There's always so much uncertainty entering the first game of a college football season.
Fans have heard so much about their team and their upcoming opponents over the last few months while seeing so little for themselves, relying on us media folks to relay what we see on the practice field.
That certainly applies to Florida State entering its season opener vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin on Saturday. With so many players off last year's team off to the NFL, there are a bunch of new faces and new starters who will be debuting or stepping into much bigger roles against the Yellow Jackets (noon EST on ESPN).
GT, on the other hand, returns more roster continuity from its 2023 breakthrough 7-6 campaign under first-year head coach Brent Key. However, Saturday's game will be the coaching debut for four new GT assistant coaches on the defensive side of the ball.
This includes new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci, who took the job this offseason fresh off an impressive season as defensive coordinator at Duke — his first season as a solo DC — in 2023.
Norvell and his staff coached against Santucci a season ago and are well aware of his capabilities after he held their eventual ACC Champion squad to 284 yards of offense and 17 points through three quarters of last year's FSU-Duke game in Tallahassee before the Seminoles rallied to win 38-20.
"He did an outstanding job in his first season of being a defensive coordinator, when you look at that defense and what they were able to do," Norvell said. "Obviously, coach (Mike) Elko was one of his mentors and they've had a great tradition."
This creates an interesting challenge for FSU's coaching staff entering the season opener. FSU can prepare for the players GT had in 2023 as well as those the Jackets brought in. It can prepare for Santucci's defense having faced it a season ago. However, the only game film of Santucci's defense being run by Georgia Tech players is from the spring game, where nothing of note is going to be given away.
"We understand that, like I said, with great coaches, they're going to be able to adapt to the personnel that they have," Norvell said. "I think that's one thing that he showed even a year ago, just the versatility and all that they could do. It really kind of leaves an open platter for the things that we get to prepare for...
"We've done a lot of studying on what they did at Duke a year ago, but we also know that when you see the amount of versatility that he can deploy that there's a wide variety of options of what we might see. For us, it's making sure that we play with our eyes, we can adapt, we can adjust. We trust our rules and the things that we do against whatever scheme that might show up."
While the GT offense enters 2024 with a number of productive players returning off last year's team — including Haynes King at quarterback and Jamal Haynes in the backfield, a few wide receivers and three full-time offensive line starters — the defense enters Santucci's first season needing to make drastic improvements.
GT finished the 2023 season 117th nationally out of 133 FBS teams in yards per play allowed (6.29). Even more concerning, the Yellow Jackets allowed 5.38 yards per rush last season, ranking 130th nationally and the worst of any Power Five conference team.
The only teams GT was able to hold under four yards per carry in 2023 were Miami (3.51) and Bowling Green (3.89). Even in a 31-23 loss to Georgia they were able to keep close, the Jackets allowed the Bulldogs to rack up 262 rushing yards and average 6.72 yards per carry.
Considering FSU's run game is expected to be the strength of this team with a veteran offensive line and a load of talent in the running back room, that looks like it will be quite the first test for Santucci's defense in his first game with the program.
The Jackets brought in Georgia linebacker transfer E.J. Lightsey and defensive end transfers Romello Height (USC) and Jack Barton (Furman) to shore up their defense this offseason.
Despite what the 2023 numbers say, Norvell is confident Santucci will have his defense ready for a tough test for the FSU offense in Dublin.
"A lot of respect for him and just the job that he does, but also how he ties that to the personnel and the players that he has there at Georgia Tech," Norvell said. "You look, they have a good number of returners, but they also have some guys that have transferred in that I think are really talented players that are joining that defense. I know he'll have a great plan in place as we kick it off."
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