Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2021 41 player I can be for the team. That's all it is." "I feel extremely confident in the playbook," Milton added. "What- ever the coaches ask me to do, I take it from the meeting room to the play- ing field. I'm just trying to progress every day and learn from what the other QBs do when they're getting their reps. Just learning by trial and error and keep working until we get to Sept. 5." The players surrounding Travis and Milton are not nearly the im- posing playmakers that surrounded Jameis Winston in FSU's title-win- ning season nearly a decade ago. The quarterbacks can only do so much with what they are presented. Florida State has fallen in the Ri- vals team recruiting rankings every year since having the No. 2 class in the country in 2016. The Seminoles' class of 2021 checked in at No. 30. It's not just the losses that have af- fected the players FSU has been able — or hasn't been able — to bring in. It's the way in which the program is losing. A lackluster 16-13 loss to Georgia Tech. A total 52-10 blowout against in-state rival Miami. The 42-26 de- feat to Notre Dame. Another run- away 48-16 loss to Louisville. A 41- 17 meltdown at home against Pitt the following week. An uninspiring 38-22 loss at NC State. Those results don't look good on Norvell's résumé no matter how much he's to blame for them. The offense has a long way to go, for sure, but a common theme in Flor- ida State's losses last year was total ineptitude defensively. The Noles ranked 107th nationally in total defense (456.3 yards per game al- lowed) and gave up a staggering, in the worst way, 36.0 points per game. That tied for 105th. Vast improvement for a unit that struggled as mightily as that from one year to the next is tough to count on, but Norvell doesn't have any other choice. Sept. 5 is rapidly approaching, and Notre Dame isn't slowing down for anybody. It's al- most game time. "There's going to be plenty of times this fall we're in uncomfortable situations, but our mental makeup, our mental focus, is going to make the difference," Norvell said. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: FLORIDA STATE Three Things To Know About Florida State 1. Portal Plucking How does a coach try to jump-start a team that went 3-6 in his first year, just signed the No. 30-ranked recruiting class and played several young players? Go shopping in the transfer portal and come back with a cartful of additions. Nine of them, to be exact. FSU head coach Mike Norvell hopes they add the experience and impact to help distance his program from its ill-fated 2020 season. Most of them have intriguing backgrounds. There's former Central Florida quarterback McK- enzie Milton, who threw for 6,700 yards and 62 touchdowns while averaging 9.8 yards per attempt from 2017-18 before a ghastly knee injury sidelined him the next two seasons. There's former Notre Dame guard Dillan Gibbons, a graduate transfer who couldn't quite crack the starting five on the Irish's talented offensive line. Elsewhere, the highest-impact portal traveled could be former Georgia defensive end Jermaine Johnson, who had five sacks in seven games as a part-time player in 2020. Florida State had 10 as a team in nine games. Kansas graduate transfer wide receiver Andrew Parchment hauled in 89 passes for 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns the last two seasons — better career numbers than any Semi- noles receiver. A recruiting class ranked outside the top 25 typi- cally doesn't provide much first-year help. Most of the highly rated players from Florida State's 2017 (No. 5 ranking) and 2018 (No. 10) hauls are in the NFL or didn't deliver upon their ranking. That all screams limited ceiling. Can the transfer additions jell quickly enough and make the impact needed for Florida State to take a sizable leap this year? 2. Offensive Line Woes No Florida State position group has drawn more public ire than the offensive line since the program's 2017 descent. The Seminoles are on their fourth position coach at that spot since 2017. Recruiting results have been poor. On the field, it has been a pronounced liability. Florida State has ranked 112th, 125th, 112th and 96th in sacks allowed per game the last four years. There is a little hope in 2021, though. Gibbons adds experience, and former Florida International tackle Devontay Love-Taylor arrived as a graduate transfer last year but suffered a season-ending knee injury Nov. 7. He returned as a "super senior" using the NCAA's COVID-19 blanket waiver. Center Mau- rice Smith made a few Freshman All-America teams last year. Right tackle Robert Scott also started as a freshman and improved over the course of the year. It looks like enough for the unit to pick itself up off the mat, and maybe throw a few punches. Florida State has some weapons that should excel with better blocking. That starts with running back Jashaun Corbin, who averaged 5.0 yards per carry last year despite shoddy offensive line play and posted the same clip in two seasons at Texas A&M. 3. Dillan Gibbons' Helping Hand It will be hard to find a more heartwarming use of college athletes' new name, image and likeness opportunities than Gibbons' first venture into it. The former Irish offensive lineman and current Seminole started a GoFundMe to raise money for friend Timothy Donovan to attend this year's Notre Dame-Florida State game. Donovan, who graduated high school this year, was born with a condition called VACTERL and has had more than 50 surgeries in his life. He and Gibbons both attended Notre Dame's "Snowball game" in 2008 versus Syracuse and credit it as the moment that hooked them on college football. They did not know each other at the time. Nine years later, after Gibbons' first game at Notre Dame, they met when Gibbons gave Donovan his signed gloves. The GoFundMe has raised more than $50,000 as of mid-August — and word of it reached Notre Dame and Florida State fans. Donovan and his parents have booked their trip and bought tickets to see the game. — Patrick Engel Former Irish offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons is one of nine players the Seminoles snagged from the transfer portal during the offseason. PHOTO COURTESY FLORIDA STATE ATHLETICS