Florida State Football: Noles resurgence continues with win over Wake Forest

After a rough start, Florida State football continues to show signs of life. The latest coming in a win over Wake Forest in Week 8.

Florida State started the season with losses to Virginia Tech and Syracuse and a narrowly-avoided upset against Samford. Since then the Seminoles have won three of their next four, the latest coming against Wake Forest on the road in Week 8.

The end result is what mattered most, but there was good and bad from both sides of the ball on Saturday. Here are a few takeaways from the Seminoles’ fourth win.

1. The Florida State defense still a work in progress

The Noles had plenty of good and bad on the defensive side of the ball against the Demon Deacons. The teams were fairly even on offense throughout most of the game, but Florida State found a way to keep Wake Forest out of the endzone. They did that by limiting the production of Wake Forest’s standout receiver Greg Dortch.

Dortch has run with the national leaders in all-purpose yards for much of the season. So far, only Clemson had held the star receiver under 50-yards receiving and six receptions. He caught four passes for 24 yards against the Noles, making him a nonfactor in the final result.

The Noles allowed 39 first downs and 369 yards of total offense. Wake Forest’s 24 third down attempts were evidence of an inconsistent offense that was given way too many opportunities. It was a good day for defense, it just wasn’t great.