Warchant Report: Previewing #19 N.C. State at FSU football game

Opening segment -- what will November mean for FSU what's going on everybody welcome into this edition of war chant tv it is the war chant report featuring irish shofel managing editor of warchant.com in the top left of your screen and tom lang director of original content and the executive producer of the jeff cameron show he's got so much stuff that barely fits on the screen taro and tom lang top right corner hit the thumbs up button watching us here on youtube we certainly would appreciate it you can subscribe to our youtube page as well in the lower right corner and don't forget it's a home game this weekend so there's a happy hour going on over at the corner pocket and grill on appalachia parkway in tallahassee that goes off at 5 p.m with jeff cameron and corey clark so come on out join the fun there and jeff's keeping him staying busy he'll have the pregame show rolling that's at what 9 a.m with you tom that is correct 9 a.m on saturday 9 a.m pregame show live here on war chant tv and then the post game show tom's not working for the weekend everybody he works on the weekend he's got the post game show going with gene 10 minutes after the nc state florida state game which is the game of the week here on war chant report florida state hosting at three and five six and two nc state they are ranked 19th in the college football playoff poll this is the first ranked team floor state has played since notre dame in week one nc state coming off a pretty impressive win over louisville they scored 21 unanswered to ice the game against the cardinals florida state meanwhile coming off that tough tough 30 to 20 loss against clemson in death valley ira you were there you've been in every practice you've seen what they've gone through every weekend and every practice it was a extremely tough physical game they were up in that game no one expected them to win they weren't favored but they did find themselves with the lead with five and a half minutes to go and the ball and they weren't able to win man that's it feels deflating although the expectation wasn't all that high so can florida state respond how will they respond do you think uh coming off that hard-fought game against clemson you know i think emotionally i think they're they're fine you know i thought we got that vibe after the game you know you and i were with corey we were up there in clemson we talked to the players after the game i thought the way they handled it was was different from notre dame i felt like the notre dame game felt like because it was so much build up in the preseason it felt like there was such a climax on that game and when they lost it the way they did i think they were really heartbroken and it did affect them this is a little bit different you know this is middle of the season uh the the team has been uh on an upward trajectory now for several weeks and uh just by the way they were talking after the game i felt really good about them emotionally and i think that's beared out this week at practice mike norvell said tuesday was really good wednesday was very good he said was one of the best wednesdays they've had all season so i think from a psychological emotional mental standpoint i think they're in good shape i don't think they're going to have a huge let down that way unfortunately it was a really physical game the other thing you talked about it was a very physical football game uh on top of that uh you know there's been a some sort of bug on campus this week mike norvell mentioned they've had some guys uh you know not feeling well because of you know this this virus or whatever it is that's going around so you know that's just again another concern uh going into a game like this against an nc state team that you know when you talk to fsu's players and coaches one of the first things they'll talk about is that nct state's a very physical team uh in a very uh you know they they they will fight you and i i don't know that those two games back to back are a great scenario for florida state especially coming off that physical game so that's my biggest concern i think mentally and emotionally i think they're going to be okay tom wears many hats for us at war chan as well as with jeff on the real talk 933 but doctor isn't one if you were a doctor i think you would prescribe this game for flora say man number 19 nc state coming in just how important is this game tom for florida state to get back on the track get some of that momentum get back on the right trajectory and this entire month of november i mean the next four games set up to be quite daunting when it comes to acc standards it seems yeah i think we've gone back and forth on this quartet of games guys for the last month or so where we were like this most of them are unwinnable then there was a period of time about two weeks ago where you think well looks like everything is falling into place for florida state and now again maybe this week with the news of the bug going around the team and then obviously how physical that game was against clemson we're back to a place where we're thinking i don't know this this could be a really tough month in november this game's really important though because the number one word mike norvell likes to use around the program is respond and you want to be able to see a clear line of delineation ira you asked about it during the press