Florida State Football: Seminoles' Improvement in Run Game Must Continue

Jameis Winston will keep putting up impressive numbers through the air, but if Florida State is going to compete for a national championship in 2014, the running game must continue to improve. Even though it took a handful of games, the Seminoles in their win at North Carolina State last week finally showed off the successful rushing attack that was supposed to be the backbone of the offense this year.

Sustaining that effort now becomes important for a team embarking on a make-or-break month of October.

FSU (4-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a season-high 210 rushing yards in the Week 2 win over FCS foe The Citadel, but against power-five opponents Oklahoma State and Clemson managed just 106 and 13 yards, respectively—subpar efforts that had many in Tallahassee and around the country questioning an all-senior offensive line and could-be star tailback Karlos Williams.

The ’Noles entered the game against the Wolfpack with one of the worst rush offenses in the ACC and in desperate need of a ground-game turnaround. Instead, FSU fell behind NC State early and mustered just 16 rushing yards on 12 carries in the first half at Carter-Finley Stadium.

It was a nightmare scenario for a team with no apparent weaknesses on its offensive line or in a tailback rotation not lacking game breakers.

But then the Seminoles woke up.

Opponent	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry
Oklahoma State	31	106	3.41
The Citadel	35	210	6.0
Clemson	27	13	0.48
North Carolina State	33	166	5.03

Florida State’s second-half rallying effort featured a fair share of Winston heroics, but it coincided with a rebirth of the running game. FSU racked up 150 yards rushing in the final two quarters to finish with 166 on the ground for the game that helped avoid the upset. Showing sure signs of improvement from the first three contests, Williams earned co-player of the game honors for a performance in which he became FSU's first 100-yard rusher of the season.

“Karlos [Williams] is getting better and better; 100-yard game—126 yards,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said at his weekly press conference. “He ran the clock out at the end. That was another thing we did on offense too, we took that last drive and never gave them the ball back. We took the game away. That was extremely critical. He had a couple big runs and had three touchdowns on the night. 

“Karlos is pass blocking well, caught a couple passes out of the backfield. He keeps getting better and better.”

Williams has the athletic ability and speed to be a matchup headache for opposing defenses and should build off last week's game as he carries FSU’s rushing attack. After averaging 4.2 yards per carry in the first three games, he notched six yards per carry against the Wolfpack.

But Williams isn’t the only player in the rotation with the skills necessary to make the offense move as the season rolls toward the middle half of the schedule. Like he did against The Citadel, true freshman Dalvin Cook registered a nifty touchdown run in which he showed flashes of his 5-star 2014 prospect ranking.

Cook finished the game with 45 yards on just six carries.

“He is really coming on,” Fisher said about Cook. “He just needs at-bats. The more he gets in there the better he is going to be. He is a natural. He is a heckuva football player.”

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Cook was the team’s No. 2 tailback at NC State while Mario Pender missed time following the concussion he suffered against Clemson. With Pender slated to return this week against Wake Forest, he and Cook will battle for those at-bats behind Williams. In limited action this year, the duo has warranted such opportunities as both already have two touchdowns apiece.

And then there’s FSU’s all-senior starting offensive line.

It’s no secret that Cameron Erving, Josue Matias, Austin Barron, Tre' Jackson and Bobby Hart didn’t live up to expectations through the first three games, but there were times when they looked like the dominant unit of 2013 (sans standout center Bryan Stork) against the Wolfpack.

For his play Saturday, Jackson earned ACC Offensive Linemen of the Week honors for the first time in his career.

A season ago, FSU’s record-breaking offense averaged 203.1 yards rushing per game with an average of 5.6 yards per carry. The 2014 offense is a world away from that mark at 123.8 yards per game with a 3.9 yards-per-carry clip, but last Saturday’s showing is a positive sign for a team hoping to resemble last year’s squad in as many ways as possible.

Brandon Mellor is a Florida State writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of Seminoles.com. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @BrandonMellor on Twitter.