Latest / FSU Football: Doak Talk / UVA Insider Breaks Down FSU vs. Virginia | Is FSU’s Season on LIFE SUPPORT?

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UVA Insider Breaks Down FSU vs. Virginia | Is FSU’s Season on LIFE SUPPORT? · FSU Football: Doak Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, how's it going? It's C.J.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Wilson here with Dope Talk. We have another episode of
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Behind Enemy Lines as FSU gets into ACC play with
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: the game against the Virginia Cavaliers. I have a friend
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: of the show, Greg Medea, UVA beat writer for the
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Charlottesville Daily Press.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Daily Progress. My apologies. Greg, how's it going?
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: C.J., I'm doing well. It's good to be back on
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: the show. Good to see you.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, most definitely.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: You were definitely a fan favorite last year with the
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: information that you gave regarding the Virginia game going into
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: that Friday night. So it was only right that I
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: bring you back on and discuss this year's version of
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Virginia Cavalier. So before we get started, do some house cleaning.
• 0:36
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  Speaker 2: is the website and email hello at clickspin.com all right
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: greg let's jump right into it so like i said
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: so it's year five of the tony elliott era 11
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: wins last year right three and one currently what are
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: the vibes around the program right now because naturally when
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: you have a head coach that's successful you hear rumors
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: about possibly going here going there right so I guess
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: my question is, how was that noise being handled within
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: the outside noise? How was the outside noise being handled
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: within the facility, within the program of Virginia?
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, first off, CJ, it was such an important game
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: for them, that Florida State game last year. I think
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: it was one that kind of started to push the
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: program in the right direction. And Tony Elliott has even
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: said that was the first real proof of concept for him.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: that he'd been preaching to his players and talking to
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: his players about And then they just carried that, right?
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: They rode the momentum of that win through the rest
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: of their 2025 season, right? They won at Louisville the
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: following week. They strung together, I think, seven wins in
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: a row, if I'm remembering correctly. And then ended up,
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: you know, playing in the ACC championship game and went
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: to the Gator Bowl and had a really, really good season.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: First time ever the program won 11 games. And then
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: they've tried to, you know, move that forward into this year, right?
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: They brought back a lot of really good players from
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: that team. They invested and paid their offensive line first
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: and foremost. Those guys, right, it's one of the oldest
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: old lines in college football in terms of career starts.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: It is the oldest old line in college football, two
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: seventh-year starters, two sixth-year starters, had a fifth-year starter on
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: the offensive front. That's really been how they built the team.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: From a culture standpoint, those are guys who've been in
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: the program, who understand what Virginia's all about. Same thing
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: with the D-line, right? They're old on the defensive front, too.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: And then they've used the players who've been in their program,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: you know, that's Noah Josie, Mikael Boley up front, and
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: Xavier Brown, the running back, who scored a touchdown in
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: that game against Florida State last year. Cam Robinson, the linebacker,
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: players like that. who've contributed and been part of success
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: to keep it going with the transfers that they've brought in.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: They've been very selective on the transfers they bring in,
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: and they've had to have those guys fit the mold.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I like it. I like it. With that being said,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: you've got a transfer quarterback in Bro.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Pribolo who's 11 touchdowns and just one interception this year.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: FSU's defensive coordinator pretty much said he thinks he's Tebow-esque
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: in certain situations.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Which was pretty interesting in my opinion.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Just talk about what Bo brings to the table, as
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: you know, being the first time starter with Virginia coming
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: in for the transfer point.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I saw that comment Tony White made. I was
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: very intrigued by that too. And I did understand where
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: he was coming from in a sense. I think the
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: question was like, is he like Chandler Morris at all
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: from last year? And he's different, right? He can still
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: run for 100 yards, but he's not that That quick,
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: shake-and-bake type runner that Morris, the skills that Morris had, right?
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: He's a bigger, more physical runner. And you see that sometimes, right?
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Virginia will run quarterback power with him, with Bo Pribula.
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: And I think he's fitting well at UVA. At Missouri
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: last year, Pribula was a very run-heavy offense. That's part
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: of his game, of course. But they really leaned on
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: their star running back. season ago at Missouri in Ahmaud Hardy.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: But at Virginia, Pribul is being asked to throw it
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: a little bit more than he had been at Mizzou.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: And he's doing really well, right? He's like fourth in
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: the country in completion percentage. He's really throwing the ball
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: with accuracy. And I think that's something Virginia saw on tape.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: And Bo was just maybe not asked to do a
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: ton of it at Missouri. They've done really well off
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: play action. They've gotten some shots over the top, and
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: I think you'll see some of that on Saturday if
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: Virginia can get its run game established. They'll try to
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: throw the ball over the top of Florida State's defense.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Perbula can do that, and they do have some speed
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: on the outside. And Deshaun Martin, a wide receiver, a
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: transfer from Kent State. Rico Flores, they got back last week.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: He's a transfer from UCLA. So they feel like they
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: have potential. They've gotten the passing game going a little bit.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: They're built to run the football. But Bo is good
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: enough as a thrower where they can make them play
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: as a passing game.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Appreciate that, Greg. And my apologies, Pribula, correct?