conference on monday how do you get them to respond better how does morale stay high after a deflating loss in a way that it didn't after the notre dame game in week one to me this game is is critical to show at least that much of course you want to win it but you're a home underdog for a reason nc state is deeper and nc state certainly is really physical we'll get into that a little bit more when we preview nc state in depth uh and then you know for this month man you've got two rivalry games in the span of 14 days plus a road trip up to a beleaguered bc program but again if that's the sandwich game on the road in the cold against bc between your two rivals that could present some of its own unique problems uh to me i think the best case scenario in this particular month is to split it at this point um and realistically you know you want to grab that one up on the road in bc and then just put yourself in position because who knows who knows maybe that final week of the season this ss minnow that's crashing into the waves down in gainesville may be in much worse shape but it's going to be a really interesting month for a lot of people both players and coaches to see about the future of this program ira famous man once said uh they'll remember november so uh these next four games you know tom mentioned you know maybe best case scenarios is splitting and going two and two what do you look like as being uh the most likely case and what is the best case for florida state in november this season yeah i think if you could if you offered mike norvell two and two right now i think he'd take it um i think you know publicly he'll say they think they can win all four i'm sure and his heart he would love to win three of them but if you could guarantee him two and two i think he'd take it i think that would accomplish so much for this team and i think they've got a shot at it i really i really like the boston college game whether not withstanding i mean tom's right that's going to be a little bit of a challenge for these florida kids the other day of practice it was i think about 55 degrees and you saw guys in like long sleeves and you know it's in sweats and you know you know bundling up so it can be a lot different up in boston but i do still like that game because the way boston college has been playing lately and then i i i still think maybe i'm the maybe i'm the crazy one but i still i still like to match up with miami i think they're going to play well in that game i think uh miami's offense is not going to look like it's looked when they come here so you know again i think they can win two of these games if you win if you only win one i don't think it's the end of the world but man they it just hurts from it from a perception standpoint because you built you know you started building back some of that goodwill and if you end the season with four losses in your last five games it's going to kind of erase a lot of that florida state again not getting really an easy bounce back opportunity on saturday when they're going to take on nc state nc state's got some real legitimate players on a lot of important spots on the football field especially on the offense we'll break that down as well as the defense of the wolf pack next here on the war chant report live and living color and totally free subscribe to war chant tv on youtube the digital warchant from the practice field to pre-game and the phone calls afterwards warchant's youtube channel is home to live programming like seminal headlines wake up war chant the jeff cameron show as well as trench talk a live q a with knoll's offensive lineman devonte love taylor just search war chant on youtube and click or tap the subscribe button that's it it's totally free warchant tv on youtube just another reason we're the ultimate seminal sports source welcome back to the war chat 2nd segment -- matchups report everybody i'm alexandra manning joined by irish shofel and tom lange we're all with wordchant.com your ultimate assembled sportswear hit that thumbs up button we certainly would appreciate it almost as much if you would just go ahead and subscribe to our youtube page you can get everything you need hit that subscribe button in the bottom right of the video and then click on the bell that will notify you when new videos and live shows are available and we've got a whole bunch of them the jeff cameron show goes monday wednesday thursday friday live on war chant tv as well as 93 3 fm real talk we got wake up war chan with corey clark and myself monday through friday seminal headlines carries the day on tuesday and we got trench talk mondays a sunday smash with ira and jeff that goes on sundays and again we got a happy hour dropping on friday 5 p.m with jeff and corey back to this ball game everybody number 19 nc state comes to tallahassee taking on three and five florida state nc state on a pretty good trajectory this season you know they slipped up early against mississippi state on the road but got things right beat clemson in overtime devin leary four touchdowns in that victory but they lost to miami miami game that did not work out i'm sure the way they wanted to some late penalties some game management problems kind of reared their ugly head but they were able to bounce back show response in beating louisville at home this past week 28 to 13. so when we look at this nc state team i think you know my mind honestly goes to