The guy that scares me heading into Saturday, right off, is Ashton Daniels, the QB1 at Florida State, who will remind you of the guy they ran out there last year, Thomas Castellanos, a 58.2 percent passer who was more of a threat with his legs (53.5 sack-adjusted rushing yards per game).
Daniels, a fifth-year guy, is a 59.4 percent passer who is averaging 45.3 sack-adjusted rushing yards per game through four games in 2026.
Watch out on the designed stuff for Daniels – he had 72 yards on seven designed running plays in the 27-24 loss to SMU in Week 1.
But you also need to keep tabs on him when a passing play breaks down – Daniels is averaging 5.2 yards per scramble, on about four scrambles per game.
I can imagine that FSU offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. has pored over the game tape from Virginia’s 38-27 loss to WVU in Week 3 for ideas on how Rich Rodriguez freed up hs QB, Michael Hawkins, for his 126 sack-adjusted yards on the ground – 55 yards on 11 designed runs, 71 yards on six scrambles.
Back to the designed stuff: when Hawkins is in the read-option, the lead tailback, Ousmane Kromah, is a threat – averaging 99.3 yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry, and 3.9 yards per carry after contact.
Remember how WVU’s big back, Cam Cook, went for 123 yards on the ground a couple of weeks back?
Yeah.
Where the FSU offense is better than what we saw out of West Virginia is at wideout.
Duce Robinson, all 6’6”, 238 pounds of him, is back at wideout – with 13 catches on 21 targets, and 20.2 yards per catch.
The other two weapons split snaps at wideout and in the slot:
- Jayvan Boggs: 12 catches/20 targets, 20.0 yards/catch
- Micahi Danzy: 11 catches/13 targets, 15.7 yards/catch
On the defensive side of the ball, the season stats are skewed, because two of FSU’s games were against Group of 6 programs.
SMU, in its Week 1 win, put up 585 yards, 430 yards through the air, and its 27 points were reduced from what should have been because of four turnovers.
Alabama, in Week 3, had 567 yards, with 247 yards on the ground.
Generally speaking, this would seem to give Des Kitchings plenty of options for how to try to move the ball.
Key defenders to watch on the FSU side:
- S CJ Richard: 29 tackles, 3 QB pressures, 1 PBU, 57.5 PFF grade
- LB Chris Jones: 28 tackles, 5 QB pressures, 61.2 PFF grade
- DE Jalen Anderson: 9 QB pressures, 50.4 PFF grade
- DE Rylan Kennedy: 7 QB pressures/2 sacks, 72.3 PFF grade
- S Ashlynd Barker: 1 PBU, 1 INT, 64.0 PFF grade
If the game comes down to a kick, the FSU guy, Gabe Panikowski, is a weapon: 3-of-3 on kicks of 40-49 this season, and he made two from 50+ in 2024 at Idaho State.
Share
Chris Graham
