FSU Welcomes Terps To Doak Saturday

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBSMiami.com) – Fresh off a desperately needed victory over Duke, the Florida State Seminoles return to the Doak to take on the collapsing Maryland Terrapins.

Florida State will once again be helmed by junior quarterback E.J. Manuel, who helped lead the Noles to a victory over Duke last Saturday. Manuel has been learning on the job and dealing with injuries in 2011.

Still, Manuel is completing 64 percent of his passes and has thrown 10 touchdowns to six interceptions. Manuel averages 238 yards per game through the air on 27 attempts per game, according to cfbstats.com.

Manuel leads a FSU attacks that averages 35.5 points per game so far in 2011. FSU's offense is ranked 28th in the country in scoring.

The biggest problem for FSU has been the completely non-existent running game. For the year, the Noles are averaging just 111.7 yards per game, which ranks them 101st out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

On the other hand, FSU's passing offense is ranked 12th in the country, averaging better than 311 yards through the air per game.

For Maryland, it's averaging 26.5 points per game in 2011. The passing offense for Maryland has been abysmal after starting out strong against the University of Miami. Maryland is ranked 83rd in the country in passing, averaging just 205.5 yards per game through the air.

Maryland's running game is a little better, ranking 36th in the country and averaging 186.5 yards per game on the ground.

But, Maryland will be running into a very stout defense when it comes to stopping the run. FSU's defense is only giving up 86.8 yards per game in 2011, which ranks them 8th in the country in run defense.

FSU's pass defense is not too shabby either. The Noles are ranked 31st in the country in pass defense, only allowing 197.8 yards per game. Overall, FSU's defense is allowing just 19.8 points per game.

The FSU game kickoff is set for 3:30 and can be seen on ABC.