Barnett sees positives — and room to improve

TALLAHASSEE — Every game, FSU defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett’s unit performs a type of balancing act — providing stability for an inconsistent offense and aggressively causing headaches for opposing teams.

“I just like everything he's done so far, not just with our players, but with the coaching staff, and just how those guys get along and work well together,” FSU coach Willie Taggart said of Barnett so far.

“The way the defense is playing is how he said he wanted them to play. So that's been great for him to come here and having our guys trying to establish an identity what they want to be defensively.”

In Barnett’s opinion, the defense’s identity is still forming. He sees positives to build on and room to improve ahead of the team’s game at Louisville Saturday.

He praised the defense’s effort in the following areas:

Stopping the run: From Day 1, Barnett has not stopped emphasizing the importance of forcing the quarterback to throw the ball. FSU allowed one drive spanning more than 40 yards against NIU by holding the defense to 3.2 yards per play.

“The No. 1 goal we talk about every week is stopping the run,” Barnett said. “I feel like we did a good job of that last week [against NIU].”

The defense allowed 19 points, though most of the scoring occurred off of turnovers.

Becoming more physical: FSU broke up five passes, coerced four quarterback hurries and forced one fumble against NIU, by far their best performance against a Football Bowl Subdivision team all year.

“I feel like it is being more comfortable in the defense and understanding in live reps, in live action,” Barnett said of the team’s physical play. “I think that’s making the guys’ natural ability just come out. They’re not doing as much thinking. They’re just running around playing football, they understand their assignments and now you can play fast, physical and aggressive.”

Big hits: After freshman defensive back Asante Samuel Jr. made a big hit in the second quarter against NIU, defensive back Stanford Samuels answered with another mas-