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: Yep, yep, Pribula, yep.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Pribula, my apologies, Bo. Pribula, my apologies, Bo. You spoke
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: about the receiver room a little bit.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: And I want to transition to, which I think you
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: kind of hinted on as well, too, with the offensive
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: line being the veteran group.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: The strength of the offense, my opinion, is the running game.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: You guys have Middlebrook, Davis, and Brown as far as
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: a trio of running backs that are, to be honest
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: with you, just looking at some of the games, you
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: can't really tell who's the starter, so to speak.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like going with the hot hand, right?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about the running back room, the running
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: game in total with the offensive line collectively and what
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: they bring to the table to try to make things tough.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Because remember last year– Virginia got things rolling with the
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: running game against Florida State and didn't stop being low back,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: and that was pretty much the game right there, not
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: being able to stop the running back, so Virginia.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Jaquel Middlebrook's the starter. He's kind of the guy
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: they thought would step in and be like Jamari Taylor,
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: the really good running back from last year who was
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: a 1,000-yard rusher. I don't know if Middlebrook is quite
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: to that level, but he's a good player. and very,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: very serviceable, can do a lot of different things. Maybe
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: not really great at anything, but can do a lot well.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: Xavier Brown is explosive. He's back off of the ACL injury.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: He suffered an ACL injury a couple weeks after the
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Florida State game last year. He looks good. He had
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: a long 47-yard touchdown run against West Virginia. He had
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: a 45-yard touchdown catch against NC State. He looks like
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: he's back to full go, full speed. They really like
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: what they're seeing from Xavier Brown. He's averaging 6.1 yards
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  Speaker 3: per run. That group of backs, they like to keep
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: them fresh, right? They want to be third, fourth quarter,
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: still with the ability to pound the ball and run
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: behind that big offensive line because that's the plan. They
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: want to get behind Boley and Josie and McKeelan Thomas
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: and just push forward. Monroe Mills, the right tackle, is
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: PFF's highest graded. right tackle in the country. I think Josie,
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: or offensive tackle in the country, I think Josie is
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: like the eighth highest graded guard. Boley's the 14th highest
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  Speaker 3: graded tackle. So they're playing. They're living up to the billing.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Let's transition over to the defensive side because this offense
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: is starting to give me a little PTSD from last year.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Let's move on to the defensive side of the ball
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: and what the defensive line means. Of course, you have
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Forrest White and just the run game in general. The
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: defensive line, the linebackers, First question I want to ask
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: is Cam Robinson, is he good to go for this game?
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Because I know he was, I think, the first game,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: if I'm not mistaken, he got banged up. We spoke
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: last about him being one of the best players on
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: the team.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so he missed the first game because he had
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: an ACL injury last year, suffered it in November last year,
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: and he didn't return this year until game two. So
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: that's where Cam Robinson is at. He's kind of getting re-acclimated, re-established,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: but looks good. Looks really, really good. Yeah, he looks really,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: really good, CJ. I've been, you know, he's one of
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: those players that can change the game at any singular moment, right?
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: He's that good, right? He had to pick six at
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: Cal last year, tackle against Washington State for a game-winning safety. Like,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: how often do you see that? Pick six against Louisville.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: He's reacclimating. He's making his tackles. I think Virginia's been
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: a little conservative in and sending him on blitzes and
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: doing some different things that they've done in the past
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: with him just because he's gotten healthy way faster than
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: everybody expected. So maybe you see a little more as
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: the season goes on. So that's kind of where Cam
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Robinson is at.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about the secondary because, of course, you have
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: a tall task in trying to stop a Deuce Robinson,
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: Makai Danzy, and that type of deal. You have Brandon
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Hillman and Jacoby Henderson, some two guys that early in
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: the season for Virginia have stood out to me.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Secondary and the tax they have in matching up against
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: a player like a Deuce.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a tall task. It's funny. I wrote about
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: it a little bit in today's paper. The challenge that
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: they have with Deuce Robinson and Deuce and Tony Elliott
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: go back. Tony Elliott was recruiting Deuce Robinson when Elliott
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: was at Clemson and then tried to get him again
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: when he got to Virginia. Obviously, Deuce went to USC
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: and then transferred to Florida State. So they have some
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: serious knowledge of Deuce Robinson's potential. They saw it firsthand
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: last year in Charlottesville. Heck, if he doesn't bobble that
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: catch in the end zone in the second overtime, right,
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: maybe Florida State walks out of Charlottesville with a win. So...
