The Florida State Seminoles are poised to become what Alabama had been a few seasons ago: The team that is going to stand above everyone else in college football, win consecutive national championships, and take on the role of the villain in the sport, with no one seemingly being able to do anything about it. Is that an exaggeration? It feels like one on the surface, but maybe that’s simply what the situation actually is. Florida State is that good, or at least, if it becomes that good this season, nobody should really be very surprised at all.
Strengths
The Seminoles are so strong that it’s impossible to focus on any one thing. Jameis Winston is the defending Heisman Trophy winner and a truly elite quarterback. He can make all the throws. He can run when he needs to. He can run when he wants to. He sees the field really well. He reacts properly to pressure in the pocket. He’s going to keep this team in the race for the national title as long as he’s healthy. He makes everything else possible for this offense under head coach Jimbo Fisher. He makes receivers better. He makes running backs better. He uses his linemen well. He does it all.
And that’s just one player.
Florida State is very strong and deep up front on both offense and defense. You’re not going to overpower the line. You’re probably going to need to do what Auburn did in the BCS National Championship Game last season, using the pass to get the defense off balance and then using a tempo-oriented run game to get the defensive line huffing and puffing and out of shape. There’s no team on this season’s schedule which can do this, however. Florida State’s secondary might be a little vulnerable, but it’s fairly athletic and will need a great performance from an opposing quarterback to overcome it during the season. On offense and defense, this team is loaded from the front end of the roster to the back. You’re not going to find very many holes.
Weaknesses
The Seminoles are so good that the one true weakness on their roster is the punter. The thing about that weakness is that Florida State’s offense isn’t going to be stopped very often this season. The Seminoles aren’t going to punt many times in close games, when they really need to score. They’re not going to face many situations in which they need a punt to change field position and lift them out of trouble. It’s almost a cruel joke to opponents that this is the one place on the roster where the Seminoles clearly don’t measure up.
Otherwise, the possible weakness on this team could simply be overconfidence and a lack of an ability to focus on each game one year after winning it all. It’s not as though there’s a guidebook on how to handle success. College students could easily get distracted or complacent. One really bad game is all it takes to derail this team’s hopes of repeating.
Schedule
The Seminoles are awesomely good, so they should win all of their games, especially since Clemson is a home game and the Tigers don’t have their most experienced skill players from last year. Florida is no longer a superpower in terms of talent. The only real threat is the game at Louisville, but the Cardinals probably won’t hang with Florida State for the full 60 minutes.
Outlook
The Seminoles should run the table. Who is going to beat them? You have to ask that question, and it’s hard to come up with a convincing answer.
Pick: Over 11.5 at -105
