Done deal :Today 5-star RB Byron Louis  commits full  to Florida State..

Done deal :Today 5-star RB Byron Louis  commits full  to Florida State..

The past is in the past and Florida State is fully dialed in on the second half of the season with six games remaining. Following a well-timed BYE week, the Seminoles return to action on Friday night for the first challenge of a two-game road trip in a conference matchup against the Duke Blue Devils. FSU has never been defeated on the football field by Duke, holding a 22-0 all-time record. With that being said, streaks are made to be broken.

The Blue Devils are off to a 5-1 start that includes a double overtime victory over Northwestern and a crazy comeback against North Carolina. Duke’s lone loss to this point under first-year head coach Manny Diaz came on the road to Georgia Tech. The team actually held the lead entering the fourth quarter but was outscored 14-0 in the final frame by the Yellow Jackets.

Regardless, Duke has been playing quality football this season. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy has done enough to manage games on offense, throwing 14 touchdowns to five interceptions. The Blue Devils are a strong group defensively as just one opponent has scored more than 21 points against them through six games. They average 9.7 tackles for loss and three sacks per game.

The second half of the season has arrived and at this point, it’s time for Florida State to focus on the future while trying to steal a few of the final six games. The youth movement is continuing leading up to the matchup against Duke as the Seminoles have 13 freshmen or sophomores listed as starters on the two deep on offense or defense. Part of that number is inflated due to FSU having co-starters at multiple positions but it’s a sizable increase from the five underclassmen who were regarded as starters prior to the season opener in Ireland.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Brock Glenn provided an evident spark in the loss to Clemson earlier this month. He’ll need the cast of supporting characters around him to step up if the Seminoles are going to have a chance to take down Duke on the road. FSU has the worst rushing attack in the FBS, the highest drop rate in the P4, and is set to start its sixth different offensive line combination in seven games. That’s not exactly how you set up a young signal-caller, or any player for that matter, for success.