We break down the film from Florida State's loss at N.C. State.
| Down | Distance | Play | O-Form | D-Form | Analysis |
| HOPKINS, D. kickoff 59 yards to the ST6, Palmer,T. return 12 yards to the ST18 (SMITH, TERR.). | |||||
| 1-10 | at St18 | Creecy,T. rush for 7 yards to the ST25 (JONES, C.;DAWKINS, E.). | 21 | 43 | FSU has 3 defenders 12+ yards off the line of scrimmage. Appear to be expecting some kind of deep shot on the first play. NC State runs a sweep or pin and pull zone with two pulling linemen to the closed side of the field. Should be noted that Rhodes kept outside leverage well as he didn't do a couple of times against USF, but NC State simply outnumbers FSU at the point of attack. |
| 2-3 | at St25 | Creecy,T. rush for 1 yard to the ST26 (WILLIAMS, V.). | 12 | 43 | Same play to the other side. Bjeorn Werner defeats the down block, linebackers flow well and are waiting on the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage. |
| 3-2 | at St26 | Creecy,T. rush for 3 yards to the ST29, 1ST DOWN ST (DAWKINS, E.;CARRADINE, C.). | 21 | 43 | Same play again. Werner gets sealed this time and Brooks and the Linebackers do not flow as aggressively so the play goes for a short first down. |
| 1-10 | at St29 | Creecy,T. rush for 7 yards to the ST36 (BROOKS, T.). | 12 | 43 | Yet again, the same outside run with two pulling linemen. Werner gets a little nosey inside. |
| 2-3 | at St36 | Thornton,S. rush for 1 yard to the ST37 (SMITH, TEL.;CARRADINE, C.). | 21 | 43 | Inside zone. Telvin Smith shoots the gap and stops the play for no gain. |
| 3-2 | at St37 | Glennon,M. pass incomplete to Underwood,B., QB hurry by WERNER, B.. | 12 | 43 | FSU is in press man on 3rd and short. NC State has a switch concept between the two receivers to the field, trying to get a rub. Amp McCloud defeats his block and forces Glennon to throw it away. |
| 4-2 | at St37 | Baumann,W. punt 50 yards to the FS13, GREENE, R. return 6 yards to the FS19 (Burris,J.). | |||
| Drive: 6 plays, 19 yards, TOP 03:05 | NC State was having success with the outside run, not sure why they got away from it. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 11:55. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to GREENE, R. for 15 yards to the FS34, 1ST DOWN FS (Dowdy,R.;Bishop,B.). | 21 gun | 43 | Corner blitz picked up nicely by Lonnie. Quick throw to Greene on the opposite side. This looks like a sight adjustment. |
| 1-10 | at Fs34 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to SMITH, R. for 16 yards to the 50 yardline, 1ST DOWN FS (Bishop,B.). | 21 gun | 43 | Smash route, corner plays off, EJ hits the hitch. Rodney makes the corner miss and turns the short pass into a nice gain. |
| 1-10 | at Fs50 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to GREENE, R. for no gain to the 50 yardline (Wolff,E.). | 12 | 43 | Play action throwback screen. The safety stays disciplined and Glausser is unable to get him blocked. |
| 2-10 | at Fs50 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 1 yard to the ST49 (Teal,T.). | 21 gun | 43 | This is a tackle over power play. O'Leary lines up at RT and Glausser is lined up as a tight end to the left. Glausser whiffs on his downblock of the defensive end and the play is blown up. |
| 3-9 | at St49 | Manuel, EJ rush for 2 yards to the ST47 (Lucas,S.), PENALTY FS holding declined. | 10 gun | 43 | NC State runs an end-tackle stunt and Erving gets beat inside, then takes his man to the ground at EJ's feet. |
| 4-7 | at St47 | BEATTY, C. punt 28 yards to the ST19, fair catch by Smith,R.. | Short kick. Beatty appears to have sped up his motion a bit. | ||
| Drive: 5 plays, 34 yards, TOP 02:06 | |||||
| 1-10 | at St19 | NC STATE drive start at 09:49. | |||
| 1-10 | at St19 | Glennon,M. pass incomplete to Palmer,T. (WILLIAMS, V.). | 12 | 425 | 2 verts to the field. Vince Williams defends the seam route nicely. |
| 2-10 | at St19 | Creecy,T. rush for 2 yards to the ST21 (JONES, C.). | 20 | 43 | Lead zone. Great gap discipline by the FSU defense on this play. |
| 3-8 | at St21 | Glennon,M. pass complete to Creecy,T. for loss of 5 yards to the ST16 (SMITH, TEL.). | 10 gun | 425 | Screen play. Telvin Smith reads it correctly and makes the tackle in the backfield. |
| 4-13 | at St16 | Baumann,W. punt 38 yards to the FS46, fair catch by GREENE, R.. | |||
| Drive: 3 plays, minus 3 yards, TOP 01:21 | Great defense. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs46 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 08:28. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs46 | FS ball on FS47. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs47 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 21 yards to the ST32, 1ST DOWN FS (Dowdy,R.). | 21 | 43 | Lead zone to the weak side of the formation. Kelvin Benjamin gets a nice block on the backer, linemen and Lonnie Pryor get to the second level defenders. Very nice job. |
