Florida State Football: Adjustments Seminoles Must Make During Bye Week

Life is good for the Florida State football team—and not because the Seminoles can relax with this being a bye week. FSU players can enjoy being 7-0, but they also know they must make some adjustments on offense and defense going into the final five games of the regular season.

FSU is one of four unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (along with Mississippi State, Mississippi and Marshall) and knocked off a former unbeaten when it held off No. 5 Notre Dame 31-27 on Saturday night.

While FSU remains perfect in the win column, the Seminoles are still a team with weaknesses. FSU has come up with some timely defensive stops in the red zone the past two weeks against Syracuse and Notre Dame, but the team ranks seventh in scoring defense (21 points) and 10th in total defense (374 yards)—in the ACC. And FSU's rushing offense (125 yards per game) is 13th in the 14-team ACC. 

"We find excuses to win," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. "This team has tremendous, what I call, 'adversity tolerance.' It doesn't flinch. It can deal with pressure moments, pressure situations."

FSU has handled the pressure well in holding off fourth-quarter challenges from Oklahoma State, Clemson and Notre Dame. Let's take a look at where FSU needs to improve during the bye week:

Adjustments on Offense

After running for 171 yards against Wake Forest and 165 yards at Syracuse, FSU's ground attack looked like it was improving after a rocky start to the season. But FSU had just 26 carries for 50 yards against Notre Dame.

There are a few good reasons for FSU's rushing struggles against the Fighting Irish. The Seminoles were without Mario Pender (ankle), and true freshman Dalvin Cook earned his first start. Fisher said that Cook started because Karlos Williams, who missed the Syracuse game with an ankle injury, didn't practice much in the week leading up to the Notre Dame game.

FSU also played without offensive line coach Rick Trickett on the sideline. Trickett had a heart problem Friday night and did not coach (Fisher said that Trickett would return to the office this week).

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Forced to start a true freshman over a senior at tailback and without its offensive line coach, FSU didn't get much going on the ground early. FSU didn't run on its first drive, a three-and-out. Cook had two carries for minus-one yard on the second drive. Jameis Winston had a 3-yard run on the third drive, but no tailback got a carry. It wasn't until midway through the second quarter that FSU earned a rushing first down, and it was part of a drive where the Seminoles got three first-down carries to set up a Roberto Aguayo field goal.

The good news is that Williams had a pair of second-half touchdowns. But consistency in the ground game is sorely lacking.

Will FSU be able to improve on the ground? A bye week clearly helps from an injury standpoint. Pender and Williams could be at or near 100 percent for the Louisville game. But the Cardinals have the nation's No. 3 rush defense (68 yards per game). Another big challenge for FSU.

Adjustments on Defense

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FSU continues to escape with wins despite a defense that has gone from No. 1 in the nation in 2013 to 53rd in total defense. The Seminoles lost five starters to the NFL and have dealt with injuries to returning stars (defensive tackle Eddie Goldman and defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. each missed a game). Linebacker Terrance Smith was also suspended for the Wake Forest game.

One of the biggest concerns has been the success of FSU's opponents on third down. Syracuse converted seven of its 14 third-down opportunities, and Notre Dame converted on seven of its 18 third-down chances. FSU is 94th in the FBS in third-down conversion defense (43.4 percent).

It's deflating to a defense when a mobile quarterback like Notre Dame's Everett Golson is able to scramble or just elude tacklers in the pocket only to complete passes. And long drives wear down defenses, especially when opponents use the chance to go to the hurry-up offense and make substituting nearly impossible for the Seminoles.

FSU also gave up too many big plays to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish ran 87 plays on Saturday, but they had eight pass plays of 15 or more yards and six rushing plays of 10 or more yards, 247Sports' Chris Nee writes (subscription required). That's 270 offensive yards on just 14 plays.

Will FSU's defense improve down the stretch? The Seminoles don't have as many injury concerns on defense. And true freshmen who have seen significant playing time, like defensive end Lorenzo Featherston and linebacker Jacob Pugh, will only get better with experience.

One piece of good news for the Seminoles is that they don't play a top-flight offense down the stretch. Of the five remaining opponents, Miami is the best and is ranked 53rd in total offense.

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