Look ahead: West Virginia football vs. Florida State
As long as everything stays on schedule, West Virginia is set to open the season against Florida State Sept. 5 in Atlanta. It is never too early to take a peek ahead to see what is going on with the Seminoles program leading into a possible fall camp.
We caught up with Warchant.com to get an idea of what to expect from the new look Seminoles with head coach Mike Norvell in charge by looking at a number of key areas.
Outlook
The bar has been lowered at FSU in recent years, so no championships are expected in 2020. But there is enough talent - including two of the best players in the country at their respective positions in DT Marvin Wilson and WR Tamorrion Terry - that eight or nine wins isn't out of the realm of possibility. New head coach Mike Norvell has always produced high-scoring offenses, but there are serious question marks at QB and offensive line for the Seminoles heading into the season. On defense, FSU will go back to mostly a 4-3 look under first-year coordinator Adam Fuller, who has plenty of work to do to transform a defense that finished 90th in the country in 2019 in yards allowed.
Key returning players
Terry surprised many by coming back this year instead of opting for the NFL Draft. Wilson surprised everyone by doing the same. Both are potential first-round selections in 2021. Terry already holds the school record for most 70-yard receiving touchdowns with four, and he's averaged nearly 50 yards per TD reception the last two years. He had 1,188 yards a season ago despite being the only true outside threat for the Seminoles. Wilson is a wrecking ball of a DT who is on most preseason All-American lists. Safety Hamsah Nasirildeen has led the Seminoles in tackles the past two seasons and Asante Samuel, Jr. has a chance to be the next great cornerback for FSU.
Biggest losses
By far, the biggest loss from last year's team was running back Cam Akers. The former five-star recruit rushed for 1,144 yards and 14 TDs in 2019. He also caught 30 passes for 225 yards and four more TDs. And he did all of that behind one of the worst offensive lines in the Power 5. He was an exceptional talent that won't be replaced by a single person. But Texas A&M transfer Jashaun Corbin and junior Khalan Laborn will be fighting for the starting spot. The only other potentially big loss for FSU from 2019 was cornerback Stanford Samuels, who declared early for the NFL Draft and didn't get drafted. His starting spot figures to be taken by either Akeem Dent, a former five-star recruit who showed plenty of flashes last year as a freshman, or Meiko Dotson, an FAU transfer who led the nation with nine interceptions in 2019.
Projected strengths
If the starters can stay healthy, the defensive line figures to be a big strength for the Seminoles. Along with Wilson, juniors Cory Durden and Robert Cooper team up to give FSU maybe the best three-man DT rotation in the nation. Durden and Wilson are three-down players who led the team in QB pressures and sacks, while Cooper is a run-stuffer. The defensive ends spots aren't as strong, but there is potential there. Janarius Robinson had a solid season in 2019 off the edge and Josh Kaindoh, a former five-star recruit, was starting to show flashes of that potential early last season when he was lost for the year with an injury. The defensive backfield should also be much, much better in 2020. Samuel and Nasirildeen are NFL Draft picks and there is a ton of experience in the secondary.
Biggest concerns
The offensive line. Always the offensive line. For the last three years, the Seminoles have been frankly abysmal.up front. They can hold their own, sometimes, when they play average defensive lines. But when they play good ones? They have a hard time doing much of anything. Except going backwards. New offensive line coach Alex Atkins is considered one of the rising stars in the business, and if he's able to turn this unit into a respectable one then FSU could finally start to turn things around. The quarterback is also a concern. James Blackman struggled mightily at the end of last season and will be challenged by two true freshmen for the starting QB spot.
What can West Virginia expect?
It's hard to know, really. Norvell's track record is more proven than Willie Taggart's was when he arrived at FSU, but he's still the third head coach many of these guys have played for. And changing a culture of a roster that is 18-20 in its last 38 games can't just be done by snapping fingers. They should be better coached and better prepared. He does have a better staff than Taggart had. And he prides himself on his teams playing hard and playing smart. Something FSU hasn't always done in recent years. But season-openers are always a wild card, and season-openers for a first-year head coach even moreso. So in short, there's no way to truly know what FSU team West Virginia will be facing.
How has coaching change affected the team?
The players really did seem to take to Norvell and his staff. He has a vision, he has a plan, and he has seemingly been able to communicate that very effectively. The players had glowing reviews after the first three days of spring practice. But that's the issue. There were only three days of spring practice. Then everything stopped. When you're trying to rebuild a program, when you're trying to change the mindset of a team mired in mediocrity, it's not an ideal development when you have to stay away from the players for three months. It's not nearly as easy to instill what you're trying to instill. So he'll have to make up for lost time when preseason practice starts.
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