{"id":53238,"date":"2023-10-21T09:00:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T13:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=53238"},"modified":"2023-10-20T22:51:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T02:51:49","slug":"florida-state-vs-duke-game-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/10\/21\/florida-state-vs-duke-game-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida State vs. Duke Game Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time since 2015, Florida State has hit the 6-0 mark to start a season. Thanks to their most commanding victory on the season so far, a 41-3 drubbing of the Syracuse Orange, the Noles look as dangerous as ever. For the second year in a row, the defense blanketed the very athletic\u00a0<\/span>Garrett Shrader<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and his offense. Shrader experienced yet another career-low performance at the hands of the Seminole defense. After struggling with dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks, this was a much-needed result and crucial for momentum. This weekend, Florida State will duke it out with the Duke Blue Devils in Doak-Campbell Stadium, at 7:30 pm ET on ABC. Can they carry over the momentum to this weekend, against an even more talented signal-caller in\u00a0<\/span>Riley Leonard<\/span><\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is LWOS\u2019s game preview for this exciting Top-25 matchup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Florida State vs. Duke<\/h2>\n

Series History and Stats:<\/span><\/h3>\n

The last time these two teams matched up was in December of 2020 when Florida State outclassed Duke in a 56-35 offensive showcase. It\u2019s safe to say both programs were at much lower points during that time. Florida State comes into the showdown having never lost to Duke, holding a commanding 21-0 series lead. This season, however, appears to be the Blue Devils\u2019 best chance at ending the long streak and picking up their first series win.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blue Devils come into Tallahassee sitting third in the ACC, with a surprising 5\u20131 record, 2-0 in the conference and ranked 16th in the country. A\u00a0<\/span>heartbreaking 21\u201314 loss<\/span><\/a>\u00a0at home to currently 11th-ranked Notre Dame on September 30 has been their only setback. Otherwise, Duke has sustained a historic start to the season, outscoring their opponents by a 173\u201338 margin. This includes wins over ACC foes Clemson and NC State. Head coach\u00a0<\/span>Mike Elko<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0has done an incredible job in turning the program around so quickly. He\u2019s in the running to be named the ACC\u2019s Coach of the Year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The offense has been somewhat pedestrian, slotting in at ninth in the conference, averaging 388 total yards per game. The passing game is the worst in the ACC with 189.5 yards per game. However, leaning on the ground game has been Duke\u2019s bread and butter. They rank at the top of the conference with 198.5 yards per game and 17 touchdowns. The Blue Devils are arguably even more stout on the other side of the ball. They rank second in the ACC in total defense, only allowing 298.5 yards per game on average. The strength is undoubtedly their pass defense, which is also the best in the conference with only 164.7 yards allowed per game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Key Players to Watch:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

FSU WR\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Johnny Wilson<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

The Seminoles\u2019 big-bodied star wideout missed last week due to an undisclosed injury. However, he\u2019s nearly 100% and ready to suit up and start against Duke. Head coach\u00a0<\/span>Mike Norvell<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0praised how he looked throughout the week during practice and is fully confident in Wilson\u2019s abilities to rebound.\u00a0<\/span>Keon Coleman<\/span><\/a>, as he has often proved this season, stepped up big in his absence with a huge performance. Who will possess the hot hand this time around?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FSU RB Duo<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Trey Benson<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Lawrance Toafili<\/span><\/a>\u00a0combined for 21 carries for 167 yards and a score against Syracuse. While Benson is more of the workhorse and power back, Toafili provides more versatility and change-of-pace. The offenses executed that differentiation to near perfection last Saturday. With Duke\u2019s defensive weakness lying more around defending the ground game, expect the Noles to transition more focus on running the football rather than throwing. The backfield tandem could prove highly crucial in this matchup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Duke QB Riley Leonard\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

His name has already been mentioned, and that\u2019s because he\u2019s so vital to how this Blue Devils offense operates. Leonard hasn\u2019t put up gaudy statistics through the air, but he\u2019s smart with the football and a great runner. He\u2019s the team\u2019s second-leading rusher behind starting running back\u00a0<\/span>Jordan Waters<\/span><\/a>. It certainly doesn\u2019t help that he\u2019s been out two weeks with a high ankle sprain he suffered against Notre Dame.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Elko has stated \u201cThere\u2019s a chance\u201d Leonard plays against FSU. If he does, and he\u2019s close to 100%, it\u2019s a massive boost for this Duke squad. Backup freshman quarterback\u00a0<\/span>Henry Belin IV<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0threw two touchdowns and performed adequately in last week\u2019s win over NC State. However, the office overall appeared much more sluggish and operated much more methodically without Leonard at the helm. He\u2019s one of the best leaders in the sport, and it just feels like he needs to suit up and contribute if there\u2019s any chance Duke pulls off the upset.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction<\/span><\/h3>\n

Vegas is giving the Noles a two-touchdown advantage at home. It makes for an interesting line as a bettor, but it really all boils down to the health of Riley Leonard. If he plays, Duke possesses the talent, personnel, and experience to keep this a close, one-possession game down the final stretch. If he\u2019s ruled out, the Blue Devil defense can keep it close, but the Seminoles just have too much firepower and could run away with it in the second half.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is hard to not see Leonard give it a go, especially with how meaningful and high-stakes this contest has turned out to become. The outcome could prove pivotal in determining who claims the ACC crown. However, his mobility, which is arguably his greatest asset, will be limited by the ankle issue. This game will be a huge maturity test for FSU halfway through the season. The Seminoles maintain momentum from last week\u2019s performance and take care of business at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Florida State – 38, Duke – 24<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time since 2015, Florida State has hit the 6-0 mark to start a season. Thanks to their most commanding victory on the season so far, a 41-3 drubbing of the Syracuse Orange, the Noles look as dangerous as ever. For the second year in a row, the defense blanketed the very athletic\u00a0Garrett […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4550,"featured_media":53442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[102,36,311,38,32662,8010,2100,3634,259,306],"class_list":["post-53238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acc","category-featured","tag-acc","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-florida-state-seminoles","tag-henry-belin-iv","tag-mike-elko","tag-mike-norvell","tag-nc-state-wolfpack","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-syracuse-orange"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}