the offense kind of right from the jump so tom when you do look at that wolf pack offense what is it that they're able to do so well and what are the some of the things that are going to pose problems to florida state's defense yeah typically aslan it's an offense that won't bail you out you know one of the problems down in miami for nc state was they were plagued by drops key drops in key situations or else they probably break the 40-point plateau but devin leary 21 touchdowns on the season only two interceptions he's completing passes at just under 67 percent this is a group that loves to run the football too in watching them play clemson earlier this year if you saw after three quarters nc state had the ball for almost 31 minutes of the game clemson just didn't have the ball nc state was content to run it right at clemson's defense over and over and over again and that's what when ira was alluding to the physical test of this week nc state will not bail you out they will just run it at you over and over again they're content with three and four yards at a uh at a clip they can obviously go for more bam knight is only a sophomore technically speaking but it feels like he's been there forever uh amika mezzi's been catching passes in nc state since 2017. thayer thomas is a really really nice weapon over the middle and he's also got a 70 plus yard touchdown reception this year in fact between uh a mezzy and thomas almost 80 catches between those two the next closest receiver on the team has 23 so those are your two principal targets at receiver and then devin leary the quarterback is you know he's obviously somebody who if you look at that touchdown interception ratio he doesn't put the ball in danger very often a lot of high percentage passes outside the numbers they'll take their shots down the field once they've set you up and they love to isolate linebackers in the rpo game so for a florida state team that might be a little bit bumped and bruised after a matchup against clemson that defense has to be ready to go because nc state is physical as iris said they like to fight you and the tape shows it and so do the numbers north carolina state grading out at 81 right now on offense floor states defense grading out at 82. um florida saints offense meanwhile ira found some identity found some rhythm found some tempo found some success obviously jordan travis over that four week span one of them being a bye week but obviously they grew up against syracuse built on it against north carolina state took care of umass and i i think we can i don't know maybe agree that they took a step laterally at best maybe against clemson of of their 10 final drives none were more than 30 yards but again a lot of that credit goes to clemson's defense will florist's offense have similar problems uh lining up against this north carolina state defense how do you sort of size up the the knolls offense with kenny dillingham going up against tony gibson and this wolf pack defense yeah i don't think nc state's defense is is dominant from play to play where they're really good i think where they've made their bones is uh situationally they're great in third down defense they're great in red zone defense you look at this last game against louisville tom mentioned earlier that nc state you know when you look at the scoreboard looks like they won handily by a couple touchdowns louisville had over 415 yards of offense i mean they they ran the ball they ran for over 200 yards they passed for over 200 yards but situationally they just couldn't get it done they they were said to settle for field goals they went forward on fourth down and got stuff uh they would they would they would control the ball but then they could not get it in the end zone but that's been the story for nc state for most of the season other than that miami game and uh you know maybe the mississippi state mississippi state had some success against him as well but that's really been their mo so i think florida state's to be able to move the ball against them it's not like you know clemson had five stars after five stars after five stars in that front seven nc state doesn't have that they've got some experience guys they've got some physical and tough guys but they're not quite as dominant so i think florida state can move the ball the question is can they do anything in the red zone and i think that's that's going to be the challenge for this team they've actually i think florida state's been better at that um i you know as far as florida state's offense goes i i don't expect it to be a big number uh in this game but i think they're going to play better than they did against clemson uh the challenge is going to be in that red zone if kam macdonald's not healthy he got banged up in the last game that look that cost you one big red zone target um and then you know maybe you can break some long runs that uh you know go the distance so you don't have to settle for trying to punch in inside the 10 or 15 yard line it's going to be tough sledding though i'm not going to tell you the floor state's going to go out and put up 30 points against that defense i think miami's just about the only team that's really done it and they did it mostly through the air and i don't know the florida states can be capable of doing it through the air so uh it's gonna be a physical game i think florida state's best bet on offense is that the defense plays