2008 Florida State Seminoles College Football Predictions Courtesy of Alex Smart, A Professional College Football Handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are betting football this season, don’t miss Alex’s winning college football picks.

Florida State Seminoles (7-6, 4-4 in 2008, 4th place in ACC Atlantic)
Bobby Bowden and the Florida State Seminoles will try their best to return to ACC supremacy in 2008. A 7-5 season and a trip to the Music City Bowl isn’t what FSU fans have become accustomed to, but if the Noles aren’t careful, it could be another disappointing season for the garnet and gold.

2007 Highlight: Eight games into the season, the Noles found themselves 5-3 with a bowl game not necessarily a lock with games still to be played at Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Florida. Bowden got perhaps his best defensive effort of the season in Chestnut Hill, knocking off the then #2 ranked Eagles 27-17. Even though the Seminoles almost blew a 10-point lead in the 4th, Geno Hayes picked off Matt Ryan with under 2:00 to go and brought it to the house to seal the victory. It was one of three passes the FSU defense intercepted on the night.

2007 Lowlight: Tim Tebow ran roughshod on the Florida State defense, accounting for 352 total yards and five touchdowns to lead the rival Florida Gators to a 45-12 victory in “The Swamp”. The Gators had almost double the yardage of their in-state rivals, and outscored the Noles 21-0 in the 2nd half.

Offensive Outlook: Often-criticized QB Drew Weatherford is back for his senior season, but he probably won’t be taking 100% of the snaps under center in 2008. Christian Ponder will take some snaps this year, as could sophomore D’Vontrey Richardson and true freshman EJ Manuel. All four of these guys better have their life insurance policies paid up, as the offensive line in front of them is stock-piled with nothing but freshmen and sophomores. The bright side is that all of their main backs and receivers return, but do-it-all Preston Parker will be suspended for the first two games of the season.

Defensive Outlook: Coach Bowden has already said he needs to prepare two defensive units, one that will play the first three games of the season, and one for the remainder of the year. Three defensive starters will miss the first three games of the season due to the academic scandal during exams last fall. When they return to the lineup, FSU will once again sport one of the better defenses in the ACC. Derek Nicholson is one of the best linebackers in the country. He leads a group of eight returning starters on ‘D’ looking to improve upon the 22.9 PPG allowed in ’07.

2008 Preview: Thank goodness that the Seminoles open up with games against Western Carolina and Chattanooga, or those suspensions holding over from last year could have really hampered the season. As it is, FSU has a brutal schedule of teams coming into Doak Campbell Stadium in 2008, including Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Clemson, and Florida.

2008 will be a success if… someone takes command of the quarterback position. Weatherford has had three years to take control of the Florida State offense and really has never lived up to the hype. He’ll get every chance in the world to do so again in his senior year, but much like when Xavier Lee was behind him the past few seasons, Ponder is ready to pounce on his position if he can’t get the job done.

Florida State has the talent to beat anyone in the nation, but this team probably isn’t strong enough to really compete in the ACC.

Prediction: 7-5, 3rd place in ACC Atlantic

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