Two contrasting streaks are on the line Saturday afternoon as Duke looks to extend its three-game win streak against slumping Florida State.
The Seminoles (2-3, 0-2 in the ACC) hope to snap a three-game losing streak and earn their first conference win. Florida State, once the fifth-ranked team in the nation and favorite to win the ACC, now finds itself outside of the top 25 after the string of losses, while Duke (3-2, 1-0) earned a vote in the coaches poll after its win over Florida International.
To Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, the explanation for the losses is obvious.
“Florida State, very simply, [lost] their quarterback,” he said. “It changes everything about you, just look at what the Indianapolis Colts are going through. It’s more difficult than people might imagine.”
Starting junior quarterback E.J. Manuel, however, returned last week late in the first half for the Seminoles, but his 286-yard, two touchdown effort could not offset the team’s five turnovers, including Manuel’s two interceptions.
But the preseason All-ACC quarterback is not the only weapon on Florida State’s offense. The Seminoles boast one of the top receivers in the conference, freshman Rashad Greene, who has reeled in 26 catches for 457 yards and six touchdowns this year.
“He’s been making a lot of explosive plays,” senior safety Matt Daniels said. “We gave up a lot of explosive [plays] to [Florida International] a couple weeks back that really hurt us. We gave up over 500-plus yards and probably over 10 explosive plays. We can’t allow that to happen.”
The Seminole defense is led by sophomore defensive end Bjoern Werner, who has recorded four sacks and five tackles-for-loss. As a unit, they allow 192.2 passing yards and 91.6 rushing yards per game, good for second-best in the conference in both categories.
“Those guys are pretty big,” offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson said. “They’re a pretty fast team, but we’re definitely confident we can stand up and defend ourselves against them.”
The real problems for Florida State have been lack of consistency and penalties. The Seminoles have been flagged 9.4 times per game, the most in the nation.
In practice, Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher has stressed the importance of playing cohesively.
“Most penalties are technical mistakes...[and] we have to be accountable as coaches and players,” Fisher said. “We’re not playing as a unit, as a team, as an organization, together, and we’ve got to figure out why [we’re] not.”
Manuel is expected to start Saturday, but the Seminoles are still dealing with injury issues on offense. Although they welcome back sophomore wide receiver Scooter Haggins, who was leading the team in receptions before breaking his hand against Oklahoma earlier this season, starting junior running back Chris Thompson will miss the rest of the season with two broken vertebrae. Freshman James Wilder Jr. is expected to get more carries in Thompson’s absence. Starting senior offensive tackle Andrew Datko will also miss this weekend’s game and possibly the rest of the season.
“The rest that we got was outstanding,” junior running back Desmond Scott said of the Blue Devils’ bye week. “Everybody got a chance to heal those nicks and bruises.”
One of those who got the chance to heal over the two weeks was Scott himself. Although he played a few snaps against Florida International, he has finally declared himself 100 percent.
Scott and sophomore running back Juwan Thompson will look to lead a rushing attack against a Seminole defense that allowed its first 100-plus yard rusher last week.
“I want us to play very aggressive football,” Cutcliffe said. “I don’t want us to play trying not to make a mistake.... Last thing I want is a timid team.”
If the Blue Devils come out aggressively, they could extend Florida State’s misery and record their first-ever conference win against the Seminoles.
“Somebody talked about [Florida State] being angry about losing,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve had enough years of frustration to be angry about a lot of things.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.