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Seminoles Kicked the Tires on Wisner and Bought a Lemon
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- Seminoles Kicked the Tires on Wisner and Bought a Lemon
(Melina Myers/Imagn Images)
During thetransfer portal window, Florida State coach Mike Norvell went looking for arunning back, even though he already had Ousmane Kromah and Sam Singleton Jr.on the roster.
Norvell plucked former Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisnerfrom its depths, thinking he would be a productive piece of the Florida State offense. Two games into this season, that could not be further from the truth.
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The acquisitionof Wisner has morphed into the college football equivalent of buying a broken-downused car. Imagine Norvell, carrying a suitcase with $650,000 in NIL greenbacks,approaching Wisner's agent.
The $650,000 was initially reported by Tomahawk Nation in a column on Aug. 19.
The agent,with slicked-back hair and wearing a polyester leisure suit and sharkskin boots,tells Norvell "trust me." So, with the stroke of a pen and over a half a milliondollars later, Wisner arrives at Florida State and immediately sets out to finda comfy spot on the Seminoles ' bench. After two games, Wisner has just fourcarries for 34 yards and no touchdowns.
Becausewhen college football hands you lemons, Norvell and Florida State buy them.
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Wisner hasbeen trending downward. With the Longhorns last season, Wisner led the teamwith 597 rushing yards and three touchdowns. In 2024, Wisner was a 1,000-yard rusherfor Texas with five touchdowns.
It wasquestionable why Norvell felt the need to add another running back to theroster. Kromah was trending upward and was the leading returning rusher thisseason for the Seminoles. He rushed for 408 yards and 5.6 yards per carry lastseason.
So farthis season, Kromah has been the productive workhorse everyone thought he wouldbe. After two games, Kromah has posted 231 yards and two touchdowns, and hasaveraged 6.42 yards per carry. Kromah ranks third in the ACC in rushing yardsper game with 115.50. Whatever Florida State is paying Kromah in NIL money, double it.
In Monday night'sloss to SMU , Florida State essentially abandoned the passing game and ran theball the majority of the game (45 running plays, 23 passing attempts). Nothinglike being one-dimensional, so the opposing defense can key on you. Despitethat, Kromah still rushed for over 100 yards for the second consecutive week.
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At hispost-game press conference, Norvell talked about the lack of a passing game andleaning on the run.
"I mean, there, had somerun pass things that we called that really was going to take what they gave us in regards,and we had some good runs that that showed up off that," Norvell said. "Butalso wanted to try to get some consistency going into thepassing game and unfortunately, you wasn't able to do that to level and be ableto sustain that throughout. So, there were some dynamics ofthat wewere doing some good things in the run game and so, wanted to have a little bitmore balance, but also wanted more production in what we were trying to dothere."
FloridaState has a good and productive rushing attack behind Kromah and Singleton. Both playersprovide a spark when it is needed most. Wisner has not had a productive hand inthe offense, and the fact that he did not see the field and had zero carriesagainst SMU is frustrating and telling.
Wisnermissed two important scrimmages in fall camp because of a nagging injury. Infall camp and over the first two games of this season, Wisner has not playedwell enough to earn playing time ahead of Kromah and Singleton. $650,000 in NILmoney to ride the pine, sign me up.
