Florida State fans follow recruiting year round, and Saturday against Wake Forest, their favorite freshmen got plenty of playing time.
Recruiting has been a hallmark of Jimbo Fisher's time in Tallahassee, as his Seminoles have consistently signed more blue chip prospects than not. On Saturday against an overmatched Wake Forest squad, several true freshmen got to show off their talents.
Freshman tailback Dalvin Cook, a former five-star recruit out of Miami (Fla.) Central High School had two touches for 27 yards.
Freshman receivers Travis Rudolph, of West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman, and Ermon Lane, of Homestead (Fla.), also got in on the act, especially in the second half after Rashad Greene was ruled out for the rest of the game with an unspecified injury. Both are former five-star recruits. Rudolph had four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, while Lane had two catches for 77 yards and blocked extremely well.
Defensive, FSU was without starters Derrick Mitchell and Terrance Smith, but some freshmen pitched in to get stops.
FSU was able to apply pressure thanks to a pair of former four-star recruits in Lorenzo Featherston, of Greensboro (NC) Page, and Jacob Pugh, of Tallahassee Godby. Featherston actually earned the start at defensive end, and made a tackle for loss on the first series for the Seminoles. Featherston also had a tackle for a loss of six yards on the next drive, and recovered a fumble after Mario Edwards Jr. sacked the quarterback. On the day, Featherston had seven tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.
"I'm very pleased with where he's at. For a freshman, getting the number of reps he does in the fifth game," Jimbo Fisher said.
Let's check in on the Wake Forest running game pic.twitter.com/hFFkX2JK3g
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownCFB) October 4, 2014True freshmen defensive tackles Demarcus Christmas, of Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee, and Derrick Nnadi, of Virginia Beach (Fla.) Ocean Lakes, were also pressed into action and played admirably, making a few stops. Nnadi had four tackles and 1.5 for loss.
Florida State also hosted several top targets on visits for the game. Read about them here.