Secondary vs. Quarterback:
Deondre Francois and James Blackman both played the quarterback position in the 59-10 rout Florida State suffered at the hands of Clemson last week. Blackman came in for Francois after Francois was injured, but the Pack might see Francois to start the game. Francois finished the game with 180 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. These stats are unappealing, but Francois is a consistent quarterback for the most part. Francois has 2,039 yards in the air for 13 touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.
Francois is considered to be day-to-day, and the Pack will need to prepare itself for the likelihood of Blackman starting instead. Blackman has not played much this season, but last season threw for 2230 yards with 19 passing touchdowns to 11 interceptions.
The Pack secondary, on the other hand, has looked far from consistent, as in the last two games the lack of depth at that position was exposed. The secondary allowed 380 and 480 yards in the air to Clemson and Syracuse respectively, which cannot be entirely blamed on the secondary due to the talents of Clemson and Syracuse’s quarterbacks, but play could have been much stronger.
This means that the Pack will have to be versatile in this game and prepare itself for the strengths of both quarterbacks in order to help win the game.
Secondary vs. Wide Receivers:
Nyqwan Murray, Tamorrion Terry, Keith Gavin and/or D.J. Matthews are the starters for the FSU receiving corps, and those four have combined for 1,430 yards in the air for nine touchdowns. Murray and Terry are the most prolific of the bunch, with 899 yards and eight touchdowns by themselves. The secondary is going to need to keep up with each of these speedy receivers, more so than they have been against other teams. The 860 air yards the secondary let up in the last two games is more than half of the entire receiving yards recorded by the ‘Noles receivers, and NC State lost the last two games played. Tight coverage will be necessary and confidence will be greatly built for a struggling secondary if they can lessen the amount of yards they give up to receivers.
Defensive Line vs. Running Backs:
The ‘Noles have a solid run game, with backs Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick leading the way. Akers and Patrick have combined for 702 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season. While these are not astounding numbers, each of these backs are certainly weapons that the ‘Noles will utilize when necessary.
The Pack’s defensive line will need to work as a unit, make tackles and not allow any space for the backs to run. The Wolfpack D-Line played very strongly against one of the best run games in the country against Clemson and a solid ‘Cuse backfield by not allowing over 100 yards on the ground in either contest.
Defensive Line vs. Offensive Line:
The Seminole offensive line has been lackluster so far this season, allowing 23 sacks in total. In comparison, graduate Ryan Finley has been sacked four times this season. The defensive line has been solid this season, led by James Smith-Williams, Darian Roseboro, Larrell Murchison and Eurndraus Bryant. This group has recorded 16 tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble in the past two games, and should be able to bully through the offensive line in order to surmount sustainable pressure on Francois.
Graduate Germaine Pratt and the rest of the linebackers will also be challenging the Seminoles’ O-Line. Pratt has recorded 4.5 sacks in his last three outings, and redshirt freshman Isaiah Moore and sophomore Louis Acceus have 11 tackles combined in the past two games as well. The Pack defense will challenge the FSU O-line from many different angles.
Linebackers vs. Tight Ends:
The tight end corps, led by Tre’ McKitty, has played solid games and picked up efficient yardage for the ‘Noles. McKitty is an athletic freak, and has 187 yards on only 18 catches, which is an average of 10.4 yards per catch, for two touchdowns. The linebacker corps will cover the ‘Noles’ tight ends, and is an area of strength for the Pack, with Pratt directing the squad, and has the capability to take over the game. Pratt is on pace for another dominant game, and can show this by covering McKitty and other FSU tight ends such as Gabe Nabers tightly. Limiting the amount of weapons that the quarterback can use is essential to being successful on defense.
Matchup to watch:
Secondary vs. Wide Receivers. This game can go many ways, but it can easily boil down to whether or not the Pack’s secondary plays a meaningful game. There is talent within the cornerbacks and safeties on the team, such as redshirt junior safety Jarius Morehead, but this group needs to get back on track mentally in order to be successful. If this group can play strongly, they will certainly increase the chance of a win for the Pack, but if they continue poor play, it will be incredibly difficult to stay close to the Seminoles.
Defensive Player of the Game:
Germaine Pratt. Pratt is a defensive abyss, swallowing up anything that comes near him. Again, the Pack will call upon his talents and leadership to take them to the next level and generate big plays for the entire defense.