really well maybe gets a turnover too uh which you know as tom said they're not easy to come by against nc state but maybe at least get some good field position uh to help out that offense because i you know i do think they'll move the ball uh but it's gonna be a tough tough afternoon for sure floor state's offense right now grading out at 69 according to pro football focus north carolina state's defense uh 89 on the grading scale and north carolina state also has corey durden former florida state uh seminal on their starting front four there remember they're starting front three right tom i think they run a weird three three five stack tony gibson yeah they do it's a it's a three three five it creates all kinds of angles and it could cause problems for the florida state running game the one thing i'd note as you're quoting the the pff grades uh if you're an nc state fan and you're watching this program you know that what you see at home is not what you see on the road at least so far this season so the big challenge for nc state is to make it translate on the road two of their ugly games this year at mississippi state at miami so that will be one of the challenges for the defense and the offense to play with more consistency on the road because at home they're really really tough to beat but florida state knows that between these two teams in the last 20 25 years and i want to add one one more thing to to the offense that tom talked about uh thayer thomas who you mentioned is a phenomenal wide receiver slot receiver very dynamic uh very productive he torched florida state last year for i think 11 catches for 135 yards that's going to be a key matchup to me because kevin knowles who's really come on as a true freshman is is a very good slot corner and i think he's playing with a lot of confidence this week at practice he was dominant uh he had a good game last week against clemson that's going to be a good matchup they had no answers for him last year in the slot they played him terribly i don't think they ever understood what he was trying to do and that was one of the things kevin knowles talked about when we spoke to him this week was know what the situation is know what he's trying to accomplish on a route and that'll help you defend against him florida state last year it seemed like they they didn't know what he was trying to do and they let him just take whatever he wanted that's going to be a key uh in this defensive performance i think this this this time out well that's a matchup what's it going to take to win and who's going to win the game we'll talk about that next right here on the war chant report [Music] [Applause] [Music] don't forget live happy hour over at the Final segment -- keys to victory corner pocket at 5 p.m with jeff cameron and corey clark and then a pre-game show at 9am with jeff and tom and then the post game show obviously goes down 10 15 minutes after what we hope will be a victory with gene williams and tom lang so wait wait just to clarify so people can go and meet the corey clark in person is that what you're telling me touch him shake his hand yes tom's there tom's seen it happen right i mean how much security do we have in place yeah it's just me and i'm having a beverage you can walk right up i don't care [Laughter] don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe to our youtube page forgot to shout out our guy michael langston he does his recruiting chats monthly during football season right here live on youtube we'll probably have one this coming week as the miami game looms and lots of visitors coming on campus so again hit that thumbs up subscribe to the page it's certainly worth your time if you're a big time florida state fan which you are they're three and five and you're still here we appreciate you more than you could ever know let's get back to the game then nc state again that's going to be a 4 p.m kickoff on acc network they are ranked 19th in the nation i'll begin with you then ira as we look at this game we've heard the matchups tommy and yourself have laid out everything for us what would be a key to the victory uh for florida say floor state hopes to pull off the upset i mean they are underdogs at home nc state is ranked uh what will be a key to victory for florida state if they hope to pull off an upset against nc state on saturday you know i really do think it's going to come down to the defensive line uh for for the really the whole the whole game because i think florida state's going to have to uh win this game on defense i don't think four states offense is gonna be able to put a ton of points against that defense i think the defense is gonna have to step up and really make this a slugfest a low scoring game and maybe create some opportunities for the offense i like the way uh jermaine johnson and keir thomas and i mean they're playing their best ball right now fabian love it that group is playing really well i think they came out of that game in good shape physically against clemson whereas i think the other side of the ball it took it took its toll i think florida state's defensive front is really coming into its own and i think they want this opportunity i think they want to take over a game having said that nc state's got a salty offensive line i think that might be how adam fuller or someone else described them uh they're a physical bunch up front they're they want to run the football uh they've