Florida State Seminoles

FSU Football: Top 5 Impact Players Against Wake Forest

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:39 p.m. ET

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Oct 15, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Travis Rudolph (15) is tackled by Wake Forest Demon Deacons safety Jessie Bates III (3) during the game at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

FSU football got an ugly 17-6 win over Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon to improve to 5-2 on the season. We take a look at the top five impact players.

All week-long we talked about the Wake Forest being a game that FSU needed to play a complete game on both sides of the ball.

In fact, one goal was for the defense to get a stop on Wake Forest’s first possession, and then for the offense to go score a touchdown.

The defense did their part, but unfortunately the offense was out of sync the entire day. It’s like the team has reversed course from earlier in the season when the defense was awful and the offense was great.

Now, the offense is awful and the defense is playing very well considering where they were just a few games ago.

Let’s take a look at the five impact players for the game.

Oct 15, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Ermon Lane (7) and defensive back Tavarus McFadden (4) defend against a pass intended for Wake Forest Demon Deacons wide receiver Cortez Lewis (15) at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

Ermon Lane

Who would have thought Ermon Lane would be on this list a few weeks ago? At safety no less. We targeted Lane as someone to watch in the game last week.

He continues to impress with his second game at safety. He finished tied for second on the team with seven tackles with a tackle for a loss and a pass defended.

The great thing that’s showing up with Lane is he is where he’s supposed to be majority of the time.

Of course that was one of the biggest issues in the FSU secondary earlier in the season.

It’s certainly a great development considering the injuries to the secondary with Derwin James being out and Nate Andrews lost for the season.

Lane’s play will be critical when they take on Clemson after the bye week.

Sep 12, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; South Florida Bulls quarterback Quinton Flowers (9) looks for a receiver while being pressured by Florida State Seminoles defensive end Josh Sweat (9) at Doak Campbell Stadium. Florida State won 34-14. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Sweat

Josh Sweat was another player we highlighted as someone to watch going into the Wake Forest game. We wanted to see if Sweat would give 100 percent effort against a no-name opponent.

He certainly did and it was a welcome sign he had been dogging it a good bit even though he was playing with a leg injury the past few games.

Sweat finished the game tied with Lane, seven tackles and a sack and a half on the day.

The FSU defense will need this continued effort from Sweat if they want to have a realistic shot at upsetting Clemson on October 29.

Oct 15, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) during the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

Deondre Francois

First of all, what a warrior Deondre Francois is. He was pissed at his offensive line on Saturday and rightfully so as he was beat the hell up ALL day.

Frankly, Francois should not have played yesterday as he was clearly playing hurt and grimaced several times after being hit or throwing.

However, he finished the game with 319 yards on 22 of 37 passing. He had one touchdown passing and in interception with another rushing touchdown.

The fact that Francois played yesterday indicates that Jimbo Fisher has absolutely no faith in Sean Maguire at quarterback in my opinion. Especially after Maguire threw the terrible interception last week.

Thankfully, Francois has the bye week to heal up and get ready for Clemson.

Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly (10) fumbles the ball after being hit by Florida State Seminoles defensive end DeMarcus Walker (44) in the third quarter at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

DeMarcus Walker

DeMarcus Walker is proving that his decision to come back for his senior season was the correct one as he’s adding value to his stock.

Walker finished the game with six tackles and two sacks as he nears his season total from last year with five games left.

Walker was a terror off the edge all day, and probably would have had an even better stat line had he not be held (not called) multiple times on the day.

Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Travis Rudolph (15) catches the ball and runs it in for a touchdown against the Mississippi Rebels during the first half at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Travis Rudolph

The junior wide receiver was the No. 1 player to watch for on our list last week as he has been virtually invisible in the past few weeks.

Coach Jimbo Fisher said that Rudolph had been playing well, but just had not had the passes to go his way when he was open.

He was open a lot on Saturday against Wake Forest. Rudolph had one of the biggest days in FSU football history.

He finished the game with 13 receptions and 238 yards, and had a long catch of 58 yards.

It was a welcome site for Rudolph, especially since Jesus “Bobo” Wilson left he game with an injury. Rudolph and Wilson are FSU’s two top receivers thus far in 2015.