TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State is coming off a loss to Florida in which the Seminoles allowed 244 rushing yards — more than three times what they allowed on average per game heading into the contest in 2012.
And now Florida State (10-2) faces Georgia Tech, which has the third-best rushing offense in the nation, in Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Charlotte, N.C.
The Yellow Jackets (6-6) won the ACC’s Coastal Division by averaging 323 rushing yards per game, behind only Army and Air Force in the Football Bowl Subdivision. And Georgia Tech runs the triple-option offense, which gives quarterback Tevin Washington the opportunity to read the defense and then decide to keep the ball, hand off on a fullback dive up the middle or pitch to a tailback.
While prevalent in high school football around the country, it’s not something that too many college teams face each year.
“No doubt,” Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. “It’s such an unorthodox thing. … It'll be a huge challenge for all those guys that are involved.”
Teams that face Georgia Tech know what’s coming: about 55-60 times each game, the Yellow Jackets will run. Then the questions begin: Who will run? Where will he run? And how can defenses try to stop it, all while being cut block — a hit by offensive linemen below the knees that is a key component of the triple option.
Fisher said that Florida State will use its skilled freshmen on the practice squad to try to mirror what Georgia Tech does offensively. Florida State’s top recruits from the 2012 class — quarterbacks like Jameis Winston and Sean Maguire and wide receivers like Marvin Bracy — will help prepare the first-team offense. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jacob Coker is also in the mix.
“We have Bracy and quarterbacks that are athletic, Coker and Maguire and James,” Fisher said. “You have a lot of guys that are athletic and you have a lot of skill guys that you can hopefully simulate the speed.”
Florida State had allowed an average of just 70.6 rushing yards per game coming into Saturday against Florida. The Gators’ Mike Gillislee ran for 140 yards on 24 carries — just the second 100-yard rusher that the Seminoles have allowed all season. Matt Jones also had 81 yards on eight carries, including a 32-yard touchdown run.
For a defense that prides itself in stopping the run — and had done it consistently all year — it was a punch in the gut. Now Florida State must regroup against one of the most unusual, yet successful, rushing styles around.
It’s a challenge for Florida State, which on Monday learned that it had six defensive players make the All-ACC first or second teams: defensive ends Bjoern Werner and Tank Carradine, defensive tackle Everett Dawkins, linebacker Christian Jones, and defensive backs Xavier Rhodes and Lamarcus Joyner were honored.
“Everybody in the box has to play their assignment,” Werner said. “They can’t get greedy and try to make a play. Everybody has to play the assignment, Do what they’re coached to do, and you’ll be successful.”
The Yellow Jackets are about as one-dimensional as any team in the nation. And while they are 6-6, when they run well they are very good. Georgia Tech has run for 330 or more yards in seven games this season — and has won six of those games.
Only three programs have limited Georgia Tech to less than 250 rushing yards, and BYU (117), Virginia Tech (192) and Middle Tennessee (238) all defeated the Yellow Jackets.
“We averaged 40 points a game in the league,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “Maybe we haven't been as consistent as we'd like in every game, especially out of conference we've had a couple of games where we didn't score a lot of points. But I think other than the Virginia Tech game (where Georgia Tech lost 20-17 in the season opener), in the league we scored over 30 points.”
If Florida State wants to wrap up its first ACC title since 2005 and advance to play in the Orange Bowl, that’s what the Seminoles must do — contain Georgia Tech’s ground game.
