Seminoles Should Focus on Aerial Assault vs. Louisville

The Florida State Seminoles (3-2, 1-1 in the ACC) are basking in the afterglow of a two-game winning streak heading into their road game at the Louisville Cardinals (2-3, 1-2 in the ACC) Friday night.

After quarterback Ashton Daniels set a school record with five rushing touchdowns in the win over Virginia, coach Mike Norvell might want to focus on the passing game against the Cardinals this week.

Louisville deploys a Swiss cheese defense, one of the worst in college football. They are especially vulnerable against the forward pass, giving up 266.8 yards per game and eight yards per pass attempt. This is an area that the Seminoles offense could (and should) exploit to their advantage.

In their loss to NC State, the Louisville pass defense gave up 373 passing yards, two touchdowns and 9.1 yards per attempt to the Wolfpack.

Florida State can counter with talented weapons on the perimeter, with receivers Duce Robinson, Jayvan Boggs, and Micahi Danzy. Robinson and Boggs are among the top five in the ACC in yards per catch. Boggs has averaged 19.8 yards per reception, and Robinson is gaining 18.7 yards per catch.

Do not forget about the height advantage that Robinson (6-foot-6) presents on the field, and can easily challenge for contested catches over smaller defenders. Danzy’s elite track speed to stretch the field as a vertical threat is an advantage as well.

Another pleasant surprise in the passing game for the Seminoles was running back Quintrevion Wisner’s receiving out of the backfield against Virginia. Wisner had two catches for 60 yards, the bulk of those yards coming on a screen pass that went for 48 yards.

Norvell must call plays that take advantage of the weapons that Florida State possesses, and then keep his foot on the gas and not let up.

Daniels, the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week, has thrown for 407 yards and two passing touchdowns against Central Arkansas and Virginia. As a result, Florida State is tied for No. 14 nationally in passing yards per attempt with 9.5.

A balanced attack of running and passing will soften an already marshmallow-like Louisville defense, and open up the passing attack for potentially explosive plays on the perimeter.

A win against Louisville will be Florida State’s third in a row, and will continue to boost the confidence of this talented team that, for the last two weeks, has learned what playing winning football feels like.