Syracuse vs. Florida State: Game Grades, Analysis for the Seminoles

Despite a slow start in the first half, the Florida State Seminoles were able to, without Everett Golson and Dalvin Cook nonetheless, rout the Syracuse Orange 45-21, with the third Syracuse score coming on a late, meaningless punt return. 

Sean Maguire put himself into a serious conversation as to who should actually be the starting quarterback for the Seminoles in his 2015 debut start, while freshman running back Jacques Patrick impressively filled in for Cook. 

With that, let's check out the game grades for the Seminoles, who bounced back nicely from the heartbreaking Georgia Tech loss.

Rush Offense: A- 

Jacques Patrick racked up 162 yards and three touchdowns, while Johnathan Vickers added 64 on eight late carries. The Seminoles relied primarily on their aerial assault, but Patrick made a statement in his coming out party in Cook's absence. Once Cook, as well as Mario Pender, return from injury, expect those two plus Patrick to form a formidable three-headed monster in Tallahassee. 

Pass Offense: A 

Sean Maguire may very well have stolen the starting job from Everett Golson, as the Notre Dame transfer sat out with concussion issues. Maguire was 23-of-25 passing for 348 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He was great and probably better than Golson has been this season. Maguire became the first FSU quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a half since Chris Weinke and is the only ACC quarterback to do so all season. 

Rush Defense: B 

The Orange did rack up 173 rushing yards, but that's essentially because they had no luck at all in the pass game. Still, the Seminoles allowed 4.1 yards per carry and allowed both of Syracuse's offensive touchdowns on the ground. 

Pass Defense: A 

Eric Dungey never quite got going, as the FSU secondary forced him into 11-of-24 passing for just 120 yards with no scores or picks. Florida State's ability to limit the big play over the top has been a staple of Jimbo Fisher's program. 

Special Teams: C 

After having one of the biggest special teams blunders in program history last week, there were still some kinks this week. The Seminoles gave up a punt return touchdown and Roberto Aguayo missed a field goal. Perhaps the brightest star this week was punter Cason Beatty, who somewhat surprisingly was required to boot the ball six times. He averaged 46.5 yards per punt, had one go 64 yards and didn't have any catastrophes. 

Coaching: A 

Syracuse is by no means a juggernaut in the ACC. But FSU was shaken to its core last week, and rather than wilting, they responded with fury. That takes good leadership, which Fisher showed on Saturday. Should FSU be able to upset Clemson down the road, the Seminoles could still have a shot at making some noise for a College Football Playoff berth, and that will largely be thanks to Fisher's efforts.