Florida State is the worst Power Four team in the country when it comes to catching the football. The Seminoles have a Drop Rate of 10.5 percent on catchable targets per TruMedia, which ranks 132nd nationally behind only UConn and Air Force.
No team nationally has dropped the ball more than FSU, with the Seminoles leading the country with 22 drops accounting for a minimum of 290 passing yards.
FSU was credited with three drops on Friday at Duke as they fell to 1-6 on the season, all three of them extremely costly in their own right.
First came a drop on a tight-window intermediate throw from Brock Glenn to transfer Malik Benson. A catch could’ve set him off to the races. Instead, 3rd-and-long emerged and Glenn threw a pick-six on a deep out in which his target (transfer Jalen Brown) appeared to drift and not come back to the ball. It was a throw that didn’t Glenn didn’t seem capable of hitting consistently and it was probably an ill-advised choice, but he didn’t get help from his receivers on the play before and during the play. Glenn would have a turnover on his next two plays as Duke scored 17 points directly or indirectly off of the inexplicable bundle of giveaways.
FSU subbed in true freshman Luke Kromenhoek for Glenn after the sequence. The rookie stood tall in the pocket and delivered a dime downfield to fifth-year senior Kentron Poiter, who wasn’t able to haul in the ball in the end-zone.
And then with the first-half winding down, Kromenhoek was clobbered as he threw the ball, but there was enough air under it for former five-star Hykeem Williams to make a play on it. He short-armed the pass and it hit the ground. FSU staffer and former Seminole DB Corey Fuller could be seen shouting “catch the ball” as he emerged from the sideline scrum on the broadcast.
“It does change the game, those are opportunities that you have to go and make them,” coach Mike Norvell said after the 23-16 defeat in Durham, FSU’s first loss to Duke in 23 tries. “Especially going against this defense and one that brings that much pressure. Playing quarterback against that defense, it presents issues. And when you’re on rhythm, you’re on time, you’ve got to go be what I believe these guys are and you’ve got to make those plays in the moment.”
Those three first-half drops all directly impacted scoring opportunities in some way or another.
The Seminoles have struggled in every aspect of the offense in cleanly catching the ball, with tight ends and running backs being major parts of drops this season.
But the problem catching the ball appears to be particularly systemic, transcending just this season. FSU is 112th nationally in Drop Rate since 2020 (6.4 percent), with WR targets ranking 89th (5.9%), TE targets ranking 97th (6.7 percent), and RB targets ranking 95th (7.7%) at their respective position groups in that span.
Basically, it’s been a widespread problem through the duration of Norvell’s time in Tallahassee.
Norvell, when asked if the drops on Friday were more so due to technique or concentration, or both, said it’s “probably a little bit of both.”
“A few of them, focus, the ball is right there on you. Right in front of you, hands are together, you’ve got to just finish the play,” Norvell said. “…We’re drilling it, working it. I think there’s, probably, some guys some mental part of it, they’ve got to be able to work through it and trust the techniques and fundamentals to have an opportunity to go make a play. Obviously it’s opening doors for other guys to go and impact and play, because we’ve got to have better.”
