I had no idea what to expect from Florida State this year, but I certainly did not expect them to win vs Bama. I thought they would play had. We’re running a 3-3-5 stack defense now which I admittedly had my doubts about. When I think of a 3 DL line, I think of the old Pittsburgh Steelers DLs with Casey Hampton in the middle and two 290 pd DEs. We don’t have anything close to that.
One of my co workers’ sister is married to Tony White, our new DC. He also coaches ball on the high school level and uses that defense. He broke it down for me one day in pretty good detail and that gave me some confidence. Still didn’t think it would be enough to beat Alabama. Boy was I wrong. The biggest things I took away from Florida State is that 1) the defense plays very hard and fast- that was lacking last year. 2) the 3-3-5 scheme is about confusing, not necessarily physical domination. 3) The new OL we have along with this Gus Malzahn offense might just be a really good fit. We have some skill players that are every bit as talented as the guys he had on the 2013 Auburn team that made it to the National Championship game but of course lost to the mighty Seminoles. We have 7 guys who can be lethal with the ball in their hands in the backfield: Danzy, Sawchuck, Holmes, R. Williams, Castellanos, Kromah, and Jaylin Lucas. Our team could be a tough out for the rest of our schedule. There are tough games ahead for sure but things certainly look a little different now.