Florida State’s Weaknesses: Areas Where The Miami Hurricanes May Have An Advantage

If it is possible to struggle while maintaining the longest winning streak, 25 games, since the Miami Hurricanes of the early 2000’s, the Florida State Seminoles are demonstrating it. Although Miami’s next opponent has the most talented roster the Canes will face, they certainly have some holes.

There are a couple of positions and tendencies that Miami has to take advantage of, because they might actually have an advantage.

Offensive Line

Before the season, Florida State’s offensive line projected as one of the nation’s best. Through 9 games, “disappointing” is a word that would accurately describe this unit. It features left tackle Cam Erving, left guard Josue Matias, center Ryan Hoefield, right guard Tre Jackson, and right tackle Bobby Hart. Each of them is a senior except Hoefield, a redshirt freshman. More likely than not, Erving, Matias, and Jackson will hear their names called in the 2015 draft; however, this talent has not produced great results. The Seminoles rank 84^th in the country in rushing yards per carry with 4.0 and 104^th in rushing yards per game with 129.9. Poor offensive line play, particularly on the interior, has contributed significantly to this letdown. With the improvement of Miami’s run defense and recent aggressive play calling we have seen, I think the Hurricanes could have the upper hand here. The battle of the trenches is usually the key to games, and this game will be no exception.

Slow Starts

Dating back to last season, the Seminoles have gotten off to slow starts. Despite being exponentially better than just about every team on their schedule, Florida State has let teams hang around in games. Last season they played Boston College, Miami, Florida, and Duke close in the first halves before proceeding to dominant victories. This season, they have either fallen behind early or played close throughout against Oklahoma State, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame, Louisville, and most recently Virginia. This includes double-digit deficits against NC State and Louisville. Should they fall behind to the Hurricanes on Saturday, the hole may be too deep to dig out of. In front of what should be a raucous crowd, the Canes need to jump out to a fast start and make Florida State play catch-up.

Interception-Prone

Following last season’s Heisman campaign, Jameis Winston has taken a step back. He threw 10 interceptions all of last season, but has thrown 11 this season through just 8 starts. This includes four multiple-interception games. Winston frequently attempts to force passes into tight holes. He threw two interceptions in last season’s Miami-Florida State matchup. In order to upset the No. 2 team in the country, the Canes will need to force at least one turnover.

Wide Receiver

If you have ever watched Florida State play, you already know that Rashad Greene can shred a secondary. Aside from catching everything thrown his way, Greene gets targeted by Jameis Winston because at times he is the only reliable option. True freshmen and local products Travis Rudolph and Ermon Lane follow Greene on the depth chart, along with sophomore receiver Jesus “Bobo” Wilson. This gathering of talented, young receivers will prove beneficial for the Seminoles in the future, but not so much this Saturday. The Canes receivers must out-perform the Noles receivers for Miami to pull the upset.

For the first time in quite some time, the Hurricanes actually have a team capable of competing with Florida State, and for the first time in a while, they might actually have advantages over them at certain positions.

It should be a good one at Sun Life Stadium and we just can’t wait.