Florida State begins Georgia Tech preparations with focus on Jackets’ stellar run game

Toward the end of Florida State’s practice on Monday, the Seminoles’ players got their first taste of what they’ll likely see when they square off against Georgia Tech on Aug. 24 in Ireland.

The Seminoles’ first- and second-string defense took reps against a scout-team unit that was mimicking plays from the Yellow Jackets’ offense. And FSU’s top offensive players did the same against the scout-team defense.

While Florida State is favored by 12.5 points in the season opener, no one in the FSU camp is taking the Yellow Jackets lightly — especially not when Georgia Tech has the ball on offense.

“I think it’s one of the better offenses in the league and probably in the country,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said after Monday’s practice. “They return a lot of guys up front … they’ve got very explosive skill position players, guys that are really fast, they’re tough to tackle.”

Thanks in part to that strong and veteran offensive line Norvell referenced, Georgia Tech led the ACC (and ranked 13th nationally) in rushing last season at 203.8 yards per game. And the Jackets were especially productive in the second half of the season, when they rushed for over 240 yards per contest.

Quarterback Haynes King , a former Texas A&M transfer, runs the show. In 2023, he was the team’s second-leading rusher with 737 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, and he passed for 2,842 yards and 27 touchdowns with 16 interceptions.

King will be joined in the backfield once again by star running back Jamal Haynes , who ran for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder averaged 6.1 yards per carry.

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“The quarterback makes everything go,” Florida State’s head coach said. “Haynes is a really good player. You saw his confidence grow as the season continued to go on. And I think they do a good job of putting those guys in position to be able to make plays. He’s gonna be involved in the run game, they’re gonna try to stretch you sideline to sideline, but also very physical in their approach and what they want to do.

“Horizontally and vertically, they’re going to try to attack every area of the field. So it’s really going to take all 11 having to be on point and playing on a high level.”

The Jackets were not that imposing on the other side of the ball, however. They ranked 123rd nationally in total defense and 131st (of 133 FBS teams) in rushing defense; opponents averaged a whopping 5.4 yards per carry and 221 yards per game.

Florida State will ramp up the installation of its game plan against the Jackets in the next few days.

Stay connected with Warchant.com for updates this morning from Tuesday’s Florida State practice.

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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