Florida State football, recruiting news: Way-too-early FSU bowl predictions

Football:

• Even though Florida State has only played one game in the 2017 season, Sports Illustrated has the Seminoles tabbed for the Citrus Bowl vs. Mississippi State.
• The Sporting News has Florida State playing in the Orange Bowl vs. Ohio State.
• On Monday, SB Nation had Florida State in the Orange Bowl vs. Penn State.
• Sports Illustrated lists this weekend’s Florida State vs. NC State game as a premier matchup in Week 4 of the college football season that could save an otherwise underwhelming schedule.

This game lost some of its gloss when the Wolfpack dropped their Week 1 tilt against South Carolina, but they recovered to put away Marshall and Furman the last two weeks. This is NC State’s chance to atone for that season-opening slip-up. Florida State hasn’t played since falling to Alabama on Sept. 2, and the challenge its offensive line faces on Saturday won’t be much easier.

Like the Crimson Tide, the Wolfpack’s success is predicated on the trench mauling done by its defensive line. And whereas the Seminoles had a quarterback with a year of starting experience, Deondre Francois, trying to deal with Alabama’s front, they’ll roll out a true freshman with a three-star recruiting rating and an unproven record as a passer, James Blackman, against NC State. Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher can feed running backs Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick often to limit Blackman’s mistakes, but the newbie is going to have to prove he can make throws downfield to keep the Wolfpack from stacking the box. Blackman came in to hand the ball off a few times after Francois went down with a knee injury late in the fourth quarter against Alabama, but a Week 2 date with Louisiana-Monroe that would have served as a good testing ground for the Glades Central (Fla.) High product was cancelled because of Hurricane Irma.

• In case you missed it, Florida State announced on Tuesday that there will be a flyover prior to FSU’s home opener on Saturday.
• 247 Sports sorted College Football teams into tiers based on its chances to head to the CFP. Florida State was listed in “Tier 5: Potential Party Crashers We Don’t Know Enough About.”

Florida State: 1. The loss of Deondre Francois. 2. A spotty offensive line. 3. A brutal schedule/Clemson.

Recruiting:

• 2018 five-star offensive tackle and Oklahoma commit Brey Walker will be visiting Florida State this weekend. The 6’7 320 lb. Moore (OK) Westmoore athlete has been committed to Oklahoma since November of 2015. ($)

Other Sports:

• FSU volleyball got swept in straight sets by Florida on Wednesday night.

Alumni:

• In Thursday night’s San Fransisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams game, there will be multiple ’Noles playing. For San Fran, LB Dekoda Watson and DL Tank Carradine will represent the Garnet and Gold. Former FSU standout DB Lamarcus Joyner will suit up for the Rams.