No. 14 Florida State routed FCS East Texas A&M 77-3 on Saturday, stringing together a season’s worth of highlights in one afternoon. So what did we learn from the shellacking in Tallahassee?
Any discussion requires the caveat that ETAM is a second-division team, and a middling one at that. FSU was supposed to win this game easily. All praise of the performance must be taken with several grains of FCS salt.
However, there are still some takeaways. It is noteworthy to compare FSU’s performance against the Lions this week to how fellow ACC contender SMU fared against the same opponent in last week’s season opener, which the Mustangs won 42-17.
ETAM managed 351 yards against SMU, compared to 176 against the Seminoles — almost all of those yards in garbage time. SMU totaled 400 yards against the Lions defense in four quarters, while FSU had 416 yards before halftime. The Noles finished at 729 yards.
Applying the rule of transitive properties to sports is always dangerous, especially in college football. But with SMU ranked 17th currently and coming off a season in which they reached the College Football Playoff, it’s worth noting that FSU had so much more success on both sides of the ball.
5 Things We Learned About FSU
Duce Robinson is a beast. This isn’t breaking news, but the 6-foot-6 sophomore was a human highlight reel in the first half. He took over the briefly competitive portion of the game with five catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns in less than two quarters. His 82-yard touchdown streaking down the right sideline will be shown on repeat all year.
The Noles have an edge. This was also one of the bigger observations from Week One. The mentality on this team is different. Twice they went for it on fourth down in the first half, with another attempt erased by a penalty. When FSU was up 28-0, receivers were still sprinting downfield to block for running back Gavin Sawchuk as he took a short pass 53 yards for a touchdown – on 4th down, no less. Even when the game had reached 70-0, things were still getting chippy as the Seminoles defense swarmed. The effort and winning mentality didn’t diminish as the game got out of hand.
FSU’s depth was on display. College football is a war of attrition and FSU got its reserves some much needed playing time. After last week’s starting five on the offensive line played every snap, they surely appreciated having a break today. Four quarterbacks threw passes, 14 different players rushed the ball, and the quarterbacks spread their passes out to 10 different receivers. When those backups are inevitably called on later this year, today's experience will be invaluable.
The defense dealt an (almost) shutout. When it mattered (and for most of the time when it didn’t), FSU’s defense was dominant. The Noles smothered nearly everything the Lions tried. The encouraging sign for FSU going forward is that the defense did more than just overpower a smaller team at the line of scrimmage. Defensive coordinator Tony White’s players saw where plays were going. They were in position to make plays in the secondary, such as Earl Little’s big interception and return. The front seven were disciplined, consistently making open-field tackles. Consider the competition, yes, but allowing only 179 yards and a garbage-time field goal is good work on any Saturday in the fall.
The fireworks are back. FSU had only five plays of 40-plus yards in all of 2024. The Seminoles topped that number today before the end of the third quarter, finishing with six plays of more than 40 yards. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn also mixed in several trick plays, including a pair of wildcat runs with Sawchuk in the red zone. Two weeks in, Malzahn’s crew has given opposing defensive coordinators plenty to prepare for.
ACC Network play-by-play announcer Jorge Sedano put it simply and succinctly after the Seminoles went up 42-0 in the second quarter: “This Florida State team just has a different feel.”
Florida State is off next weekend before hosting Kent State on Saturday, Sept. 20.
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