Scouting FSU's Opponents: Week 6

This is a weekly feature on TomahawkNation.com in which we review the performances of each of FSU's upcoming opponents. I will not do game charts for games against D1-AA opponents. All game charts are non-garbage time only.

This takes a lot of work. I hope that your enjoyment of each game increases with additional knowledge of the opponent.

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

FSU travels to Duke this week, but the Blue Devils didn't play last weekend, so we'll move quickly to Maryland. Maryland went down to Georgia Tech, got down big early and then fought back to lose 21-16. Maryland slightly outgained Georgia Tech, but Tech ran 23% more plays and had almost a 10-yard edge in starting field position. Maryland's passing game is a total mess. They pulled Danny O'Brien (2010 rookie of the year) and the quarterbacks combined to go 5-23 for 53 yards and two picks. That is one of the most awful stat lines of the year. Did Georgia Tech take its foot off the pedal? I didn't watch this game yet, so I cannot say for sure, but up 21-3 entering the 4th quarter, Tech's offense basically quit. Credit to Maryland for not giving up. Game story here from Testudo Times

A team outgains its opponent by a significant margin but loses the game because its offense gives the opposing offense tremendous field position thanks to a +4 turnover margin? We've seen this before. That 7.49 yards/play must be concerning to N.C. State, but the Pack has to be satisfied with its red zone efficiency (5 TDs in 6 tries). And QB Mike Glennon keeps getting better and better.  Here's a CMU-NCSU postmortem. Here's BTP's game story. And here's an excellent statistical analysis showing how NC State's DC forgot how to be an defensive coordinator.

The Miami Hurricanes went to Virginia Tech and played their hearts out. And lost 38-35. Both teams lack defensive depth and as such, a key injury or two helpd the opposing offense run up a ton of yards on each other. It's really hard to say either team outplayed the other. You have to be impressed with Miami's run game, though some of the success undoubtedly came because VT's defensive line depth is nonexistent and VT has a 258 pound true frosh at nose guard who was routinely dominated. Miami did let tight end with an arm Logan Thomas to go 23-25 through the air, which is terrible defense. What can be changed with the defense? The DC says it is already as simple as can be. Golden says a lot of guys believe they are much better than they really are. The 7th floor says get used to Miami losing a lot of games. And some Cane fans are realizing what I put out almost a year ago: they have no depth and the recruiting isn't doing anything to fix it. Miami is going to be down for a while, though I do expect them to make a bowl this season.  

Boston College lost to the Clemson Tigers, 36-14. BC was thoroughly dominated in this one, being outgained by 40% per play and running 43% fewer plays. BC was also -2 in turnovers. This could have been worse, but Clemson QB Tahj Boys was injured and is day-to-day with a hip injury.

BC is still very banged up, and will now seek a redshirt for #1 DT Kaleb Ramsey and RB Montel Harris. Ramsey's continued absence hurts BC's defense every week and he is one of the few BC defenders capable of causing FSU trouble. 

Here are the BCI post-game thoughts.  And can BC win out like it did last season? I think BC has a chance to lose out.

Virginia had a bye week.

The Florida Gators found out what it's like to play a road game in a hostile environment without its starting quarterback -- a lot like it was when they hosted Alabama. LSU whipped Florida 41-11, outgaining the Gators by 69% per play. UF's defense was the underwhelming part of this game, as LSU ran up 7.25 yards/play. I expected UF to get trounced, but I was thinking more along the lines of 30-0, not 41-11. Here's the rapid recap from Andy Hutchins. 

What did you take from these six upcoming opponents this past weekend?