TheOsceola: Florida State Seminoles Football & Basketball Recruiting - FSU seeking an edge - and improved play on the edges (2024)

Adam Fuller didn’t call any of Florida State’s players “soft.” But the mere mention of that word with the Seminoles’ performance and being “soft in the edges” raises eyebrows from an FSU coaching staff that is cautious with how it criticizes.

“Sometimes you want guys to go do your job and then what happens is some guys worry about, ‘Well what if this happens? I gotta make sure I can do this and then come back and make a play.’ And that creates soft edges,” Fuller said. “They (GT) did a good job, they've got good ball carriers, especially with the quarterback, he's got legitimate speed, he ran around the edge two or three times on us. Some was for lack of edge, some obviously we didn't either anticipate the speed that he had or he was able to get the corner.

“You want to eliminate space and the quickest way to eliminate space is to draw a hard edge so there's lack of space.”

Defensive ends coach John Papuchis later added that he thought the Seminoles were “tentative” in the run game and wants to see them play faster and with more aggression against Boston College on Monday (7:30 p.m. on ESPN).

Playing smart, with controlled emotion and tacking well have been focal points of the coaches and drills during the practices that were open to the media on Thursday and Friday. From Fuller to the defensive players who spoke to the media the last few days — safety Shyheim Brown as well as defensive ends Patrick Payton and Sione Lolohea — the message has been received and corrected by Fuller, defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins and Papuchis.

“I feel like we just didn’t play to our standard,” Payton said. “The fundamentals that coach Odell, coach JP teach us – I feel like Georgia Tech did a good job with their scheme and how they blocked.

“We’re going to be better this game.”

The challenge is even more concerning, and pressing, considering the opponent. Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos picked up 400 yards in a near-upset of FSU in 2023, including 95 yards on the ground. Castellanos helped BC convert 8 of 19 third-down chances, converting with his legs and passes in the second half to extend drives before ultimately falling short as FSU held on 31-29.

Castellanos is already in rare company, surpassing 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first year as a starter at BC (following a transfer from UCF). That’s quite the exclusive club as he joins Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Malik Cunningham and Woody Dantzler as the only ACC quarterbacks to surpass those marks since 1996.

FSU is watching a variety of film on BC — trying to get a feel for first-year coach Bill O’Brien’s scheme and how it meshes with Castellanos as well as running backs Kye Robichaux and Treshaun Ward, who played at FSU from 2019-22. But Payton thinks BC will get the wrong impression after watching FSU’s defense struggle against Georgia Tech.

“We have to come and be physically ready for this next game because I know they think they’re a pretty good physical team too,” Payton said. “I know watching last week’s tape they probably think they’re going to come and run the ball but we’ll be ready for it.”

Some FSU fans have taken to message boards and social media seeking wholesale position changes. It remains to be seen if we see defensive tackles like Tomiwa Durojayie and KJ Sampson against BC after they didn't get in the GT game. But a few Seminoles have made a case for increased playing time, including defensive end Sione Lolohea, who played the run well in a limited role against the Yellow Jackets.

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The Oregon State transfer was only on the field for 13 snaps but earned praise from Fuller and Papuchis as well as the Seminoles' highest defensive grade (a modest 70.5) by Pro Football Focus.

"The one thing that we knew going into it was Noosie was going to be a physical run defender," Papuchis said. "He does a good job of being physical on pullers and physical in the run game. He is very conscientious and assignment sound and plays hard. When those are your traits, those are some of the things that we’re looking for.

"He was on a rotation going into this past game where he was going to rotate to start every other series. ... There were only seven in the game. He didn’t end up leaving the game with as many reps as I would have liked him to have gotten but he certainly will get more going forward."

Said Lolohea: "I think I did alright. I didn’t play my best game. But moving forward hopefully I can play better."

Part of being ready is the amount of playing time together on the field. Taking the time to learn from shortcomings and improving communication will help the Seminoles against BC. When asked about the communication against GT, Payton said: “It wasn’t our best.”

“A couple of our guys were on a different page," Payton said. "But I feel like we’re going to get it corrected.”

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