FSU Football: Top 5 DL Performances Under Jimbo Fisher

With six years under his belt as head football coach at Florida State, there’s no questioning Jimbo Fisher’s success. Since Fisher took over in 2010, the Seminoles have managed to go 68-14 with six ranked finishes, four major bowl appearances, three ACC championship and the 2013 national title.

While FSU has played great as a whole under Fisher, there are a number of individual performances that stick out as well. In a new series, we’ll be looking at the best individual games for Seminoles to play under Fisher. We now shift to the defensive side of the ball where we look at the best efforts by FSU defensive linemen since 2010:

5B. Timmy Jernigan vs. Idaho (Nov. 23, 2013)
Stats: 6 tackles, 4.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks
Okay, we added a spot, but Timmy Jernigan was just too good during his time at FSU to leave off this list. In his final home game, Jernigan played just a little over a half, but registered 4.5 tackles for loss from his defensive tackle position in an 80-14 victory over Idaho.

5A. Bjoern Werner vs. Murray State (Sept. 1, 2012)
Stats: 5 tackles, 5 for loss, 4 sacks, pass breakup
Florida State’s 2012 opener against Murray State wasn’t expected to be competitive, but few saw what was coming from defensive end Bjoern Werner. In a 69-3 victory, Werner recorded a career-high five tackles for loss and four sacks. He even added a pass breakup.

4. Bjoern Werner vs. Florida (Nov. 24, 2012)
Stats: 6 tackles, 3.5 sacks, fumble recovery
Bjoern Werner’s final home game as a Seminole didn’t turn out as he had hoped, but the native German wasn’t the reason for the 37-26 loss. In his final game in Tallahassee against rival Florida, Werner recorded 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery that allowed FSU to take a third quarter lead.

3. Mario Edwards Jr. vs. Virginia (Nov. 8, 2014)
Stats: 9 tackles, 4 for loss, sack, forced fumble
Mario Edwards Jr. was the top player in the country out of high school when he arrived at Florida State. Though Edwards never fully reached his potential, a November contest in 2014 against Virginia showed how great he could be. As a 300-pound defensive end, Edwards was all over the field, notching four tackles for loss and a strip sack in a 34-20 FSU victory.

2. DeMarcus Walker at Florida (Nov. 28, 2015)
Stats: 9 tackles, 3.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, forced fumble, blocked field goal
In the 2015 regular season finale, defensive end DeMarcus Walker was what they refer to in basketball as a stat filler-upper. Walker did everything for FSU that night, which included 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and the Seminoles’ first field goal block in more than five years. The end result? A 27-2 rivalry victory over Florida in Gainesville.

1. Eddie Goldman vs. Clemson (Sept. 20, 2014)
Stats: 2 tackles, sack, forced fumble
The numbers don’t look great, but what Eddie Goldman did against Clemson in 2014 was nothing short of that. Goldman recorded a sack earlier in the evening, but with Clemson driving to win the game late in regulation, Goldman stripped running back C.J. Davidson to keep the game tied, 17-17 and force overtime. In the extra period, Goldman’s penetration on 4th-and-1 forced Tigers’ running back Adam Choice to bounce the ball to the outside where he was stopped by a slew of Seminoles short of the first down. It took FSU’s Karlos Williams just two plays to find the end zone as Florida State won the game, 23-17.