Savannah State vs. Florida State: Complete Game Preview

Bad news: Brandon Jenkins is out for the season.

Good news: We're playing Savannah State—the Tigers.

Not the Auburn Tigers. Not the LSU Tigers. Not even the Missouri Tigers (sorry, Mizzou, but you're new to the SEC). 

The Seminoles should post another impressive performance, as they are over 70-point favorites for this weekend's visitor from Georgia. 

This is the largest point spread in college football history. No, I'm not kidding.

GameDay Information

Who: Savannah State at Florida State

When: Saturday, 6:00 p.m. ET (be there!)

Where: Tallahassee, Florida

Stadium: Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium, (82,300)

TV: Unavailable

Radio: WHCJ 90.3 FM (Savannah State) or WNLS 1270 AM (Florida State)

Internet Stream: ESPN 3, ESPN3.COM

Depth Chart for Florida State

You can find it here; note that Tank Carradine (backup left defensive end) will take over for Brandon Jenkins, while Jenkins' backup, Giorgio Newberry, will also have some playing time. Even freshman recruit Mario Edwards might play a bit.

Offense
QB	3 EJ Manuel	6-5	238	r-Sr.
	9 Clint Trickett	6-3	180	r-So.
TB	4 Chris Thompson	5-8	187	Sr.
	8 Devonta Freeman	5-8	209	So.
	32 James Wilder Jr.	6-2	226	So.
FB	24 Lonnie Pryor	6-0	229	Sr.
	41 Chad Abram	6-0	235	Jr.
Z-WR	84 Rodney Smith	6-6	219	Sr.
	15 Greg Dent	5-11	195	Jr.
	1 Kelvin Benjamin	6-5	242	r-Fr.
LT	75 Cameron Erving	6-6	310	r-So.
	67 Daniel Glauser	6-5	305	Sr.
LG	70 Josue Matias	6-6	326	So.
	60 Jacob Fahrenkrug	6-4	322	Sr.
C	52 Bryan Stork	6-4	312	r-Jr.
	62 Austin Barron	6-3	295	So.
	53 Sterling Lovelady	6-3	291	So.
RG	54 Tre' Jackson	6-4	327	So.
	51 Bobby Hart	6-4	316	So.
RT	71 Menelik Watson	6-6	320	Jr.
	67 Daniel Glauser	6-5	305	Sr.
	76 Garrett Faircloth	6-7	290	r-Jr.
TE	35 Nick O'Leary	6-3	238	So.
	33 Kevin Haplea	6-4	247	Jr.
	83 Christo Kourtzidis	6-4	246	Fr.
	44 Will Tye	6-2	256	r-So.
Y-WR	12 Jarred Haggins	6-0	190	Jr.
or	89 Christian Green	6-2	200	r-So.
	10 Marvin Bracy	5-9	172	Fr.
X-WR	80 Rashad Greene	6-0	170	So.
	81 Kenny Shaw	6-0	170	Jr.
	82 Willie Haulstead	6-2	227	r-Jr.

Defense
LE	95 Bjoern Werner	6-4	255	Jr.
	91 Cornellius Carradine	6-5	265	Sr.
	96 Toshmon Stevens	6-5	245	r-Sr.
DT	93 Everett Dawkins	6-3	300	r-Sr.
	97 Demonte McAllister	6-2	285	r-Jr.
	81 Eddie Goldman	6-4	320	Fr.
DT	92 Anthony McCloud	6-2	310	r-Sr.
	8 Timmy Jernigan	6-2	298	So.
	99 Nile Lawrence-Stample	6-1	314	r-Fr.
RE	4 Brandon Jenkins	6-3	260	Sr.
	51 Giorgio Newberry	6-6	273	r-Fr.
SLB	10 Nick Moody	6-2	237	r-Sr.
	24 Terrance Smith	6-4	212	r-Fr.
MLB	11 Vince Williams	6-1	247	r-Sr.
or	22 Telvin Smith	6-3	212	Jr.
WLB	7 Christian Jones	6-4	232	Jr.
	12 Reggie Northrup	6-1	220	Fr.
CB	27 Xavier Rhodes	6-2	217	r-Jr.
	37 Keelin Smith	6-3	185	r-Fr.
	1 Tyler Hunter	5-11	190	So.
SS	20 Lamarcus Joyner	5-8	195	Jr.
	1 Tyler Hunter	5-11	190	So.
FS	31 Terrence Brooks	5-11	197	Jr.
	9 Karlos Williams	6-1	230	So.
CB	6 Nick Waisome	5-10	170	So.
	13 Ronald Darby	5-11	189	Fr.

