How Pro Football Focus graded Florida State football against Wake Forest | Nole Rewind
Florida State football snapped a three-game losing skid to Wake Forest with a dominant 41-16 victory Saturday at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The No. 4 Seminoles (8-0, 6-0 ACC) now turn their focus to stop number two of a brief two-game road trip when FSU faces off with Pittsburgh (2-6, 1-3) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Broadcast: ESPN).
Here's a look at snap counts for all FSU players against the Demon Deacons, along with notes about their grades from Pro Football Focus.
QUARTERBACK
Jordan Travis - 62
Tate Rodemaker - 7
Travis finished with a season-high of 359 passing yards, making four big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy pass. That turnover-worthy pass came in the first quarter, on the first drive. Travis was on from them.
He was 16-of-20 on passes traveling less than 10 yards and had success spreading the ball all over the field. Travis was 8 for 11 passing on play-action, posting a PFF grade of 85.1 on those.
Travis came out of the game early, allowing Rodemaker to take seven snaps. He made just one pass attempt but completed it for 23 yards.
RUNNING BACK
Trey Benson - 30
Lawrance Toafili - 27
Rodney Hill - 15
Caziah Holmes - 11
Walk-on running back CJ Campbell Jr. was unavailable for the second straight game. That did not impact the running back rotation much, however.
Benson took 10 of the 22 running back runs in this game, with Travis having two rushes himself. Benson finished with 55 rushing yards with 32 yards coming after contact and forced three missed tackles.
Travis had a nifty run where he made a couple of defenders miss in the backfield and finished with a total of five forced tackles missed. Thirty of his 41 yards came after contact.
Hill had five rushes for 11 yards, with 10 yards coming after contact.
WIDE RECEIVER
Keon Coleman - 67
Kentron Potier - 44
Darion Williamson - 24
Ja'Khi Douglas -22
Joshua Burrell - 5
Deuce Spann - 5
Johnny Wilson, Destyn Hill and Hykeem Williams all sat this one out, making the Seminoles go deep into their depth chart.
Coleman led the team again with his 11 targets and seven receptions. He had three catches on five targets on the first drive, alone, before the Deom Deacons made a bit of an adjustment. But both his TDs came on single coverages and he made the defense pay.
Outside of Coleman, eight different receivers combined for 15 receptions, with Benson having the biggest game and a 100-yard performance. His biggest play was an 80-yard screen that went for a TD. Benson had two drops against Syracuse, so this execution was big for an aspect of his game he's been working on.
Poitier (one reception for 33 yards) and Douglas (two receptions, 36 yards) each recorded their first catches of the season. Poitier did have a key drop.
TIGHT END
Jaheim Bell - 36
Kyle Morlock - 34
Markeston Douglas - 11
Preston Daniel - 8
Brian Courtney - 7
Jackson West - 7
Jimmy Casey - 2
With the slew of injuries at receiver, the Seminoles started the game in a two-tight end set with both Morlock and Bell on the field. This has been a set that has been successful for FSU.
Bell continues to be a steady presence with his four catches for 51 yards and Morlock had two catches for 45 yards, including a key third-down conversion for a gain of 32.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Maurice Smith - 62
Casey Roddick - 62
Jeremiah Byers - 62
Keiondre Jones - 36
Bless Harris - 35
Robert Scott - 27
D'Mitri Emmanuel - 26
Julian Armella - 7
Jaylen Early - 7
Bryson Estes - 7
David Stickle - 7
Thomas Shrader - 7
Swish-army knife offensive lineman Darius Washington sat this game out with an undisclosed injury. But the offensive line performed well in this one, for the most part.
The only sack allowed was by Bell but Emmanuel, Scott and Byers each surrendered two QB hurries, while Harris and Roddick each allowed one.
Roddick did lead the pass blockers with his 72.0 pass-blocking grade and Jones struggled with a 42.6 grade.
In run-blocking, Byers led the team with his 70.9 grade and Scott struggled with his 50.6 mark.
The breakdown of the offensive line snaps is below, with the backups coming in for the final seven.
Left tackle: Harris (35), Scott (27) and Early (7)
Left guard: Roddick (62) and Shrader (7)
Center: Smith (62) and Sickle (7)
Right guard: Jones (36), Emmanuel (26) and Estes (7)
Right tackle: Byers (62) and Armella (7)
DEFENSIVE END
Patrick Payton - 41
Jared Verse - 37
Gilber Edmond - 30
Byron Turner Jr. - 22
Jaden Jones - 3
Dane Anderson - 3
Payton posted a second straight very strong outing, finishing with a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss. He and Verse each recorded two sacks to lead the group.
Verse, who left to get stitches for a cut near his eye during the first quarter, had eight total QB pressures with five hurries. Payton added three and Turner and Edmond each finished with two.
Payton and Turner led the group with four run stops, while Verse added three. Verse led the team with his dominant 90.9 overall defensive grade.
Edmond did have the lone missed tackle of the group.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Braden Fiske - 34
Joshua Farmer - 34
Malcolm Ray - 34
Fabien Lovett - 20
Daniel Lyons - 13
KJ Sampson - 3
Dennis Briggs Jr. missed the game this week after sustaining an injury to his lower body. Head coach Mike Norvell ruled out Briggs for the next couple of weeks.
Even playing a man down, the Seminoles roated well and did not have a single player play over 50% of the snaps at defensive tackle. That has been a goal for Norvell this season.
Fiske led the group with his three pressures, but also missed one tackle.
LINEBACKER
Tatum Bethune - 42
Kalen DeLoach - 39
DJ Lundy - 37
Omar Graham Jr. - 24
Blake Nichelson - 7
Justin Cryer - 3
Norvell praised the play of the linebackers and how they flew around following the game. Of the 10 tackles for loss, the linebacking core was involved in 4.5 tackles for loss. Bethune recorded his career-high with 2.5 and Graham had the first of his career.
Bethune was second on the team and led the group with his 84.5 defensive grade, also finishing with a solid day in rush defense (83.1), pass defense (81.6) and pass rush (75.8). He finished with a team-high six run stops.
Lundy had a strong day in his tackling with a grade of 80.0, but he struggled in coverage (47.5) and pass rush (58.8) to drop his overall grade to 51.8 for the day.
DEFENSIVE BACK
Renardo Green - 49
Fentrell Cypress II - 49
Shyheim Brown - 45
Akeem Dent - 39
Jarrian Jones - 34
Azareye'h Thomas - 31
Kevin Knowles II - 29
Greedy Vance Jr. - 15
Conrad Hussey - 14
Quindarrius Jones - 3
Ashlynd Barker - 3
Wake Forest decided to target Green early and often in this game and it did not work out for them. Green was targeted eight times and allowed just two completions for 17 yards. He finished with two PBUs and had a 39.6 NFL passer rating grade.
On the opposite spectrum, this game was a struggle for Brown, after a string of really good games. He was penalized twice, including a pass interference and allowed both of his targets to be caught for 26 yards.
Vane and Cypress each also added with one PBU. Knowles missed a key tackle on a 51- yard run by Wake which set up the first touchdown. He had nine missed tackles this season and a tackling grade of 48.9.
GAME INFORMATION
Who: No. 4 FSU (8-0, 6-0 ACC) at Pittsburgh (2-6, 1-3)
When/where: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, Penn.
TV/Radio: ESPN/94.9 FM
Live game updates: www.Tallahassee.com; @Ehsan_Kassim, @jackgwilliams and @JimHenryTALLY on X, formerly Twitter
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State football: PFF grades for Seminoles vs. Wake Forest
