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2016 Florida State

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jimbo Fisher, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida State in 2016, game by game: won vs. No. 11 Ole Miss 45–34; won vs. Charleston Southern 52–8; lost at No. 10 Louisville 20–63; won at South Florida 55–35; lost vs. North Carolina 35–37; won at No. 10 Miami 20–19; won vs. Wake Forest 17–6; lost vs. No. 3 Clemson 34–37; won at NC State 24–20; won vs. Boston College 45–7; won at Syracuse 45–14; won vs. No. 13 Florida 31–13; won vs. No. 6 Michigan 33–32+44−43Won 45–34 vs. No. 11 Ole Miss+11No. 11 Ole MissWon 52–8 vs. Charleston Southern+44Charleston Sout…Lost 20–63 at No. 10 Louisville-43No. 10 LouisvilleWon 55–35 at South Florida+20South FloridaLost 35–37 vs. North Carolina-2North CarolinaWon 20–19 at No. 10 Miami+1No. 10 MiamiWon 17–6 vs. Wake Forest+11Wake ForestLost 34–37 vs. No. 3 Clemson-3No. 3 ClemsonWon 24–20 at NC State+4NC StateWon 45–7 vs. Boston College+38Boston CollegeWon 45–14 at Syracuse+31SyracuseWon 31–13 vs. No. 13 Florida+18No. 13 FloridaWon 33–32 vs. No. 6 Michigan+1No. 6 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vs11Ole MissW 45–⁠3451%
Sep 10vsCharleston SouthernW 52–⁠886%
Sep 17at10LouisvilleL 20–⁠6353%
Sep 24atSouth FloridaW 55–⁠3552%
Oct 1vsNorth CarolinaL 35–⁠3765%
Oct 8at10MiamiW 20–⁠1947%
Oct 15vsWake ForestW 17–⁠680%
Oct 29vs3ClemsonL 34–⁠3743%
Nov 5atNC StateW 24–⁠2064%
Nov 11vsBoston CollegeW 45–⁠784%
Nov 19atSyracuseW 45–⁠1477%
Nov 26vs13FloridaW 31–⁠1364%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs6MichiganOrange BowlW 33–⁠3250%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 33–⁠32 in the Orange Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 78 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 12
  6. Wk 6: 23
  7. Wk 7: 14
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 12
  10. Wk 10: 19
  11. Wk 11: 20
  12. Wk 12: 17
  13. Wk 13: 15
  14. Wk 14: 12
  15. Wk 15: 10
  16. Final: 8

2 consensus All-AmericansDalvin Cook, RB; DeMarcus Walker, DL

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 2
Points
456–⁠325
Coach
Jimbo Fisher
Elo
1739 +75 this season
SP+ rating
24.0 No. 7 of 128; offense No. 5, defense No. 17, special teams No. 56
SRS
17.7 No. 7 of 128 in FBS
Returning
77% of last season’s EPA, No. 38 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 3 roster talent No. 4 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Lawrence Dawsey and Randy Sanders
Defensive coordinator
Charles Kelly
Captains
Dalvin Cook, Roderick Johnson, Sean Maguire, Freddie Stevenson, DeMarcus Walker and Marquez White
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense17th of 128
  • Defense45th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted8th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted31st of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2148%1.2517th of 128
Defense0.0738%1.3045th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.24 off
0.05 def		50% off
37% def		—8th off
31st def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.1own 3018% allowed
Defense3.2own 3219% caused

CORE rating 22.2, 6th of 128 (offense 14.2, defense -7.9).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsDeondre Francois QB3,350 yds
Passing touchdownsDeondre Francois QB20 TD
Rushing yardsDalvin Cook RB1,765 yds
Rushing touchdownsDalvin Cook RB19 TD
Receiving yardsTravis Rudolph WR840 yds
Receiving touchdownsTravis Rudolph WR7 TD
TacklesMatthew Thomas LB77 tkl
SacksDeMarcus Walker DE16 sacks
InterceptionsTarvarus McFadden DB8 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Levonta Taylor CB★★★★★No. 7
Landon Dickerson OT★★★★No. 31
Baveon Johnson OC★★★★No. 43
Brian Burns WDE★★★★No. 46
Malik Henry PRO★★★★No. 49
Shavar Manuel DT★★★★No. 69
Janarius Robinson WDE★★★★No. 85
Dontavious Jackson ILB★★★★No. 90

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.975
Running backs14.00.916
Receivers24.00.941
Offensive line63.70.925
Defensive line44.00.951
Linebackers43.80.916
Defensive backs34.30.946
Athletes and specialists33.00.826
Whole class243.80.921

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 2Dalvin Cook RBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 2DeMarcus Walker DEDenver Broncos
Rd 5Roderick Johnson OTCleveland Browns
Rd 6Marquez White CBDallas Cowboys

Roster 126

The 2016 roster

126 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 57 have a stat line. See the roster

2016 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson7–⁠114–⁠11
Louisville7–⁠19–⁠421
Virginia Tech6–⁠210–⁠416
Florida State5–⁠310–⁠38
Miami5–⁠39–⁠420
North Carolina5–⁠38–⁠5
Pittsburgh5–⁠38–⁠5
Georgia Tech4–⁠49–⁠4
Wake Forest3–⁠57–⁠6
NC State3–⁠57–⁠6
Boston College2–⁠67–⁠6
Syracuse2–⁠64–⁠8
Duke1–⁠74–⁠8
Virginia1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.