Florida State Finding Its Rhythm as Other Elite Teams Fall

One by one they lost. No. 2 Oregon fell to Arizona on Thursday. And then, on upset Saturday, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 6 Texas A&M were beaten.

Florida State, meanwhile, keeps on winning. It has often looked ugly, but the Seminoles are finding their rhythm and showing plenty of fight as the other elite teams have been knocked off.

"We still have a lot of issues that we have to get better at as a football team," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. "But we're plugging along."

FSU saw itself drop to No. 2 in the coaches poll a week ago—behind Alabama—after the Seminoles fell behind North Carolina State 24-7, before rallying for a 56-41 win. The lack of style points was clearly a concern for voters.

A week later, voters have a completely different concern: Who is No. 2 after FSU?

The Seminoles, who were No. 1 in the AP poll last week, have not put together a complete, dominating performance against a Football Bowl Subdivision team, a game in which the offense and defense both played well. But the Seminoles can enjoy being 5-0 after Saturday's 43-3 win over Wake Forest and are again in the national-championship picture.

"Watching those games, them losing, we appreciate what we can do to come out and win the game," cornerback P.J. Williams said. "Even if we're down, we're going to come back and make some stops for our offense, and our offense steps up for us if we're not doing well.

"We appreciate the fight that we have to win games—even tight games."

Let's take a look at what has gone well, and what hasn't, through five games:

FSU's Strengths: The Glass is Half-Full

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It depends on how you look at things. The Seminoles had to hold off Oklahoma State to win the opener, they needed overtime to edge Clemson and they rallied from a 24-7 deficit to beat North Carolina State.

The positive is that FSU won all of those games while overcoming a variety of obstacles.

FSU didn't have receiver Jesus "Bobo" Wilson in the opener and was replacing 10 starters. But a Nate Andrews interception return for a touchdown and Williams' forced fumble in the fourth quarter helped seal up a win over Oklahoma State.

Jameis Winston was suspended for the Clemson game, and backup quarterback Sean Maguire rebounded from a sloppy first half to throw for 304 yards and help FSU win in overtime.

FSU missed "30-something" tackles in the win over North Carolina State, safety Tyler Hunter admitted, but the Seminoles held the Wolfpack to 17 points in the last three quarters. And Winston had his best game of the year, throwing for 365 yards and three touchdowns, while Karlos Williams had three TD runs.

On Saturday, FSU's defense stole the show. Reggie Northrup returned a fumble 31 yards for a touchdown. And Williams' interception set up another TD.

Yes, FSU needed five field goals from Roberto Aguayo. But it says something that the Seminoles have a sure-footed kicker (he has made 21 straight field-goal attempts).

And while Winston wasn't spectacular against Wake Forest, he completed 23 of 39 passes for 297 yards, a touchdown and an interception. That's not bad at all.

FSU's Weaknesses: Inconsistency in Every Game

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The Seminoles remain wildly inconsistent, and it's hard to tell whether the offense or defense will carry the team on any given Saturday. The lack of a complete game is an indication that FSU could have a loss in its future.

Missing 30 tackles against N.C. State? FSU can't do that against teams such as Notre Dame or Louisville.

The running game struggles, where FSU had negative yards through four quarters in the win over Clemson? FSU simply can't be one-dimensional and expect to get by. While FSU was better on Saturday with 171 rushing yards against Wake Forest, the line play hasn't been consistent.

The wild card, of course, involves the injuries. A potential long-term injury to center Austin Barron will have an effect on the unit's chemistry. FSU has emerging stars at receiver, but the loss of Rashad Greene for any length of time will hurt the rhythm of the offense.

In 2013, FSU didn't experience a major injury. This year, the Seminoles are already dealing with the loss of defensive tackle Nile-Lawrence Stample for the season. If the list grows, will FSU have the depth to overcome those injuries?

The Road Ahead

STEVEN CANNON/Associated Press

FSU travels to Syracuse (2-3) next Saturday, a game that shouldn't present much of a challenge to the Seminoles. But then the road gets tougher, with Notre Dame coming to Tallahassee, Florida, on Oct. 18. And a tricky road date with Louisville follows on Oct. 30.

The Notre Dame-FSU game now looks more and more like it could be a Top Five showdown after the Fighting Irish defeated Stanford on Saturday. Against one of the nation's top defenses, Notre Dame struggled but was able to put together two scoring drives in the fourth quarter and win 17-14.

Notre Dame will be FSU's toughest challenge to date, and it remains to be seen if FSU will be shorthanded. 

FSU lost a number of players to injury on Saturday, including star receiver Rashad Greene (concussion) and starting center Austin Barron (arm). Fisher said Greene had a concussion and was throwing up but felt better after the game. Barron's arm may be fractured, Fisher said, and it appears he will miss significant playing time.

It's not clear if Greene, along with other injured players such as tailback Karlos Williams and defensive tackle Derrick Mitchell, will be back on the field.

Bob Ferrante is the Florida State Lead Writer for Bleacher Report; all quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Bob on Twitter. All stats are courtesy of Seminoles.com. All recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.