Game of the Week – #5 LSU vs. #8 Florida State at Camping World Stadium (Orlando, FL)

September 3rd, 2023, 11:00 PM CST ? By Ryan J. Van Dever

In the first drive for LSU, the Tigers had a Jayden Daniels pass complete to Tre Bradford for 55 yards for the game's first play. There was another pass to Mason Taylor down to the 5-yard line. At the 2-yard line, the Tigers had a 1st and goal. The Tigers could not score and even had a turnover on downs, not being able to get a touchdown. That was a great stand by Florida State. The Seminoles' front was dominant on that drive.

The offense of Florida State is built upon bringing your safeties into the box, waiting for the run, and Florida State going over the top, which is what they were doing in their first drive. There were a couple of miscues by quarterback Jordan Travis trying to complete a back-shoulder throw, and it ended up the inside. Trey Benson was a legitimate bell-cow back last year for Florida State, and he has gotten even better with how he hits the hole. The drive concluded with Jordan Travis bouncing outside the pocket to complete a pass to Keon Coleman for 40 yards for a Touchdown. Coleman's shiftiness allowed him to juke out the defender and scamper for the score, a remarkable sequence of events.

LSU continued to be patient with the run on that Florida State front, and they were not letting them get anything. It's evident that the timing with the wide receivers for LSU is better than last year; a lot of high throws and miss-timed throws last year. A very dynamic drive by LSU this go around with Jayden Daniels going on some quarterback scrambles, some accuracy on his throws on this drive, and some broken tackles from his wide receivers opened up enough room for LSU to tie this game up.

As LSU was on their third offensive drive in this first quarter, there were two late hit-out-of-bounds penalties by Florida State; things were starting to go unhinged here; the referees will have to start controlling matters in this game. Later in this drive, Jayden Daniels scrambles up the middle for 3 yards, hurdling a defender and getting stuck by a defender. He must be less reckless regarding his scrambles, or injuries will happen.

4th and 1, and Jayden Daniels goes for a quarterback keeper, and that defense for the Seminoles stopped them again. That is two drives now for LSU that resulted in zero points.

As this game progresses in the second quarter, you can see that the Seminoles' quarterback, Jordan Travis, prefers to stay in the pocket and not scramble as much as Jayden Daniels from LSU. Critical drops from the Seminoles ended the drive, or so we thought. Anderson, the Punt Returner from LSU, muffed the punt, and the Seminoles recovered it on the LSU 22-yard line. In the following play, the Seminoles have a broken pass play that ends with a pass in double coverage and intercepted. These two teams have provided a wild game for the fanbases so far. Neither team has yet been able to control the tempo; it's out of control for both teams.

On the second scoring drive for LSU, Jayden Daniels willed the Tigers for the score, scrambling for 40 yards down to the Florida State 11-yard line. He then completed a pass to Mason Taylor down to the 3-yard line. The Tigers scored the touchdown with a rush by Noah Cain into the center of that defensive line. The Tigers now lead the Seminoles 14-7 with 6:02 left in the 2nd quarter.

In this 2nd quarter, you could see that the efficiency for LSU has gone up, and Florida State's has gone down. The Seminoles are struggling to move the chains, and Jayden Daniels is moving at will recently, powering his team for the lead. More importantly, the Seminoles need help with drops from critical offensive players. Ironically enough, Jordan Travis throws a 50/50 ball to Keon Coleman (the coveted wide receiver from Michigan State), and he comes down with it. This game is turning into one barn burner of a game.

Half-Time Thoughts:

LSU didn't receive a single penalty in that first half. The problem is that multiple holding penalties weren't called, referees did not call penalties for late hits, while Florida State had six penalties for 58 yards. The defensive backs for Florida State were up on the line, challenging the LSU wide receivers. It is about your only chance against uber-talented wide receivers such as these. If you play off or soft zone too often, you better have a great pass rush, or your pass defense will get demolished.

2nd half,

It is glaring how many drops there have been by both teams, making drives fall flat and putting teams in 3rd and long situations. Keon Coleman dominates this game with seven receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns. It is easy to see why he was the number-one-ranked wide receiver in the transfer portal. Michigan State held him back and limited his ceiling of potential.

Florida State's defensive line has planted its feet in the ground and established its dominance. They are controlling the LSU offense, keeping Jayden Daniels off balance, not giving him time to go through his progressions, forcing him out of the pocket, and closing all the running lanes so he can't scramble.

You can easily see that Florida State and LSU were the best teams that played all weekend. The two most talented, for sure. Mike Norvell, Head Coach for Florida State, called a masterful game here in the second half. The confidence is exuding through his team's pores, killing the will of LSU's team at this point. Florida State made a resounding statement with this game. They were down 14-17 at the half, came out, scored 31 unanswered points, and scored on all five possessions (4 TDs, 1 Field Goal). LSU finally scored points in the second half with 1:15 remaining in the 4th quarter.?

Keon Coleman was a spectacular target for Jordan Travis throughout the game, totaling nine catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns. In what was a coming-out party for Jordan Travis in his season debut tonight against LSU, he went 23/31(74%) for 342 passing yards, 38 rushing yards, and five total touchdowns, giving him a passer rating of 136.02. Travis looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country tonight against an elite defense, leading Florida State to a 45-24 victory over LSU.

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