’Noles face pressure to knock out Huskies
TALLAHASSEE — Everything is on the line for Florida State when it takes on Northern Illinois at Doak Campbell Stadium today.
The Seminoles will enter a near month-long stretch of away games, next returning home Oct. 20 to host Wake Forest.
FSU (1-2) is barely hanging onto a streak of 41 consecutive winning seasons and 36 straight bowl appearances. NIU (1-2) is hoping to halt the Seminoles’ run during a rematch of the 2013 Orange Bowl — the sole previous meeting between the teams. FSU rolled to a 31-10 win over the Huskies.
The rematch kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.
“[This week we] had some really good concentration, good focus in practice,” FSU coach Willie Taggart said. “Felt like we got better as a football team. Looking forward to our game Saturday against Northern Illinois here at home. Big-time opportunity for us. I know our guys are ready to go.”
Florida State’s offensive line will face a major challenge against NIU defensive end Sutton Smith, a 2017 consensus All-American. The 6-foot, 225-pound pass rusher ranks sixth nationally in
tackles for a loss and was named Mid-Atlantic Conference West Defensive Player of the Week after totaling eight tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks against Utah.
“Sutton Smith — not only is he a really good athlete, but he also is a guy that plays with incredible effort,” FSU offensive coordinator Walt Bell said. “If you really went back and studied it, how many of the sacks and TFLs from the previous year and this year came off second and third effort? He just plays incredibly hard. We’ve got to do a good job making sure that we know where he is — not only in the throw game but in the run game — who we’re reading, how we’re reading them and taking care of them.”
It may take two defenders to keep Smith off of quarterback Deondre Francois, a player who has already taken a lot of hits this season.
Smith also shines on special teams, having blocked a punt against Central Michigan.
NIU’s special-teams unit has mastered the art of blocking kicks. The
Huskies are halfway to last season’s high of six blocked kicks — one blocked punt against Iowa and Central Michigan and one blocked field goal against Utah.
FSU punter Logan Tyler has been pressured every game this season. Virginia Tech set the tone for the Seminoles’ rough start to the season with a blocked punt in the first quarter that was returned for a touchdown.
“We’ve got to strain through our blocks and it’s something we’ve got to do not just on special teams but on offense and defense — strain a little more,” Taggart said. “Then we’ve got to be better at [operating] time … and that always helps when you can get the ball out quicker.”
This week FSU defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett stressed the importance of sustaining tempo until game’s end while Taggart emphasized the significance of forcing turnovers and playing clean football.
“That’s why we stress every game taking the ball away defensively and then for us offensively, not losing the ball,” Taggart said. “I think we all know we’ve got to be a lot better when it comes to penalties, playing smart football.”