Florida State football: 3 bold predictions for pivotal game vs No. 16 Duke

Seminoles dominate Duke QB Riley Leonard in return from injury

All signs are pointing toward Riley Leonard returning this week as the starting quarterback for the Duke football team, according to the Tallahassee Democrat— and what a game to come back from injury.

Florida State football’s physical, hard-hitting defense will be licking their chops at the prospect of chasing after Leonard, who’s been recovering from a gnarly ankle injury sustained near the end of Duke’s game vs Notre Dame a couple of weeks ago.

However, it won’t be easy, as the 2022 Military Bowl MVP has been sacked just three times so far this season. The dual-threat quarterback is a powerful runner who’s difficult to bring down, plus he has a great ability to improvise when he starts moving outside the pocket. He’s had three games this season in which he’s thrown for at least 130 yards and rushed for at least 85.

Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse, a likely top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, will have his sights set on Leonard. Verse has never faced this quarterback or this Duke football team, as the last time the ‘Noles and the Blue Devils faced each other, was during the 2020 college football season.

Expect Florida State football coach Mike Norvell to have a creative game plan to exploit Leonard, especially if he’s not truly 100% recovered from his injury. The ‘Noles may want to bait Leonard to run the football to try to get some hits on him early to see if they can shake his confidence.

Prediction: Florida State sacks Leonard for a career-high four times and forces him to turnover the ball at least once.