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: So they really respect Deuce Robinson. I think you'll see
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Emilio Agard, the cornerback, he's a transfer from Wisconsin, matched
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: up against Robinson. At Wisconsin last year, he drew some
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: tough assignments, right? Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State and some
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: other really good receivers, kids at Oregon, kids at Indiana
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: last year for Agard. This is that type of matchup
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: for him, but maybe even tougher because of Robinson's size.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I talked to Robinson this week. He's got great admiration,
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: appreciation for Virginia's defense, great respect for it. So I
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: think it's going to be a fantastic matchup. What Virginia
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: has to be concerned about is not only stopping him,
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: but stopping all the other pass catchers Florida State has.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: My goodness, it's an embarrassment of riches with Danzy and Boggs.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: Holy cow. So I wonder, because Virginia ranks fifth in
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: the country in pass defense, giving up like 130 passing
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: yards per game, but this will be the first real
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Real test for UVA.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: That's a really interesting step. Like you said, maybe the
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: first real test. I think it'll probably depend on Ashton
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Daniels and what type of game he come out with
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: from a quarterback standpoint. All right, Greg, let's get down
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: to nitty-gritty. Give me some of your do's and don'ts
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: for Virginia going into this game. We're going to wrap
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: up with a score prediction if you got one.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, CJ, I'll start with this. I think Virginia's got
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: to start fast and try to take that dope Campbell
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: Stadium crowd out of it. That, to me, is a
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: big key. Virginia has scored on each of its opening
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: drives the last three games. So they've done that. They've
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: started well. They've had a lead, a first lead in
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: each of the first four games of the season. So
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: it's been in their character. But now you've got to
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: go do it on the road, right? This is their
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: first true road game. The game against West Virginia was
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: a neutral site game in Charlotte. To me, this has
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: to be you start quick to try to take the
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: crowd out of it. Because I think if Florida State
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: gets going, those Seminoles fans will be– You're rooting hard
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: for them to get some revenge after last year's loss
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: in Charlottesville. I think the other thing, too, is neutralize
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: the quarterback run game the best they can because West
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Virginia's Michael Hawkins ran all over them. I don't know
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: if you saw the highlights, but every time he touched
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: the ball, it seemed like there was lots of space.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: So that was a big problem. And I think Ashton Daniels,
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: he's not as fast as Hawkins, but, gosh, he can
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: run too. He's got four rushing touchdowns this season, and
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: I know Virginia will be keying on him. So I
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: think those are two really, really important things for UVA.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I agree with you as far as
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: starting fast, right?
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: And just being completely honest, where the fan base is
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: right now, if Virginia does kind of start fast, it
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: would definitely ball in their favor because the crowd at
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Dote Camel Stadium would definitely be To say the least,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: you might hear a few boos, just to be completely
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: honest with you. But on the flip end, if Florida
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: State starts fast, then you will actually get to see
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: that home field advantage since that third. And I think
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: it kind of played to last year. Virginia jumped on
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Florida State early, and that pretty much dictated the rest
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: of the game. So I think I agree there. I'm
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: going to be a homer, and I'm going to say
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: 27-24 Florida State, even though I think it could go
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: the other way. I'm going to be a homer and
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: say 27-24.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it wouldn't shock me if Florida State won this game.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: I think Florida State really has got some good athletes,
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: and I think they've done some nice things this year, right?
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: Maybe that SMU game's a little different if a couple
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: plays here or there are different. So I think it
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: could go Florida State's way, but... With Virginia, I think
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: the way they can run the ball, especially if the
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: weather gets nasty, which Saturday's forecast does not look good.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: If the weather gets nasty, that's Virginia's M.O., right? Run
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: the football, try to plow ahead. I think Virginia would
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: be okay with an ugly, kind of dirty game. I'll
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: go Virginia 31-24.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: 31-24. I like it. Sounds good.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: And a good point as far as whether they could
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: play a big factor. Greg, appreciate you for joining us.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Let the people know where they can find you at.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Yes, CJ.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: You can find all my work at The Daily Progress
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: and find me on Twitter at Greg Medea.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: All right. That's Greg. And make sure you guys hit
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: that like and subscribe channel. This is Dope Talk. Have
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: you covered for the Virginia game? Appreciate you guys for
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: joining us.