What went right, what went wrong on offense for FSU in win over Southern Miss

TALLAHASSEE, FL- Facing off against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday night the No. 4 Florida State Seminoles had a bit of a slow start offensively, spurred on by some ill-timed drops from receivers.

For the bulk of the game, though? Business as usual. Florida State scored on two of their first four drives and from that point on scored every single drive until the last of the game.

The offense did what they were supposed to do and took care of business. Even with 66 points, it does feel like they like some points on the board — which speaks to the pure firepower and potential this team has — but there was no question the Seminoles were in complete control of this game from start to finish.

Jordan Travis had a highlight play and so did Keon Coleman, continuing to show just how electric they are going to be this season. Coleman is going to have a special year in the Garnet and Gold.

It was nice to see some backup young players get some playing time and get their opportunity as well with four quarterbacks getting playing time.

What went right

FSU had some struggles along the offensive line early on, but once the team settled into their offense they were able to play good consistent football.

Jordan Travis had some magical moments in this game, in particular, the 4th and 10 that led to an 11-yard game was impressive. These are the types of plays that catapult him into the Heisman conversation.

Keon Coleman continues to be electric every time he touches the football, he hurdled a defender in the first half and caught a touchdown immediately after.

As I said in last week's offensive observations: “Keon Coleman is him. No cap.”

In the first half, the Seminoles were dominant when it came to time of possession, having the ball for more than ²⁄₃ of the half. They were also averaging 6 yards per play, despite leaving some opportunities on the field.

Trey Benson led off the second half with another TD, to add to his already impressive performance scoring three total in just 2.5 quarters of football.

Tate Rodemaker and the second-team offense got plenty of time to come in and show what they have. Tate went 3-3 for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns.

One of those two touchdowns was a pass to freshman receiver Vandrevious Jacobs who got his first significant time as a Seminoles. Freshman WR Hykeem Williams had a catch as well but was very impressive as a blocker and team player.

The present and the future at receiver is bright for the Seminoles.

Brock Glenn and AJ Duffy both got drives with the offense as well.

Glenn led a 3-play 72-yard touchdown drive in which he had a great 34-yard run on a broken play with an excellent 40-yard Caziah Holmes touchdown run.

What went wrong

Early in the first quarter, FSU was able to move the ball well but lacked total execution with some of their receivers and offensive line struggling early on.

Johnny Wilson had a bad drop in this game in the first quarter it would have been a huge chunk play. He was also forced out of bounds by a defender, the play ended up being called a defensive pass interference. He also had another frustrating third-down drop.

In a game like this, it is not the end of the world to have plays like that. But in big games toward the end of the season, these kinds of plays worry me. He is just not reliable enough in big-game situations right now.

He can turn things around and be better, at the same time this has been a struggle his entire collegiate career and he has not shown improvement. Prior to the start of Saturday night’s matchup, he had a career 15.0% drop rate.

The offense we saw on Saturday night, was very basic and vanilla and it showed. They did not have the same efficiency and effectiveness that they showed against LSU at the beginning of the game.

In the first half, the ‘Noles were 3-10 on 3rd down, which is just not good enough. But they were also 4-5 on 4th down, with some of those 3rd down calls intended for an easier 4th down.