The Daily Nole

Louisville-FSU: Five Things to Watch

Mitch White/FSU athletics

Florida State will look to win at home and get to .500 for the first time this season on Saturday as Louisville invades Doak Campbell Stadium. The Cardinals, like FSU, have disappointed this season with a record of 4-3 and 1-3 in conference.

FSU is just 2-3, but coming off a 17-10 victory over Duke. Louisville was defeated at home by Boston College last week, 45-42. As FSU looks to avenge a 63-20 loss at Louisville on Saturday, here are five things to watch:

1. Quarterbacks
The quarterback match-up on Saturday will feature the reigning Heisman Trophy winner in Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and the first true freshman to start for Florida State in 32 years in James Blackman. Jackson has shown no signs of a slump after a remarkable 2016 season. The junior from South Florida is averaging more than 420 yards of total offense to his name and already has 26 total touchdowns. Against the Seminoles last season, Jackson accounted for 362 total yards and five total touchdowns.

Entering his fifth career start, Blackman is becoming noticeably more comfortable within the FSU offense. The Seminoles have worked him along slowly and have been very conservative early in games, but opened things up a bit more last week at Duke. The Cardinals have a talented secondary with players like cornerbacks Trumaine Washington and Jaire Alexander as well as safety Chucky Williams. Blackman has thrown two interceptions in each of the last two weeks and must be smart with the football on Saturday.

2. Jacques Patrick and Cam Akers
After a slow start to the 2017 season, junior running back Jacques Patrick and freshman Cam Akers have really found their groove of late. Akers has eclipsed the 100-yard mark in each of the last two weeks while Patrick hasn’t been far behind after going for 120 on the ground three weeks ago at Wake Forest. Those two will look for another big day as they face a Louisville defense that yielded 364 yards on the ground to Boston College last week and 272 to freshman running back A.J. Dillon. To make matters worse for Louisville, linebacker Stacy Thomas has been banged up.

3. Josh Sweat
Florida State defensive end Josh Sweat played in last year’s loss to Louisville, but was far from 100 percent after injuring his knee in practice the day prior. Sweat has been FSU’s best pass-rusher this season with team-highs of 2.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss and could really use a big day when it comes to getting pressure on Lamar Jackson. Sweat failed to record a tackle in last season’s defeat.

4. Derwin James
When discussing last season’s debacle in Louisville, many will point out that Florida State safety Derwin James was not in the lineup. How much difference James would have made in a 43-point loss is unclear, but he certainly is a game-changer. James may be the most versatile defender in college football and leads the Seminoles with 29 total tackles this season.

It’s possible that James could be used some as a spy against Jackson during Saturday’s contest. In the last meeting between the teams in Tallahassee, James finished with six tackles to go along with a strip sack of Jackson. Jackson has played well in both of his two previous contests against FSU, but when James was in the lineup, things were certainly much more difficult.

5. Placekickers
With the contest in Tallahassee on Saturday expected to be close, the two kickers in the game could play a big role. This one will feature two of the most accurate in the ACC in Louisville’s Blanton Creque and Florida State’s Ricky Aguayo. The two kickers come into the game having combined to make 20 straight field goals. Aguayo missed his first two kicks this season, but has since made 11 straight — the longest streak of his career. Creque doesn’t have the biggest leg, but has yet to miss a field goal this season at a perfect 9-for-9 with a long of 48 yards.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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