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Noles News: Florida State preparing for Syracuse’s run game

Mike Norvell highlighted ‘dynamic’ RB-QB combo

NCAA Football: Liberty at Syracuse Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Football

Four days before his Florida State Seminoles face off with the Syracuse Orange, head coach Mike Norvell made a point to his team that shutting down the run game will go a long way to determining their success.

So far this season, Syracuse is averaging north of 200 yards per game on the backs of a youthful one-two punch in the backfield.

Freshman running back Sean Tucker leads the way with 6.46 yards per carry and 7 touchdowns, but he’s not alone. The Orange’s new starter at quarterback, sophomore Garrett Shrader is averaging about 25-yards per game — keep in mind that sacks count against those totals — with 4 touchdowns himself.

In Tuesday’s press conference, Norvell praised the duo and gave his keys to how he believes his defense will need to play to slow them down.

One of the guys who will be tasked with executing that plan, linebacker DJ Lundy spoke with the media on Tuesday as well. Much of his conversation focused on the unit’s impressive performance in the second half of last week’s loss to the Louisville Cardinals.

The other interview came from running back Jashaun Corbin, who is a breakout star for this Seminoles team. Against Louisville, he had another 100-yard game — his third of the season — something he attributed to film study of how the Cardinals were going to try and tackle him.

Full interviews for both Lundy and Cobrin can be found here.

Running backs coach David Johnson spoke Tuesday as well and said a lot of Corbin’s success also comes from his work in the weight room. He says the sophomore got stronger and that, along with the film study, has made him a more confident runner. He also mentioned we could see more of DJ Williams going forward as well after his performance against Louisville.

The RB running room has been the biggest strength on the team this season, but they did lose depth as Deonte Sheffield entered his has decided to transfer from the program.

Sheffield has not had a carry this season and was not listed on this week’s depth chart.

Offensive lineman Dillan GIbbons has made a name for himself across the country for his use of the NCAA’s new NIL deals to continue his support for friend Timothy Donovan. ESPN reporter Andrea Adelson shared Dillan’s story from Timothy and his family’s perspective during their trip to Tallahassee.

As Florida State’s schedule seems to only get harder as the year goes along, that’s not true for all their opponents as two of them are in the top three of easiest schedules left ahead of them.

And looking even more big picture, college football could be in for another round of conference realignment as the AAC appears ready to make a move to replace their schools departing for the Big-12.

NFL Alumni

Another week of football brought another week of success for Florida State players in the pros. One of the big headliners this season has been Asante Samuel Jr., who has been a no fly zone so far in his rookie year.

You can see the rest of the Noles in the Pros here.

Though he’s not an alum, Norvell’s players in the pros are sticking up for the FSU coach. Former Memphis RB Darrell Henderson Jr. shared a video of Norvell with the caption “riding with this man forever.”

Basketball

The NBA season is getting close to its start and there are plenty of former Noles ready to make an impact. Leonard Hamilton touting his 10 guys in training camp around the association.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Charlton Young is just looking for some respect for the current members of the #NewBloods.

For the Florida State women’s basketball team, the return to the practice court was an emotional one for head coach Sue Semrau, who took a leave of absence for all of the 2019-20 season to help her mother in a fight with cancer.

And coach shared a photo of her mom to celebrate the occasion as well.

Soccer

A new week means new rankings for NCAA soccer, but nothing new came for the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles who continue to take care of business this year.

And all that success continues to bring weekly awards for the team’s stars. This week, Emily Madril grabbed ACC Co-Defensive honors, her second of the season.