A Flashback to History: Virginia’s FSU Memories Still Burn Bright:-
Florida State, Friday night, 7 Eastern, ESPN at Virginia it’s Charlottesville, baby. Like, V Virginia is absolutely going to give Florida State their best shot. They’ll play with some pride, play with some emotion. That crowd you would hope and expect is all the way engaged and trying to get into ahead of A1 Thomas Castellanos. Virginia is going to throw some punches in this one. Mark my words. For Florida State, congratulations.
Nap Time’s Over: Florida State Can’t Sleepwalk Through This One:-
Your nap is over with. You beat Alabama. Thomas Castellanos think is a top three Heisman caliber kind of quarterback at this point in time. You’re playing a team that if you don’t bring it on a Friday night could beat you. More on that in a little bit here as it pertains to the spot. But ‘m really curious when you watch Virginia on tape and what they do offensively, they play with a lot of 12 personnel, which is football speak for one running back, two tight ends. What you do when you align with two tight ends, it screams to the defense, hey, we’re going to run the football. or at the very least if we do run the football, we have more big bodies because we took receivers off the field for these two big tight ends to get a push on your safety, your linebacker, whoever.
The Virginia Offense: Smashmouth Look, Explosive Results:-
And they’ve done that at a high level. They haven’t really played all that stiff of competition. Has Virginia, but they are averaging five and a half yards a carry over 200 yards on the ground. So, they do that, but they pair that really well with a passing game that is dynamic as all get out. Why do they do that? in my opinion because they’re able to take defenses out of their comfort zone where they have to play the run a little bit more effectively. They have to be a little bit more aggressive downhill because again, two tight ends, we got big bodies.Shots over the top and that’s how they score a lot of points.
Chandler Morris: The X-Factor for the Hoos:-
Chandler Morris has been shredding defenses. Chandler Morris, if that name sounds familiar, he’s bounced around a little bit. Now he’s at Virginia. He’s been hooping. All right, if you go have some time, go watch some Chandler Morris highlights and just enjoy the the presence that is what he’s done on tape to this point in the year for the Cavs. Here’s what want to do to just validate how good of a quarterback Chandler Morris is because know he’s been different places and anytime you see a a bunch of different logos on a guy’s profile on all you’re like, “H, why couldn’t he cut it at TCU, North Texas, so on and so forth?” he did cut at North Texas for the record, but Chandaya Morris was recruited by Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. So if you trust Lincoln Riley knowing quarterbacks, he wanted Chandler Morris on his roster and Chandler Morris is making him look smart right now with what he’s done at Virginia with that offense.
What FSU Has to Watch For on Defense:-
Can Florida State effectively be aggressive enough in the run game, but also not get got with their hand in the cookie jar and get shredded downfield by Chandler Morris? because with the spot this is Friday night engaged crowd you would imagine there’s going to be a lot of juice in that stadi think Chandler Morris and that offense will just be itching to pull the trigger cut one loose hit one over the top and light that stadi in Charlottesville on fire at that point moment rises pressure on Florida State to answer all those things keeping the crowd engaged with big plays like that promise you they would love would love to live that way if you’re Tony Elliott the head coach of Virginia and Now, we speak about the the discipline that Florida State has to have on defense. Virginia, you got your your work cut out for you, baby. All right. If you go watch what Florida State has done offensively, it has been a circus. mean, it’s window dressing, it’s pre-nap movement, it’s reverses, it’s 400 meter guys just blazing down the sideline against Alabama. And Thomas Castellanos makes it all go. So, the point here for Virginia, if you’re going to try and slow down Florida State, , you got to be extra assignment sound, meaning you’re not chasing emotion that’s not yours, you’re not trying to be Superman and make a tack on the loss. That’s not your responsibility.
The Challenge for Virginia’s Defense: Welcome to the Circus:-
You got to play your your gap. You have to play your assignment. And if you do that now, you keep it all in front of you, then you win in space. Now, my concern a little bit here is Virginia got a couple of times against Stanford. Now, they blew the doors off Stanford, so don’t hear me incorrectly, but got got a couple of times, being overly aggressive against Stanford on the play action stuff. Downfield, it was shots and they got burned a couple times. f Stanford’s doing that, Florida State, no disrespect to the outfit that Andrew Luck is assembling right now on the farm, but Florida State’s got better players. don’t think that’s really a breaking news to anybody. The overall team speed of Florida State, think, is going to be very difficult for Virginia to deal with in this spot. It’s going to take a lot of good angles, going to take a lot of winning with scheme on the defensive side. Thomas Castellanos, think what he’s done to this point in the year is nothing short of a spectacle to behold. A big reason why he eats up angles, he eats up a misalignment from your defense.
Florida State’s Talent Advantage Still Reigns Supreme:-
And so all those things go together to where think Virginia has got to be darn near perfect with how they align defensively, how they attack this Florida State offense because it can happen very fast for you. t could happen very fast where again you fill the wrong gap. Thomas Castellano’s out the back door down the sideline. we got problems. Curious to see again how Virginia aligns here to the the Florida State offense. ‘ve seen some different looks from Virginia, but seem like they want to be a fourdefensive lineman kind of outfit out there, which to me concerns me because think you have to play with a different level of speed against this Florida State offense. Neither here nor there. But mentioned Virginia a lot at the top of this thing because wanted to make sure we covered what they do offensively, what they pose as a threat to Florida State.
Can FSU Bring the Same Energy Without the Bama Hype?:-
Think that overall with what they’ve proven to this point in the year having beaten Alabama, they are overall like a more dangerous football team. But the reason why you could get beat if you’re Florida State on the road as a favorite is if you don’t take this spot seriously. They don’t play their best, the other team does.Like it’s kind of how this whole thing can get out of your hands and can be a little bit a little bit wacky. If you’re Florida State, you’re a two touchdown dog at home. Thomas Castlus is talking trash getting his guys juiced up. You’re off a two win season. Like there’s there’s a lot of reasons to be excited about Alabama. If for no other reason, it’s Alabama.
Final Thoughts and Prediction: Scrappy Virginia, But Noles Survive:-
But now it’s Friday night. You’re going on the road to Charlottesville. That Virginia logo you don’t usually associate with powerhouse potential in college football. Can you block all that out, still play your best, prove a point that you’re going to bring your best every single Saturday or as close to it and go in a football game on a short week? That’s what curious to see picking this game. Do think that Florida State plays to their internal standard. They don’t stoop down. also think though that Virginia is scrappy. think they play with some pride. Think this is kind of close all game long, but think that Florida State back door covers this thing late. So, ‘ll take the nullles to win and cover. Final Score: Florida State 34, Virginia 24 .They pass that test on Friday night.