FSU football opponent recap: Week Two

Week Two saw several of FSU’s 2017 opponents acquit themselves admirably (Duke!), while others, not so much (Syracuse!). I know it will be heartbreaking for some, but we have removed ULM from this post because FSU will not play them this season. I understand that y’all turn to me for all your hard-hitting Warhawks analysis, but I must leave that to the fine folks at Underdog Dynasty for the time being. Don’t look at me like that. These are the rules.

Alabama (2-0) - Won 41-10 vs. Fresno State. The Tide played well. Rinse, repeat. Tua Tagovailoa saw his first action in mop-up duty. Alabama faces Colorado State and Vanderbilt before taking on the Ole Miss enigma September 30.

Miami (1-0) - Did not play football, for reasons with which we’re familiar.

NC State (1-1) - Won 37-20 vs. Marshall. The Wolfpack trailed the Thundering Herd 20-10 before reeling off 27 straight points to earn the home win. After being hung out to dry by its offense and special teams the week before, the NC State defense was actually not good this week. Hopefully they continue to struggle to find their footing leading up to their trip to Doak Campbell.

Wake Forest (2-0) - Won 34-10 at Boston College. The Demon Deacons capitalized on a +4 turnover margin to beat up on the Eagles in Chestnut Hill. Both teams barely produced 300 yards of offense, so it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game you’ll see all year, but you don’t tune in to Wake-BC for pretty. Blogger So Dear thinks the Deacs are on the inside track to a bowl if they can beat Utah State and Appalachian State to get to 4-0, and I’d have to agree.

Duke (2-0) - Won 41-17 vs. Northwestern. This was an excellent win from a conference standpoint, if you care about such things. The home nerds thumped the visiting ones, out-gaining the Wildcats 538-191. The Devils have looked quite good through two games and chances are that will continue next week, when they host a floundering Baylor squad.

Louisville (2-0) - Won 47-35 at North Carolina. The most entertaining nooner of the week saw Lamar Jackson’s 525 yards carry the Cardinals past the Heels in Chapel Hill. Lamar is really, really good. Even better than he was last year, when he was the undisputed Heisman winner. However, the Louisville defense appears to be a problem. Carolina lost a ton on offense and even though Fedora is a good coach, this effort and the one against Purdue has to be concerning if you’re a UL fan. The Cardinals host Clemson in what will now be the College Gameday and primetime game next week. They have made it a blackout game at Papa Johns, which didn’t go so great the last major time they did it. I think it was on a Thursday. And now is when I remember we can’t really talk trash about Louisville cause, ya know, 63 points and whatnot.

Boston College (1-1) - Lost 34-10 vs. Wake Forest. Both Steve Addazio and BC Interruption are aware that the stat sheet shows a close battle between BC and Wake, but the latter points out that wins are determined by the scoreboard. The Eagles came back to earth after a nice road win against NIU to open the season and are now staring a match-up with Notre Dame in the face. I would imagine they’ll see an angry Irish team after the state of Georgia apparently invaded and conquered South Bend, or something. And then they have to go to Clemson the next week. Dark times in Chestnut Hill.

Syracuse (1-1) - Lost 30-23 vs. Middle Tennessee. Yikes. Scott Shafer used to be the head coach at Syracuse. He’s now MTSU’s defensive coordinator, and his Blue Raiders held the Syracuse offense to an ugly performance. Eric Dungey was hit a lot, which is normal, but many of these apparently weren’t his fault, which is not. Dungey was sacked four times and held to less than 200 yards passing and 50 yards rushing. The Orange host Central Michigan before heading down to Louisiana to complete a home and home with the Bayou Bengals.

Clemson (2-0) - Won 14-6 vs. Auburn. This one was supposed to be a little more fun, but the Clemson defense dominated from start to finish. It’s difficult to tell whether Clemson’s defense is just that awesome or how much Auburn’s offensive woes contributed to that perception, but we’ll find out in short order. The Tigers travel to Louisville and will see an even better version of Lamar Jackson next week. The Clemson offensive output was unimpressive, but they’ll see a more favorable match-up in Louisville next week since the Cardinals have been very generous on defense so far this year.

Delaware State (0-2) - Lost 28-15 at Hampton. The Hornets led 5-0 at one point but couldn’t hold on. Wisdom Nzidee remained perfect on the year for field goal attempts. DSU had 218 yards of offense in the first half and then 49 yards in the second half, which is not ideal. Won the uniform match-up, though.

Florida (0-1) - Did not play. Alligator Army has advice for fans who are mad that Florida is bad.