NC State football schedule early snapshot: Florida State
The NC State football schedule begins Sept. 3 with a road date at East Carolina. That’s the start of four straight non-conference games to start the year. Then it’s all ACC action from that point forward. The Pack’s first home game in league play will come when Florida State travels to Raleigh Oct. 8.
With much anticipation for the upcoming Wolfpack season, here’s an early look at Florida State.
Florida State in 2021
The Seminoles suffered from a slow start that ultimately prevented Florida State from being bowl eligible.
After a promising start in a 41-38 overtime home loss to Notre Dame, FSU was stunned in Week Two on the final play of the game by Jacksonville State from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). For some perspective, Jacksonville State would finish its regular season with a 5-6 record.
After starting the year 0-4, Florida State returned to Jordan Travis as its starting quarterback (Travis started the opener but was benched for McKenzie Milton for the next three weeks). With Travis back under center, FSU would win three in a row before a close loss at Clemson on Oct. 30.
A flu-like bug ran through the Noles the week it played NC State, and Travis was among those affected. With him not available, NC State rolled to a 28-14 victory, but Travis returned to start in wins at home over Miami and on the road at Boston College.
Florida State needed a win at Florida, who had a four-game losing streak against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents, to clinch bowl eligibility. The Seminoles came up short in a 24-21 loss, ending its season.
Spring Outlook
Having Travis back is a good starting point for Florida State. He is the Noles’ leading returner in rushing (530 yards) in addition to being its primary passer. FSU was 5-3 in games that Travis started, with two of those defeats coming to teams that finished the year ranked.
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Florida State returns promising running back Treshaun Ward, who rushed for 515 yards and four scores while averaging 6.4 yards per carry while splitting carries with Jashaun Corbin, who left early for the NFL. A healthy combo of Travis and Ward gives FSU reasons to be optimistic about its running game.
The question centers around the passing game that ranked 94th among 130 FBS teams in passing yards per game. To that end FSU added four different players in the transfer portal to that receiving corps. Perhaps most noticeable in that group was West Virginia’s Winston Wright Jr., who caught 63 passes for 688 yards and five touchdowns last season. Also intriguing is 6-foot-7, 235-pound Johnny Wilson from Arizona State. The former touted recruit caught 12 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown in five games last season.
The offensive line returns 67 career starts with five players having at least one to their credit.
Defensively, every starter from the linebacker and secondary groups returns from a unit that ranked 65th nationally in yards allowed per game.
However, Florida State loses ACC Defensive Player of the Year and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, who had 70 tackles, including 18 for loss and 12 sacks.
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