Ranking FSU's Remaining Games

As we close the first quarter of the season, we'll take a look at the road ahead for the Seminoles. Louisville, Georgia Tech, and even Clemson have not been as good as advertised so far, but we will learn a lot about Clemson in the next couple weeks as they host both Notre Dame and Georgia Tech in back-to-back weekends. Let's take a look at the Seminoles' remaining games in order of difficulty:

9) vs Chattanooga (3-1) 11/21

There's not much to say about Chattanooga other than they almost beat Jacksonville State in week one, who, if you remember, probably should've beat Auburn one week later. A lot of what-ifs but that is Chattanooga's only loss so far. This should be a good confidence builder before heading to Gainesville.

8) at Wake Forest (2-2) 10/3

The Demon Deacons are once again a bad team, but they are much improved compared to what they have been in recent years. They lost to Syracuse by 13 and to Indiana by 7. Wake is averaging 300 yards passing but have been starting a freshman quarterback after their starter was hurt vs Army. This weekend's matchup should be a feeding frenzy for the defense much like it was the last two years.

7) vs Syracuse (3-1) 10/31

LSU got all they could handle from the Orange last weekend in a 34-24 finish. The Orange haven't looked too impressive outside of Saturday's game, but they could emerge as a contender when they play FSU (10/31), Louisville (11/7), and Clemson (11/14) all in a row. Syracuse's defense may give our offense fits like they did LSU in the beginning of the game, but this matchup should not give us too many fits, especially at home.

6) vs Louisville (1-3) 10/17

The Cardinals dropped their first three games in heart-breaking fashion, relying on a matchup vs an FCS opponent to get their first win. Their defense played well last Thursday night, holding Deshaun Watson and Clemson to only 20 points. They seem to have found a play-maker at quarterback in dual-threat freshman Lamar Jackson who accounted for over 400 yards last week vs Samford and will take on undefeated - and so far impressive - NC State this weekend in Raleigh.

5) vs NC State (4-0) 11/14

NC State is yet to play a legit team but they have been impressive so far, outscoring opponents by an average of 46-12 (Troy, E. Kentucky, Old Dominion and South Alabama). They rely heavily on their rushing attack but their quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, is a capable passer as we saw last season. The Wolfpack will likely give us fits when we welcome them to Doak, but not to the extent of last year's 17-point lead.

4) vs Miami (4-0) 10/10

Miami has looked impressive in their fast start, especially for most of the Nebraska game when they were up 27-3 at one point in the 3rd quarter. Sophomore duo Brad Kayaa (279.7 Yds/G, 5 TD, 1 INT) and Joseph Yearby (103.7 Yds/G, 3 TD) along with the rest of the young, talented team have gotten off to stellar starts. The Hurricanes' could give the secondary fits if Kayaa comes out hot like he did last season. There is word that if we take care of Wake Forest this weekend and Miami gets by Cincinnati, College Game Day should be making its way to Tallahassee for the fourth time in 3 years.

3) at UF (4-0) 11/28

The Gators have gotten off to a 4-0 start and find themselves in the top 25 for the first time since 2013. It will be short-lived as they host Ole Miss this weekend, but there is something to be said for what they have done so far. Wins over ECU (beat VT this week) and Tennessee (almost beat Oklahoma) are impressive but their schedule continues to get harder and will probably expose them for what they really are - not a top 25 team.

2) at Georgia Tech (2-2) 10/24

The Yellow Jackets have been a pretty big disappointment this season, recently dropping out of the top 25 after many projected them to win the ACC before the season started. They were basically dominated by Notre Dame, despite the final score, and struggled once again to get the triple-option going against Duke last weekend, but this team is still very capable of beating most every team in the country. Their season can go one of two ways - they can take Notre Dame's route from last year and fall apart, or they can rally and still make it to the ACC Championship game for the second straight year (they only have one conference loss). This team has a chance to find itself back into the top 20 by the time they face us if they win out until they welcome us to Atlanta.

1) at Clemson (4-0) 11/7

The pre-season pick for player of the year, Deshaun Watson, struggled in his only real test to date against Louisville (199 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT) and is only averaging 213.7 passing yards per game. His performance is key to how good they can be this year and whether they will upset Notre Dame this weekend to catapult them into the playoff discussion. Clemson should have their own offense figured out to couple with their impressive defense regardless of how their schedule shakes out. They have had this game circled on their schedule all year and traveling to Death Valley will be an extremely tall task if our offense still looks as shaky as they do currently. 

With Georgia Tech falling as hard as they have the last two weeks and Clemson's lackluster performance against Louisville about a week ago, there is not much top end talent on this schedule for the 'Noles but there is a great deal of solid teams that will give Jimbo and the gang all they can handle. Florida State will face 1-7 on this list - minus UF - in the next month and a half, so get ready for a wild ride through mid-November.

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