Specialists
PK	18 Dustin Hopkins	6-2	190	Sr.
KO	18 Dustin Hopkins	6-2	190	Sr.
P	38 Cason Beatty	6-3	229	Fr.
	29 Dillon Kidd	6-1	222	r-Fr.
DS	64 Dax Dellenbach	6-1	235	Sr.
	75 Philip Doumar	6-1	215	r-Jr.
HO	69 Chris Revell	6-1	198	Jr.
	38 Cason Beatty	6-3	229	Fr.
PR	80 Rashad Greene	6-0	170	So.
	81 Kenny Shaw	6-0	170	Jr.
	1 Tyler Hunter	5-11	190	So.
KR	9 Karlos Williams	6-1	230	So.
	13 Ronald Darby	5-11	189	Fr.
KR	20 Lamarcus Joyner	5-8	195	Jr.
	10 Marvin Bracy	5-9	172	Fr.

Depth Chart for Savannah State

The link (which won't copy) is available here:

What Happened to the Seminoles Last Week

The Seminoles beat the visiting Murray State Racers 69-3 to open their season.

Murray State quarterback Casey Brockman, supposed to be one of the better quarterbacks of the FCS, threw three picks to one touchdown (wouldn't he like to reverse those stats?). Murray State scarily hung with FSU into the second quarter, trailing only 14-3 before Jimbo Fisher's running backs exploded for seven rushing touchdowns.

E.J. Manuel was pedestrian (given the competition), but his only interception of the day came off a mishandled catch by wide receiver Kenny Shaw. Manuel retired early on, and backups got to pummel the Racers for most of the second half. All in all, a very solid win.

What Happened to the Tigers Last Week

Savannah State, which had a 1-10 performance last year, is still a very new football program. That's why they would only allow themselves to be manhandled in the most lopsided football game I have ever witnessed.

84-0. That margin of victory has not occurred in my lifetime, and I am in my twenties. Go figure.

Savannah State is 4-72 versus FCS opponents, and now 0-1 versus FBS opponents. Yikes!!

What It Means to Both Teams

For Savannah State, the mission is to embrace the upset and "shock the world." The Tigers have nowhere to go but up from last season's 1-10 performance, so I'll say winning any game this year will be a success.

Florida State wants to cover its 70-point spread, and Jimbo Fisher will likely get almost all (or all) of his players on the field. If Florida State beats these guys by 60, it will be a disappointment.

The Seminoles, who already must rely on several Pac-12 and SEC teams to lose to make a national championship appearance, cannot afford to look even mediocre. Doing so could shut them out of the BCS title game even if they have a perfect record.

Key Player for Florida State

Werner will make up for his teammates' absence by demolishing Savannah State. It will be ugly.

Werner's lived up to expectations so far, and is the defending ACC Lineman of the Week.

Our favorite German has had five solo tackles, four sacks and one blocked pass against Murray State.

Tank Carradine will also be interesting to watch as he takes over for Brandon Jenkins.

Key Player for Savannah State

This is the original Star Wars. Florida State is the Empire, and Savannah State are the Rebels.

That makes Tigers running back Alex Simmons Luke Skywalker. 40 yards on nine carries is nothing to sneeze about, but last week's performance was just rough for fans of this brand new football school. A 19-yard run is possibly the only highlight the Tigers have from Stillwater.

For these guys to get in field-goal range, Simmons needs an epic day. Who knows? Maybe he will score a touchdown.

Florida State Will Win If...

...if they show up and play for 60 minutes. Remember, you have to play the game for 60 minutes, no matter what.

Savannah State Will Win If...

...If FSU players all a sudden start throwing up from cholera. I mean every single Florida State player.

And if Florida State players just don't move, except to kickoff the ball.

Prediction

Prediction: Florida State 69, Savannah State 3

This is my most conservative estimate.

If you've ever wanted to see Florida State completely crush an opponent to bits, this is your game.