FSU Seminoles

Heading into this season, the offensive lines at both Florida State and Clemson were two of the biggest question marks in the ACC. The Tigers had to replace three starters up front, and the Seminoles were coming off a Champs Sports Bowl win against Notre Dame in which four true freshmen were in the starting lineup.

You’d never know it by looking at the stats so far this season, as deceptive as some could be.

As No. 10 Clemson and No. 4 Florida State prepare to face each other in Tallahassee on Saturday, both offensive lines have shown significant improvement through the first three games of the season. Florida State is No. 2 in the country in scoring offense, racking up its stats against two FCS opponents and an overmatched Wake Forest team. Clemson is No. 23 in the country in scoring offense, with its most impressive win coming against Auburn. Both Clemson and Florida State are allowing fewer than two sacks per game.

Both groups, though, still have something to prove -- particularly at Clemson. The Tigers’ offensive line will arguably get its biggest test of the season Saturday when it faces Florida State’s defensive line. The Noles are tied for No. 10 in the country with 3.67 sacks per game. How Clemson fares up front could be the key to the entire game.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge, no doubt about it,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. “But we’re going to find out Saturday night one way or another.”

Clemson’s starting lineup against Auburn was Dalton Freeman, David Beasley, Gifford Timothy, Brandon Thomas and Tyler Shatley. Timothy was injured on the last offensive play of the game and missed the Ball State game. That opened the door for redshirt freshman Shaq Anthony to start and also play the first half against Furman.

Beasley was injured against Ball State, allowing Kalon Davis to play most of that game and all of the Furman game. Shatley was injured against Furman and missed the second half. Redshirt freshman Ryan Norton played the second half of that game.

Swinney said his offensive line was “pretty average” in last week’s 41-7 win against Furman.

“Nothing great,” he said, “just OK.”

“They are a question mark; they’re still a question mark,” Swinney said. “I don’t think that’s changed. … We’re a long ways away from being a great offensive line right now.”

The good news for Clemson fans is that the starting lineup used against Auburn should be healthy and ready to play at Florida State. And the backups have now had some significant experience. Entering the FSU game, Clemson has eight different offensive linemen who have played at least 98 snaps.

Florida State’s improved pass protection has been measurable. So far, the line has allowed three sacks in 194 snaps and 84 pass attempts. All three sacks, though, came against the best competition they’ve played -- a Wake Forest team that was missing one of its top defensive linemen in injured nose guard Nikita Whitlock.

It’s still a foreshadowing of improvement since last season, when the Noles allowed 41 sacks in 820 offensive snaps, which amounts to one every 20 plays. Only eight teams in the nation yielded more sacks than FSU in 2011.

There’s no question that FSU is also running the ball better. In 2011, the Seminoles produced just 112.2 rushing yards per game -- their lowest average since 2006 -- and managed 1,458 yards on the ground. Through three games the Noles are averaging 279 rushing yards.

The numbers are skewed because they’ve been racked up against unheralded FCS competition in Murray State and Savannah State, but FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said he likes what he has seen so far.

“I think they’re very good players,” Fisher said. “They’re all very talented. It took a little bit of time to learn, and that’s a position that’s very hard to adapt to, and we loved them because of their size and athleticism. I think that’s where you’ve got to control both lines of scrimmage -- that’s where it’s got to start.

“I’ve been very pleased with them, but I don’t think we are close to where we can be,” Fisher said. “I think each challenge is bigger and bigger each week.”

This one, of course, might be the biggest of the season.

Florida State baseball has begun fall practice, and we checked in with head coach Mike Martin to see how his team is coming together after losing a number of key players and top signees to the MLB draft.

NoleNation: After the MLB signing deadline, you said you were having trouble sleeping thinking about all the holes you needed to fill. Are you feeling a bit more comfortable with things now?

Mike Martin: What you have to do is just move on. You can't dwell on the past. We had a number of outstanding arms that we had signed, but we also have an outstanding group of young men that are in here now. People are going to get opportunities that maybe would not have gotten opportunities this quick in their career, but we're excited for them to see where they go with it.

NN: You've got two pretty solid transfers in Marcus Davis and Brett Knief. How have they looked so far?

Martin: They've been very impressive. They're guys that -- of course, Knief has played in a Division-I program before -- but it's an opportunity for both of them. I think in the next couple of weeks we'll know more, but I've certainly been impressed with what I've seen so far.

