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How Pro Football Focus graded Florida State football in Week 4` vs. Clemson | Nole Rewind

ehsan kassim, tallahassee democrat
·7 min read

The first month of the season is done for Florida State football and the Seminoles passed two major tests with wins over LSU and Clemson.

The Seminoles improved to 4-0, 2-0 ACC and are ranked No. 5 and No. 4 in the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches pools, respectively, after a 31-24 overtime victory over Clemson (2-2, 0-2) on Saturday.

Here's a look at snap counts for all FSU players against Clemson, along with notes about their grades from Pro Football Focus.

Following a bye week, the Seminoles begin a three-game homestand against Virginia Tech on Oct. 7.

QUARTERBACK

Despite appearing to re-aggravate his left non-throwing shoulder injury from the Boston College game and injuring his right hand, according to a sideline report during the televised game, Travis did not miss a snap against the Tigers.

He gutted out a strong performance for his team, including the game-winning touchdown to Keon Coleman.

The touchdown pass to Coleman was the 82nd in his career as a Seminole, a new program record.

It wasn't Travis' best performance, as he admitted he missed some throws and nearly threw an interception on the first drive of the game. He finished 21-of-37 for 289 passing yards, two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.

His 79.1 overall offensive grade and 77.5 passing grade were enough to get the Seminoles a tough road victory.

Travis finished with a season-high of four "big-time throws" and had one turnover-worthy pass. He also had one pass dropped.

RUNNING BACK

For the second straight game, the rushing lanes were non-existent for the Seminoles. FSU was limited to 22 rushing yards and 1.1 yards per carry. The longest run of the day was a 12-yard scamper by Benson.

Benson led the team with seven rushes for 25 yards but had 28 yards after contact. He forced three missed tackles and had an elusive rating of 200. The elusiveness was something he led college football in last year but had not captured yet this season.

He posted a 71.3 rushing grade to lead the team. The rest of the FSU running backs combined for seven rushes for negative 1 yards.

WIDE RECEIVER

Wilson (11) and Coleman (9) combined for 20 targets of the 36 pass attempts for Travis. Travis was locked into his top two receivers, pointing out that he felt Clemson was "disrespecting" the offense by putting man coverage on those two.

Wilson led the way with five catches for 94 yards and posted a 70.8 receiving grade. Wilson added five catches for 86 yards and two scores, finishing with a receiving grade of 70.3

Travis completed passes to six different players and targeted nine players throughout the game.

TIGHT END

The tight ends had one of their quieter games this season, as Bell and Morlock were mostly seen as secondary targets. Bell finished with three catches (six targets) for 26 yards and also added two rushes for a yard on the ground.

Morlock caught both of his targets for 18 yards. Douglas struggled in this one, dropping his only target. He graded out poorly with a 39.8 overall offensive grade, due in large part to the drop.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Smith (center) returned after missing the previous two games, while Robert Scott Jr. (right guard) remained out with a lower-body injury for the third straight game. Harris started at right guard, again and was tied for the team lead in snaps. He graded out the best in pass blocking with a 91.4 overall grade, followed by Washington's 86.6 grade.

On the flip side, Harris posted a team-worst 45.7 rush blocking grade but was hardly the only player to struggle in that aspect, as Washington was the only player to grade out at 60.0, which is an average PFF grade.

Byers, in particular, had a difficult game with low grades in offense (39.8), run blocking (49.8) and pass blocking (45.1), as did Roddick with grades of 53.5 (offense), 49.3 (run) and 55.4 (pass).

The Seminoles have two full weeks of prep to figure out run blocking and the rushing game in general before their next game.

DEFENSIVE END

While Verse was quiet for his standards in the first three games of the season, he made his presence felt against the Tigers, leading the defense with an overall grade of 83.1 and rushing defense grade of 86.5.

Verse tied Farmer with five QB pressures and three hurries and also led the team with two QB hits.

Payton added two tipped passes, along with three pressures, putting together his best game of the season.

Verse did miss one tackle, but it was the only missed tackle for the unit in the contest.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Lovett played on a season-high 41 snaps in this one after playing 39 snaps last week and a combined 31 snaps in the first two games. He graded out well with a (74.5) grade at rush defense and 70.2 tacking.

Fiske led the group with his 78.8 rush defense grade, also adding his 76.7 tackling grade. The Seminoles limited the explosive Will Shipley in the run game.

Ray's 27 snaps were the most since the LSU game in Week 1 and he provided a solid game in overall grade (75.9) and rush defense (77.9).

LINEBACKER

DeLoach earned a 99 grade in pass rush and an overall grade of 81.3 after his sack led to a fumble, which he scooped and returned for a touchdown to even the game. His one weakness was in rush defense, with a grade of 47.3

One week after a strong performance earned Graham an increased role with a strong performance, he struggled in this one, posting a team-worst 28.7 overall grade. He also struggled in run defense (41.1), tackling (49.3), and in coverage (32.6).

Graham had the only missed tackle in the unit and allowed three catches for 39 yards in coverage.

DEFENSIVE BACK

Knowles earned the start with Akeem Dent out at free safety with an injury for the second straight week. Knowles tied for the team lead for missed tackles with two, after leading the team with three missed tackles last week. Thomas and Jones each had two missed tackles as well.

Brown played on all 82 snaps for FSU, posting solid grades overall (74.8), rush defense (78.9), tackling (85.6) and coverage (69.3).

Cypress was the most targeted FSU DB, with Cade Klubnik throwing in his direction eight times. Cypress allowed five catches for 43 yards. He added a PBU.

Green was targeted six times, allowing five catches for 36 yards and Thomas allowed four catches (on five targets) for 56 yards and a TD. He also added one PBU but had a 152.9 NFL passer rating against him.

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football: How PFF graded Seminoles graded against Clemson Week 4