Five Plays: Florida State Fourth Quarter

Louisville dominated Florida State on Friday, with the fourth quarter being particularly brutal for the Noles. I provided some thoughts on some of the key plays.

I've noticed more and more that Lincoln Kienholz is adjusting things at the line based on what he's seeing from the defense. On Isaac Brown's 97-yard run, he swapped the tight ends before the play. On this play, he sees FSU mugging up their linebackers with man coverage in the secondary. The edge defender is flexed out a bit, with the defensive tackle heads up with Cason Henry on the right side. Kienholz changes this play to a simple option play to the wide side of the field, and it turns into a fairly easy first down with Brown's speed on the edge.

The change from Kienholz is the star of the show, but the execution from everyone is very good. Henry gets a really nice seal on his man, while Johnnie Brown immediately gets up to the second level to get hands on the playside linebacker. That leaves a safety who is 15 yards away from the ball and a group of linemen and linebackers to try to chase down Brown. That's a win for the Cards every time.

Here's another running back running through an arm tackle as if he is offended that anyone would try that against him. Chris Jones finished last season ranked 7th in the country in tackles, and Braxton Jennings runs right through him because he hits this hole with pure violence. He looks like he's running through the gauntlet in practice that simulates arm tackles. He gets slowed down slightly before getting back to full speed quickly to blow the angle of the safety.

Every coach on this staff could use this play in film study this week to show what translating practice to the game looks like. This is what anyone who has made their way to an open practice has seen from Jennings since he stepped on campus. He's earned every chance he has received, and he has delivered every time.

This is a genuine coverage sack. It's like seeing a unicorn walk on its hind legs to take a shot of bourbon for this defense.

The broadcast blamed this completion on Jordan Vann, but this is actually Blake Ruffin running after the slot receiver on this play. It's also not on him, either. It's on Stanquan Clark, who carries the inside crosser way out of his zone, which leaves a huge void for this pass to be made. It's the design of the play for this to happen, and Stanquan takes the bait.

If Stanquan stays in his zone on this play, this pass is likely thrown to Duce Robinson short of the sticks with the hope that he can make a play to get the first down. Even better, Austin Daniels holds the ball and has to try to run for it. Instead, there's a clear window to make an easy throw for a chunk play on fourth down.

We just have not seen a play like this from a Louisville defensive tackle this season. Daylon Russell gets so into the pads of the center on this play that he not only pushes him back into the running back, but he also runs himself right into the back three steps into his run. This was the best play that we've seen from this group this year.

There is no defense for the perfect pass. This is a dime from Austin Daniels as well as an impressive catch. However, this is what zone defense should look like from the Cards. Everyone is getting the proper depth in their drops, which forces a perfect pass down the seam. We've seen this same throw be wide open for weeks now. Make them work for it and then tip your cap when they beat you.

Louisville gets another coverage sack on this play with a man look pre-snap that turns into zone with a perfect umbrella to take away every option for Daniels. He starts to load up twice before he is sacked on this play while scanning from his right, all the way back to the left side.

I know a lot of folks didn't like this flag, but on a different angle, Tyler Thompson grabs the facemask for a split second as Daniels turns back towards the fifty-yard line. I'll take flags that come from players being aggressive and trying to make plays. That's not the same as selfish late hits or guys not focusing.

Isaac Brown showed great patience on his 97-yard touchdown run earlier in the game, but that is nothing compared to this play. He has two linemen pulling on this play, and he shuffles his feet right off the hip of the second lineman to cross his face. He then cuts at a hard left angle to squeeze through a tiny hole in the defense, and he's off to the races. All of that happens in a split second, and I think it illustrates how Brown has grown through his career. I don't think he sees this backside gap last season because he would not have throttled down like he does here.

This is teach tape from Tyler Thompson. FSU's left tackle is 6-8, so Thompson elects to dip under him with a speed rush off the edge. The tackle is going to try to push him up the field to give Daniels a chance to step up in the pocket, but Thompson's very smart pass rush move makes that impossible. Again, this is what I think we all expected from the beginning of the season from the pass rush.

The Cards finished off a dominant performance with Kaleb Beasley's fourth pick on the season. Beasley sees this crossing route coming well ahead of time, and he jumps the route to make a nice play on the ball. He has been a very nice addition to the defense, and at this point, he may be the best ballhawk we've seen at safety since Gerrod Holliman.