Florida State University Athletics
Pass Rush Looks To Return To Form Against Cuse
10/23/2019 7:31:04 PM | Football
WATCH: Harlon Barnett, Oct. 23
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – By almost any measure, Florida State’s pass rush has shown a considerable improvement from a year ago.
Despite losing star defensive end Brian Burns to the NFL draft, the Seminoles have 17 sacks through seven games – on pace to exceed their 2018 total of 28 – and have seen 11 different players involved with at least one so far.
Those numbers, however, would be even better were it not for a recent dip in pass-rushing production. Because in the two games since FSU’s bye week, the Seminoles haven’t added to their sack total at all.
Reversing that course is among the defense’s top priorities as they prepare to host Syracuse on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN2).
“We’ve got to get after the quarterback,” said junior defensive end Janarius Robinson, perhaps FSU’s best threat off the edge. “At the beginning of the season, we were (placing a) heavy emphasis on stopping the run. We have to get after the quarterback this week against Syracuse.”
If the Orange’s results this season are any indication, the Seminoles’ pass rush could be in for a return to form.
Playing with a number of new faces in key places on offense, the Orange have surrendered 35 sacks and lost a total of 224 yards as a result of them.
Both of those figures are the highest in the nation.
Pittsburgh last week racked up nine sacks in a 27-20 win over Syracuse and knocked starting quarterback Tommy DeVito out of the game early in the third quarter.
DeVito’s status for Saturday’s game is not yet certain, although Syracuse did list him as the starter in its official depth chart.
“We want to get after him,” Robinson said, “and put pressure on the quarterback this week.”
It might not have made much difference at Clemson, and head coach Willie Taggart earlier this week said that FSU’s defensive game plan at Wake had more to do with containing the Demon Deacons’ high-powered offense and less to do with dialing up exotic blitzes.
And, to that end, it worked. FSU held Wake well below its season averages in points and yardage and limited the Deacons to five field goals in six red zone trips.
WATCH: Janarius Robinson, Oct. 23
But, given the Seminoles’ two-point defeat, it’s also easy to imagine how one or two sacks might have sung things in their favor. The Demon Deacons were without their starting quarterback and couldn’t find any success with their running game, but they struck for more than 300 yards through the air.
“The more sacks we can do, our win percentage can increase more, too,” safety Levonta Taylor said. “At the end of the day, we’ve just got to play football and if some things don’t happen, we’ve got to make them happen.”
Defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett would like to see an uptick, but he also said Wednesday that he’s noticed opponents using additional blockers – sometimes using a “max protect” alignment with a blocking running back and tight end – out of respect for what the Seminoles have done.
Still, he also knows that FSU can’t just accept those results, either. If previous methods of creating pressure aren’t working, the Seminoles will have to create new ones.
“We’re going to keep trying to find ways to get there,” Barnett said. “Because everybody likes getting sacks.
“All our guys like getting sacks, so we’re going to keep trying to find ways. And we will.”
Taggart, meanwhile, believes the solution is simple – although not necessarily easy.
“How do you get it corrected? You get after the quarterback,” he said. “You get to him. That’s how you get it corrected.”