Florida State gets another shot at the road Friday night, and this one comes with a different kind of pressure than the trip to Boston College. The Seminoles snapped a nearly three-year road losing streak last week, and now they can finish the season with back-to-back road wins if they handle Pitt.
That would be a tidy way to close things out, but the setup is far from ideal. Florida State is coming off a road game, a return trip to Tallahassee, and then another travel day on a short week. Pitt, meanwhile, had last week off to get ready.
The Panthers’ season changed when starting quarterback Mason Heintschel tore his ACL in their October win over Virginia Tech. Since then, Pitt has gone 1-3, though it did stop the slide with a strong win over Georgia Tech on Halloween. Even with the quarterback situation, the Panthers still have enough on the ground to matter.
Damon Ferguson Jr. leads that rushing attack with 662 yards and six touchdowns, while La’Vell Wright has added 305 rushing yards and five scores. It’s not a flashy ground game, but it’s productive enough to test a Florida State defense that has already given up an average of 173 rushing yards per game and nearly 5 yards per carry.
That task gets tougher with Kevin Wynn expected to miss the rest of the season. Florida State was already thin on the interior of the defensive line, and losing its biggest piece only makes the front more vulnerable. Ernie Sims may need to get more creative with his defensive fronts to slow Pitt down, especially with the Panthers working with a backup quarterback.
The Seminoles also have their own problems on offense. True freshman running back Amari Thomas gave them a lift against Boston College, finishing with 107 total yards - 98 rushing and 9 receiving - plus two touchdowns. Tre Wisner started that game, but Thomas looked like the more effective option, and Florida State leaned into that as the night went on.
Wisner will be out Friday, leaving the backfield even thinner. The room now includes Thomas, walk-on Zay Parks, and converted walk-on tight end Gavin Markey. It would not be a surprise to see Jasen Lopez or Micahi Danzy get some work there as well.
Up front, Florida State took another hit when starting center Bradyn Welch-Joiner suffered a season-ending ankle injury on Saturday. Sandman Thompson is expected to step in, but the Seminoles could still run into more procedure penalties or a bad snap or two as they sort things out.
The injury list keeps growing, and that’s the bigger concern for Florida State heading into Friday. The Seminoles are without their best wide receiver, their top three running backs, their starting center, their best defensive lineman, and a starting cornerback. Pitt has its own absences, but the attrition is starting to pile up for Florida State, and that may matter more on a short week than it did against Boston College.
There is one odd little wrinkle: Pitt lost at Boston College, the same place Florida State just won. On paper, that sounds like a clean comparison. In reality, the rest edge may be the difference if the Panthers can make the Seminoles feel every mile of this trip.
In Other News...
FSU Heads To Pitt With Bowl Hopes And A Growing Availability Problem
Florida State heads to Pittsburgh for its second straight road game carrying more than just the usual late-season pressure. The Seminoles are still trying to keep their bowl hopes alive, and the latest ACC availability report adds another layer to the challenge, with several players unavailable on both sides of the matchup. For Florida State, the backfield picture is especially important after Quintrevion Wisner was ruled out, leaving more of the workload to Amari Thomas.
It is the kind of spot where depth matters as much as momentum, and the Seminoles will need to sort through a thinner rotation while trying to handle a Panthers team dealing with its own absences. Pittsburgh listed eight players as unavailable, so both staffs are working around missing pieces as the game approaches. For Florida State, the bigger question is how well it can absorb the losses and still stay on track in a game with plenty riding on it. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Heads Into Pitt With One New Roster Concern
Florida States latest injury report added another layer of uncertainty as the Seminoles get ready for Pitt, with several players landing in various categories and running back Tre Wisner ruled out. Linebacker Blake Nichelson was listed as probable, giving the defense at least one encouraging note as the team works through the usual late-week roster sorting before a conference road game.
The off-field news was busy, too, with Jeff Purinton introduced as the schools new athletic director and weighing in on the football coaching search. Around the program, the mens basketball team dropped its game against Florida, while the womens team was preparing to host West Florida in a Military Appreciation game, keeping Florida States athletic department in the spotlight on multiple fronts. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Faces An Immediate Test After Its Much Needed Breakthrough
Florida State finally got a needed lift by snapping a three-game losing streak with a win over Boston College, a result that gave Rick Stockstill a much cleaner starting point in his new role. It was the kind of response the Seminoles had been waiting for, especially after a rough stretch that had put plenty of pressure on the program to show some life again.
Pittsburgh arrives Friday with a similar sense of relief after ending its own skid, which makes this next matchup feel less like a reset and more like an immediate stress test. The numbers suggest there are real contrasts to sort through, and with both teams trying to turn one good result into something more durable, this one should say plenty about whether Florida States breakthrough was the start of a climb or just a brief pause. [Read more 🡒]