Wake Forest Demon Deacons

FSU Football: Three Things To Be On Lookout For In Wake Forest Game

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 4, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Travis Rudolph (15) carries the ball for a touchdown against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the fourth quarter at Doak Campbell Stadium. Florida State Seminoles defeated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 43-3. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

FSU football will host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday afternoon. We discuss three things to be on the lookout for in the game.

The FSU football game against Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon is a game they should win. However, it will be a great measuring stick regarding the growth of this team in several areas.

Wake Forest presents a spread offense which the ‘Noles have struggled with all season. We saw improvement in the defense during the Miami game, but Miami uses more of a pro-style attack which allowed FSU to play more man-to-man with a immobile quarterback.

The Wake Forest offense isn’t explosive by any means, averaging just 4.4 yards per play. However, it’ll be a good baseline for measuring growth in the FSU defense against spread teams.

Will the ‘Noles play with the tenacity and physicality they played with against Miami? Will they make tackles in space? Look for the secondary to communicate properly to avoid busted coverages.

Let’s take a look at the three things to be on the lookout on Saturday.

Oct 18, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Travis Rudolph (15) walks into the end zone for a touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first quarter at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Travis Rudolph

Junior wide receiver Travis Rudolph has been virtually invisible the last few games. However, he’s third on the team in receptions and yardage on the season.

According to coach Jimbo Fisher, Rudolph has been playing well, but just not receiving the fruits of his hard work as he has been open a number of times. For whatever reason, Deondre Francois hasn’t been able to get the ball to him.

Rudolph’s stat line the past few games look like this:

Let’s just throw the Louisville game out as everybody was off that day. The USF game saw the FSU offense churn out 400 yards rushing, so there wasn’t a lot of opportunities to get the passing game going.

Rudolph did drop a crucial third down pass against UNC that probably would have been a touchdown on a perfectly thrown ball by Francois.

Against Miami, Kermit Whitfield and Jesus Wilson were the main targets it seems. Look Jimbo Fisher to specifically try to get Rudolph the ball on Saturday against Wake Forest.

They’ll need him big time if they want to have a realistic shot of beating Clemson at home as an underdog.

Nov 30, 2013; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles cornerback Marquez White (27) works out prior to the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Back Seven

Senior safety Nate Andrews is done for the season after tearing a pectoral muscle in the Clemson game. That means we’ll see more of AJ Westbrook and Ermon Lane among others in the secondary.

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Lane played surprisingly well in the Miami game with four tackles in his first action on defense after switching from wide receiver a couple weeks back.

Junior linebacker Matthew Thomas will have to set out the first half of the Wake Forest game because of the targeting penalty he received in the Miami game.

True freshman Dontavious Jackson will get his first college start on Saturday. Jackson has been receiving playing time, and has played well at times, but has made some freshmen mistakes too.

It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll communicate and deal with the spread look of Wake Forest. Now, FSU will have the athletic advantage and almost every position, so that will cover up some mistakes here and there.

The biggest thing is having guys on the defense in position to make a play, regardless of if they are able to defend the pass or not.

How will they respond on misdirection plays and receivers in stacked sets?

That’ll be big going forward.

Sep 10, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Amir Rasul (22) looks for an opening during the second half at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Florida State Seminoles defeat the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 52-8. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Building Depth Among Younger Players

We’ve already hit on this a bit with some of the younger players getting playing time, but hopefully FSU can build a comfortable lead early and allow some of these younger players to get some playing time.

Here are some of the players to be on the lookout for:

If you see the majority of these players on the field Saturday afternoon, it was a great day to be a Nole!

Nov 15, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook (4) scores a touchdown past Miami Hurricanes safety Jamal Carter (6) during the second half at Sun Life Stadium. FSU won 30-26. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Conclusion

As we said, it’s a game the FSU football team should win comfortable. Wake Forest is an improved football team that played FSU tough last season.

However, it was the game where Dalvin Cook got injured after three carries and running for a 94 yard touchdown.

This game could be used as a working scrimmage of sorts if the ‘Noles can get the big lead early. It would be an opportunity for the young players to get some experience and work out the proverbial kinks on the defense against a spread look.