only played 21 snaps on Saturday night, Fabien Lovett only 12, Braden Fiske 19, and the starting linebackers DeLoach and Tatum Bethune were on the field for 14 plays each.

Freshman Blake Nichelson led the Seminoles in tackles on Saturday night. With five.

That’s how much substituting was done in the 53-point win.

With what looks to be another overmatched opponent awaiting this Saturday in Boston College (1-1), which narrowly beat Holy Cross 31-28 on Saturday, it would be understandable perhaps if the Seminoles took a win for granted. Even on the road.

But if Saturday night is any indication, this defense doesn’t do that.

“Keep the main thing the main thing,” DeLoach said. “Make sure we stay focused. … We focus on us. We know our biggest challenge is us. So, we’ve got to keep focusing on us as we continue.”

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

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