got physical backs so it's going to be a great test but i really think floor state's defensive line this is their chance to really step up and have a huge game and if they do that i think you give florida state you it helps everybody on the defense obviously it helps the secondary it helps the linebackers but it also helps out the offense if they can control get nc state's offense off the field tom will the defense be the key to victory will they carry the day or is it something on the offensive side of the ball uh i'll start with the third phase and say catch the ball and the the punk game as long as it's not inside the 10-yard line as long as it's not inside the 10-yard line let's do that uh i think yeah the defensive lines got a real chance to eat this weekend i think ira makes great points there in addition to the fact that nc state lost one of its guards for the season it's a banged up bunt they also lost a nose guard on the defensive line earlier this season so nc state is dealing with some bumps and bruises of multiple positions that's why i think noel fans felt a little bit more bullish about fsu's chances a couple of weeks ago uh the thing i'd say too is stick with what you do on the ground i think it'll work better this weekend against nc state than i did clemson not just because clemson's more littered with talent but if you look at the way these games play out a more patient running style will provide you some bigger bigger chunks against nc state the quick hitters against clemson i thought would be a little bit more successful so stick to what you do don't do anything crazy with turnovers and make sure that you feel the punt please because if you do you'll find a lot more hidden yards i promise you how about honorable mention gentlemen to maybe keeping your quarterback upright and safe that being jordan travis obviously with the news on wednesday that chubba purdy has entered the transfer portal they will be without his services ira so i mean we've talked about it i guess just you know if you want to revisit any thoughts in terms of maybe the surprise at that news and what it could possibly mean to florida state here in the immediate future yeah you know the biggest thing is i really think it's just in terms of if something bad happens uh you know just you lose a little bit of a buffer in case you have any you know rash of injuries going down the stretch but i you know i don't think unless you know jordan travis goes down and mckenzie milton goes down that's the only way i think you were going to see chubba purdy i think mckenzie was the number two quarterback even though chubb is the one that went in uh in the umass game so uh i don't think it's a huge impact in terms of uh you can't win these games without him uh but it does it does remove your emergency buffer if anything happens to those top two guys now you got to go to tate rodden maker who hasn't played in the game since last year and uh and and then you don't have any other scholarship quarterbacks after that tom when two guys come in in the same class that being tate rademacher and chubby purdy usually one of those guys ends up leaving so i don't know how surprised you were but what was your reaction from wednesday's news of chubba's transfer and how do you think that could impact florida state here in these next four games yeah i was just i was surprised because you got one month left in the season and if you look at jordan travis and mckenzie milton's recent history i mean you're a couple of plays away from getting some serious time and some serious run you know if if it was in your heart if your chub of purity that you wanted to leave at the end of the season you still have four really good opportunities to put serious you know good film out there to get you to your next landing spot now maybe he's already got a place picked out maybe that's why he decided now was the time i can only speculate on that but for me i think what you're looking at is potentially some serious fallout for this quarterback room for the next year because this now opens the opportunity i saw michael langston report on wednesday that he thinks that florida state definitely is going to dip into the transfer portal for a second quarterback this cycle not another high school recruit but into the transfer portal so if you bring in somebody established that automatically creates friction i would think for jordan travis and the transfer and the spring and aj duffy as long as he signs as he intends to do so early in december he's the next guy up after that in the long term so i think you could be looking at the beginning of something significant before we get to next fall camp we'll see how it all shakes out as for the next month though i really again if you're chubba opportunities may have been knocking in these next few games we'll see if that was an opportunity lost and tate rademaker comes in or if jordan stays healthy and upright as long as you said for the rest of the season because if he does obviously jordan travis gives the knolls the best chance to win the next four games i i do just follow up on that i do think that that's probably the balance that these guys have because you're seeing it around the country now another guy the same day that that chubby went in the portal another quarterback went in the portal and i uh i think one of the guys that had been at lsu so it's just i think there's the balance between