NN: You've got a handful of big bats you'll need to replace, but you're also looking for a couple of guys to step in at the back end of the pen after Robert Benincasa left for the pros. Any early ideas of who can fill the void?

Martin: No, we've got two or three guys we're looking at. We know that Gage [Smith] can go into that role, but at the same time, Gage was so important to use being used in the middle. Your middle guy is one that enables the closer to pitch on a number of nights, and that was another reason that Benny had the success he did is Gage pitched so well to give him a chance.

NN: Another thing you talked about over the summer was how much a season of summer league ball can help some of the younger guys. Has anyone come back looking like they've taken a big step forward?

Martin: It's a little early to tell that because we haven't had a lot of practices to evaluate, but you see guys come back like [Luke] Weaver, who pitched in the Cape. Peter Miller pitched in the Cape. I've been pleased with the way they're approaching the art of pitching. When you go to a summer league, you learn a lot about yourself because you're playing against the best players in the country. It just does our guys so much good.

NN: How about physically? Have you been pleased with the shape the team is in as they've picked things back up this fall?

Martin: Oh yeah, guys know what the expectations are here and they've done a very good job of taking care of themselves. Now is the time to improve in that area because, of course, the fall is important when it comes to being evaluated, but it's even more important that you get in the weight room and use these four important months to get stronger and quicker.

NN: So as you go through fall practice over the next few weeks, what's the biggest thing you're looking for?

Martin: Mainly it's just implementing our system. We've got to get guys acclimated to what we're trying to do whether it's bunt, become better base runners or just learning how we play the game. You can call certain things fundamentals, but we'd rather refer to it as "our system." We've got some guys that are very, very far behind in learning the system and it's up to us to get that planted in their minds that, this is what we've got to do.

The hype for Saturday's game is immense for two reasons: First, it's Clemson, and the Tigers represent the biggest potential stumbling block along Florida State's road to an ACC championship.

Second, there's simply not much else on this schedule to get too excited about. Last week's opponent, Wake Forest, might be the fifth-best team the Seminoles face this season, and that game ended in a 52-0 route.

The fact is, after Virginia Tech fell to Pittsburgh last week, Florida State and Clemson were left as the lone inhabitants of the ACC that could be reasonably considered elite.

That should make it a relatively easy path to a conference title, should FSU win this week. Beyond that, however, ESPN college football analyst Rod Gilmore writes that another down year in the ACC is going to make it awfully tough for Florida State to earn enough respect nationally to win a BCS title.

Continue reading Gilmore's story on Florida State's national championship chances here .

Through three weeks, Tyler Hunter has largely managed to slip under the radar.

It's not that Hunter hasn't made an impact as Florida State's new nickel corner. It's just that so much of that impact has been measured by what hasn't happened.

"He hasn't had a lot of notoriety because when you cover somebody you don't make tackles because they don't throw to you," Jimbo Fisher said.

Look no further than last week's win over Wake Forest for proof of Hunter's impact.

Just one week after Wake Forest slot receiver Michael Campanaro hauled in 13 passes for 163 yards against North Carolina, he virtually disappeared as Hunter shadowed him across the middle of the field.

Campanaro ended the game with just two catches for eight yards -- numbers that do a much better job of highlighting Hunter's work than his own stat line, which includes just five tackles through three games.

"It's what he's eliminated," Fisher said. "Having him in the slot, the ability to run and he's very physical and tackles well. He's done a really nice job."

His numbers may not speak volumes, but Hunter's teammates have taken notice.

"He's taking control of that slot guy," safety Lamarcus Joyner said. "That allows a lot of free time for those safeties back there to stick their nose in other people's business."

Hunter has made an impression with his voice, too.

A high school teammate of former FSU cornerback Greg Reid, Hunter has picked up the mantle as one of the vocal leaders in the secondary after Reid was dismissed from the team last month.

"It feels like Greg Reid is out there on the field," Joyner said. "He's bringing that same energy, same passion, and he's fitting in the system really good."

Florida State didn't employ nickel coverage often against Clemson with an injury-depleted secondary a year ago, but that could change this season, Fisher said.

The heavy lifting when it comes to star wideouts Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins will still rest on the starting corners -- Xavier Rhodes and Nick Waisome -- but Hunter's prepped to do the dirty work underneath.

"I'm not nervous," Hunter said. "It's football, I just take it like it's what I love to do, it's what I'm best at. I just try to go out there and do my best and we'll see if it's good enough."