| 1-10 | at St32 | THOMPSON, C. rush for loss of 6 yards to the ST38 (Teal,T.). | 11 gun | 43 | EJ makes a check and either Jackson or Stork blows an assignment. They actually collide and nobody blocks the tackle, leading to a big loss. |
| 2-16 | at St38 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to HAGGINS, J. for 7 yards to the ST31 (Lucas,S.). | 00 gun | 425 | EJ doesn't like what he sees downfield and hits the checkdown. Good coverage by the NC State linebacker. |
| 3-9 | at St31 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to BENJAMIN, K.. | 10 gun | 425 | Hitch route from the slot with a post route behind it. Benjamin is open and EJ throws it behind him. It's possible Benjamin should slow his route a little against this coverage. |
| 4-9 | at St31 | HOPKINS, D. field goal attempt from 49 GOOD, clock 06:34. | |||
| Florida State 3, NC State 0 | |||||
| Drive: 5 plays, 22 yards, TOP 02:04 | |||||
| HOPKINS, D. kickoff 49 yards to the ST16, Palmer,T. return 9 yards to the ST25 (Williams, P.J.;ABRAM, C.), PENALTY FS personal foul (HOPKINS, D.) 15 yards to the ST40, 1st and 10, ST ball on ST40. | Short kick by Dustin only goes to the 10. Still not sure what the penalty was about. | ||||
| 1-10 | at St40 | NC STATE drive start at 06:24. | |||
| 1-10 | at St40 | Glennon,M. pass complete to Carter,M. for 2 yards to the ST42 (JONES, C.). | 12 | 43 | Bootleg fake. Nice coverage by Nick Moody results in minimal gain. |
| 2-8 | at St42 | Creecy,T. rush for 8 yards to the 50 yardline, 1ST DOWN ST (DAWKINS, E.). | 11 | 425 | Amp is lined up over the center instead of shaded to the weak side, then both he and Dawkins go after the backside guard leaving NC State with three guys to block 2 defenders. |
| 1-10 | at St50 | Thornton,S. rush for 2 yards to the FS48 (WERNER, B.). | 20 gun | 425 | Inside zone. Werner chases it down the line and makes a great stop. NC State's OT may have been supposed to cut him. |
| 2-8 | at Fs48 | Glennon,M. pass incomplete to Smith,R. (WAISOME, N.). | 11 gun | 425 | Waisome with great coverage on the underneath route, jars the ball loose. |
| 3-8 | at Fs48 | Glennon,M. pass incomplete to Carter,M.. | 11 gun | 425 | Looks like this should be a corner route. Rhodes fails to maintain outside leverage, but the throw is rushed and inaccurate. |
| 4-8 | at Fs48 | Baumann,W. punt 48 yards to the FS0, touchback. | |||
| Drive: 5 plays, 12 yards, TOP 01:55 | |||||
| 1-10 | at Fs20 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 04:29. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs20 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 8 yards to the FS28 (Johnson,D.). | 22 | 43 | Glausser allows a lot of penetration here but Thompson's speed allows him to get outside and turn the corner anyway. |
| 2-2 | at Fs28 | PENALTY FS holding (MATIAS, J.) 10 yards to the FS18. | 21 | 43 | Lead zone to the weak side. Thompson shows great patience, waiting for his blocking to develop then bursting through the alled. NC State DT flails his arm and gets rewarded with a cheap holding call. |
| Injured NC State player (97) Forrest West | |||||
| 2-12 | at Fs18 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to THOMPSON, C. for 25 yards to the FS43, 1ST DOWN FS (Johnson,D.). | 11 | 425 | Nice screen call, well executed. |
| 1-10 | at Fs43 | Manuel, EJ sacked for loss of 7 yards to the FS36 (Lucas,S.). | 21 gun | 425 | NC State brings 2 extra rushers to the weak side and overloads the protection. EJ does not see the free rusher until it is too late. |
| 2-17 | at Fs36 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to SMITH, R. (Johnson,D.). | 10 gun | 425 | Middle screen to Benjamin. Safety plays it aggressively and Kenny Shaw whiffs on his block. |
| 3-17 | at Fs36 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to GREENE, R. for 21 yards to the ST43, 1ST DOWN FS (Noel,R.). | 10 gun | 335 | Great job by the OL picking up a pretty complicated blitz and giving EJ time to hit the dig route on the backside. |
| 1-10 | at St43 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 12 yards to the ST31, 1ST DOWN FS (Amerson,D.). | 21 | 425 | NC State has a corner blitz on right at the option. He runs himself out of the play and EJ makes a phenomenal (because it worked) late pitch. |
| 1-10 | at St31 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to DENT, G. for 1 yard to the ST30 (Amerson,D.). | 11 gun | 425 | NC State's secondary flies up to stop the bubble. Should have faked the bubble and gone deep at some point later in the game. |
| 2-9 | at St30 | Timeout Florida State, clock 00:23. | |||
| 2-9 | at St30 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 9 yards to the ST21, 1ST DOWN FS (Burris,J.). | 21 | 425 | Lead zone to the weak side again. NC State has not stopped this yet. |