yeah you might get a chance to play in that last month or you can take this time to figure out where you're gonna go so you can be your new school by the turn of the semester there's a lot of things that have to happen in terms of paperwork class work and all that stuff to get into a new school so you can participate in spring how important we know how important that is so i think that's the balance is they're trying to figure out where they're going to go over that last month or so college football 21st century it's fun exciting times all right then let's turn our attention back to saturday again 4pm kickoff on acc network number 19 nc state coming to tallahassee to take on three and five florida state five wins might get you to bowl eligibility in this day and age uh three definitely cinches it up man this nc state game you kind of need Predictions to hold serve at home it feels like ira to keep this thing rolling if you do want those precious 15 more practices or 12 more practices you get when bull prep rolls around so saturday your game prediction how do you see it rolling out with a score prediction for us yeah this is weird man usually i really take a very um you know i think i take you know kind of a factual based approach i don't usually go too much on uh just emotions um or punches i don't know for some reason i have a hunch that they're gonna play well saturday uh as i said before i think the emotions are good i think psychologically i think they're in a good place um i do think the point tom brought up earlier about nc state their home and road splits they don't look like the same team i watched that miami game we all watched that miami game where they dropped all those passes they did not look very sharp uh in that game miami won that game but it felt more like nc state lost it so i i just maybe maybe that's in my mind i think florida state's gonna somehow pull it off even though i don't think they're uh in the best place physically i do think they're going to pull it off i got floors say winning this game 20 to 14. nice nice we'll take that we'll take that any win is a win that we like around these parts tom how about you how do you see this one shaking out i'd be thrilled if they hold nc state to 14 points that that would be a statement day for the defense to respond from the physical test uh against clemson the things that we were talking about in segments one and two i don't know here you know i think sometimes it's it's a cliche to say how the first quarter goes is how the game is going to go just look at florida state going up to chapel hill being down 10 to nothing and then running off 35 to 7 and you know running away with that game i'm going to be watching the first quarter very very closely to see how physically engaged the nulls are it's not because of a lack of will it's just you know with what's gone on with the bug for this week with this team we'll see how ready to go they are uh you hear it in my voice i think they'll rally next week for a good game against miami but i think nc state is too much that's a bad matchup coming off of a physical uh rivalry game last week nc state wins the game 27-17 tom you know you're you're supposed to be the lighthouse for us to stay lit and bright and confident for us and that's that's a bit altered a little bit of my my thoughts on the game i just you know to ira's point ira is probably usually always in the right when it comes to looking at these things the the correct way i mean gut wise emotional wise i kind of lean towards i guess tom's sort of thoughts about there's just so much uh you know emotional capital spent in clemson i think it's really tough to get off the mat especially against a team they got a lot to play for me nc state can can still win the atlantic and then they can win this conference and who knows what's going to happen with a playoff picture um i'd say like i think nc state 28-27 so we'll cover we'll we'll get back on at least covering you know so that's that'll hopefully uh you know let us know the brighter days are ahead and i would sacrifice would you all agree with me here we'll sacrifice a loss against nc say if they can beat miami next week oh yeah yeah and i and i definitely i you know all week i've been feeling that that was the better matchup the better opportunity to get a win i don't know what it is man as this week's going on for some reason i just feel like they might pull it out but we'll see and and part of it is because i don't i don't expect nc state to play their best in this game but you know i also uh a few weeks ago i didn't think a team louisville i didn't think louisville would come here and play very well and they did so uh i've certainly been wrong before but right now i'm going with my gut and i think floor state's going to pull it out all right there it is folks uh for ira and tom amazon thanks for watching again don't forget live happy hour friday at corner pocket and grill on appalachia parkway with jeff and corey and then we'll get you ready on tallahassee game day with jeff and tom 9 a.m saturday you don't need to watch college games on espn watch those guys right here on war chan tv and then the post game show taking your phone calls all your social media comments with gene williams and tom lang on warchant tv about 10 15 minutes after the game uh again for ira and thomas mazlin thank you so much for watching this edition of the war chant report