3 questions with an FSU beat writer

Louisville and Florida State kick off Thursday night, so FSU beat writer Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel answered a few questions for us about the Seminoles.

I did the same for him. Read my answers about Louisville here.

And here are Brendan's answers back to my questions:

1. FSU, despite the incredible amount of noise around the program, keeps staving off upsets and winning. How have they done that?

Brendan Sonnone: This is difficult to quantify, but FSU's ability to find different ways to win and block out external distractions has been nothing short of amazing. The Seminoles beat a Top 25 team in Clemson without Jameis Winston, barely held on against a Top 5 team in Notre Dame, and climbed back from a 17-point deficit on the road against NC State; regardless the situation, FSU has managed to come through.

Some of that is luck. Clemson coughed up the ball a couple times while in scoring position and Notre Dame committed an unnecessary penalty on what would've been a game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute of the contest.

Still, FSU's ability to come through in the clutch cannot be overlooked. Jimbo Fisher has done a remarkable job of keeping his team focused and using outside distractions as fuel. The Seminoles have taken an 'us against the world' type of mentality since late last year, and it's working for them.

2. What's up with the running game this year? Seems like the passing game is really carrying FSU's offense.

Sonnone: Spot on. In the second half against Notre Dame, Fisher basically abandoned the run because Jameis Winston got hot. Fisher loves balance in his offensive attack, and the Seminoles are still pretty much down the line with 53 percent passes, 47 percent runs.

With that being said, the rushing attack has been unimpressive. FSU has run well on third and short, and inside the red zone, but it's struggled outside of that.

Pinpointing one reason for this is impossible. First, losing Devonta Freeman to the NFL is killer. He was good at everything and had excellent vision. So far this year, FSU backs have consistently missed running lanes. Karlos Williams does not seem natural as a feature back, freshman Dalvin Cook has been too eager to make big plays instead of taking what the defense gives him, and Mario Pender – possibly the team's most complete back – has been in and out of the lineup with injuries.

The loss of center Bryan Stork, who was asked to do a lot in FSU's scheme, also hurts. On top of that, teams have taken to bracketing tight end Nick O'Leary because targets outside of Rashad Greene had yet to step up, although that's changed some in recent weeks. What that does is clog up rushing lanes.

All those factors combined have made FSU's running game pedestrian at best.

3. Louisville's offensive line and, well, offense in general have really struggled this year with inconsistency. There've been a ton of penalties, sacks and turnovers, seemingly leaving Louisville vulnerable against really good defenses. I know FSU's defense isn't posting the numbers many expected, but where does FSU's biggest defensive threat come from?

Sonnone: Before the year started, I would've said FSU's secondary, which I thought was one of the top units in the country. But cornerbacks P.J. Williams and Ronald Darby have not lived up to the hype thus far and Jalen Ramsey has struggled adapting to his new role at nickel back.

Because of that, I think FSU's mammoth linemen – Eddie Goldman and Mario Edwards Jr. – could give Louisville the biggest headache.

Goldman (6-4, 320) plays his best in bigger games and has 5.5 tackles for loss in the past five games. If he's comfortable and playing with aggression, he can be unblockable in spurts. The same goes for Edwards (6-3, 282), who can play end or tackle. His specialty is setting the edge, making it difficult for backs to bounce to the outside when running towards him.

Louisville's line has struggled this year, there's no getting around that. If these two guys come to play, it's hard to envision Louisville's offense finding a way to routinely slow them down.