Florida State opened the season with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State this past Saturday, beginning the year 1-0
It was a three-score win that still felt underwhelming. Despite being more than a 30-point favorite, the Seminoles never truly managed to dominate the Aggies.
"It didn't go exactly the way we wanted in certain aspects, there's some miscommunications, some things that, in the first game that you want to eliminate as much as possible, or limit as much as possible," head coach Mike Norvell said after the matchup. "Obviously, it cost us in some inopportune moments, we had some penalties that put us in difficult situations. They had a touchdown called back, that was a four-point swing. We had a blown coverage that cost us, a couple of touchdowns that, unfortunately, you just can't have. And then, throughout the course of the game, just a lot of areas where we're going to be able to grow and continue to push to get better."
What was some of the good and what was some of the bad? Here are three key stats from FSU's win that show one thing that worked and two that didn't ahead of a Week 1 matchup with the SMU Mustangs.
164: Sam Singleton Jr.'s all-purpose yardage
A lot of well-deserved noise was thrown Ousmane Kromah's way this offseason, but Singleton Jr. capitalized on a big camp to establish himself as a key part of FSU's offense, earning the start on Saturday. The junior broke the rock for FSU after the win, and for good reason. He caught a career-high four passes (matching his career total ), leading the team with 54 receiving yards and a touchdown, while also tacking on 42 rushing yards and a score as well as a 46-yard kickoff return.
With New Mexico State focused on eliminating the downfield threat, his presence in the pass game helped alleviate pressure on Ashton Daniels. Per PFF, his 80.8 receiving grade led the offense, and his 35-yard catch-and-run late in the first quarter set up Florida State's first touchdown. It was always anticipated that he'd figure to be part of the running back rotation, but he effectively made his case in remaining a key part of it moving forward, even with Tre Wisner healthy and having an impressive showing (8.5 yards per carry) in minimal work.
"Sam's a guy that's a really talented football player," Norvell said. "He's growing, just in all areas. I was proud of him to see his impact in all three phases of it. The return game had a big kickoff return. Obviously, you had some good runs, but then you're also catching the ball out of the backfield was great to see and to see his confidence growing and what we do….I envisioned him and the explosiveness he has in the different areas that he could impact, and I think he saw the same thing. It was a great start for him to this season, and we're expecting big things as we continue to move forward."
77%: New Mexico State quarterback Trey Hedden's third-down completion percentage
The Aggies went 10-for-17 on third down — and eight of those conversions were through the air. Hedden was 10-for-13 for 158 yards and two touchdowns on third, both of them 30-plus throws that were easily converted into scores. Soft coverage, coupled with defenders not getting home, played perfectly into New Mexico State's plan of getting the ball out of Hedden's hands quickly (2.3 average time to throw, per PFF), and the Seminoles were repeatedly burned by it. FSU kept winning the down-and-distance battle, then kept giving it back in key situations.
"There's some of the anticipation throws, I think right off three of the third and long were things that we were in control of and we did not execute, whether it's communication, leverage, the overall assignment, those are things that we've got to own and improve upon," Norvell said after the matchup. "What we can't have is where it's self-inflicted where we're not putting ourselves in the best position to be able to get off the field. That happened too many times tonight, but, we're going to get that corrected."
5%: FSU's defensive run stuff rate
While FSU only allowed New Mexico State to average three yards per carry when adjusting for sacks, the stuff rate (per GameOnPaper ) tells a bit of a deeper story with FSU's front. The Seminoles stuffed just one of the Aggies' designed runs behind the line of scrimmage, recording only one tackle for loss that wasn't a sack. It didn't come back to bite Florida State during the game — New Mexico State still only logged a minus-.08 EPA per rush — but against a team with a better offensive line and rushing attack, the Seminoles' inability to win (let alone dominate) the line will have a much more devastating effect.
