10/26/2023 football Edit

FSU running backs flashing their versatility, depth entering final stretch

Lawrance Toafili has played in various roles, from backfield to slot receiver to special teams. (Ben Hofer)

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

Of Florida State's four touchdowns in last week's 38-20 win over Duke, three of them came from running backs.

Three FSU backs reached the end zone in the win. Caziah Holmes got the scoring started on a screen-pass touchdown, Lawrance Toafili all but iced the game with another screen he caught and took for a touchdown and Rodney Hill put an exclamation mark on the victory with his touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Notably missing from this list was starting running back Trey Benson. Benson managed just 24 yards of offense in the Duke win (26 rushing yards, -2 receiving yards) and the Seminoles' running backs still combined for 135 yards of offense (90 rushing yards, 45 receiving yards) and three touchdowns against a challenging Duke defense.

Throughout Mike Norvell's FSU tenure, he's wanted to build a deep and versatile running back room that doesn't rely on any single player too heavily. If Holmes is now a regular contributor for the Seminoles as he was last week, that would make FSU's running back rotation four deep, as deep as it has consistently been in Norvell's tenure.

"It just brings so many different things to the table," Toafili said of FSU's running back room. "Everybody has their own strengths and we're able to use their strengths in different ways. I feel like it's a lot of stuff that a defense has to defend."

No one exemplifies that versatility Norvell is looking for more than Toafili. Benson may be the workhorse with 75 carries so far this season — 40 more than Toafili and the rest of the FSU running backs — but no one wears more hats than Toafili, now in his fourth season with the program after a high school career at St. Petersburg (Fla.) Pinellas Park.

So far this season, Toafili has played 141 snaps in the backfield, 36 snaps in the slot, 12 snaps as an outside wide receiver, two snaps on the kick return team, one snap on the punt coverage team and 12 snaps on the punt return team as a pressurer.

"I'm a guy that just wants to help the team win. I'll contribute however I can," Toafili said. "If me being in the slot or the backfield, on punt pressure, wherever I can help them, I'm ready to step up."

Saturday's win over Duke was the third straight game that Toafili scored a touchdown. It was his first receiving touchdown of the season after he had a 28-yard rushing touchdown vs. Virginia Tech, where he surfed over a defender into the end zone and a 50-yard touchdown run vs. Syracuse.

In seven games this season, Toafili has 393 offensive yards (251 rushing and 142 receiving). His 7.17 yards per carry is the second-highest average among ACC running backs (14th in FBS) and his 142 receiving yards are 37th most nationally among running backs this season.

"How do you describe him? A playmaker, whatever you ask him to do..." Norvell said. "You see the physical development in his body. He's been great throughout his career in space and this and that. But you see the total package really starting to emerge. And whether it's big runs in the run game, whether it's catches out of the backfield, lining up at receiver, whatever he's asked to do he's been really, really good at kind of embracing his versatility."

Added FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, "LT is the Steady Eddie of this offense. He’s been a cornerstone of that room because the room has changed and he’s always been a constant in it."

As for Holmes, his touchdown on FSU's third drive of the game with Duke was a major milestone for the Titusville, Fla., native.

After spending last season as a scout-team player after joining the Seminoles in August as a Penn State transfer, Holmes had his sights set on breaking into FSU's rotation this season. That has proven difficult with FSU returning Benson and Toafili and Hill entering his second season with the program.

However, he managed to break into the rotation early in the Duke game after scoring his first career FSU touchdown in garbage time of the Seminoles' Week 2 win over Southern Miss. Atkins credited this to the work Holmes has been putting in on learning all aspects of FSU's offense.

"We're not having these specialized plays where we say we're going to call this and you're going to be in. You've got to know what to do if the play is called and what you're required to do..." Atkins said. "As (Caziah is) growing in that and showing improvement, he's earning those reps the same way as Rodney, the same way as all of them. You've got to be able to go in there and the play that is called in, you've got to be able to execute it no matter what the situation...As he's committed to the growth and the process of it, he's starting to see the dividends of his hard work."

That balancing act of distributing running back reps has helped a number of players further down the depth chart have success this season. Three FSU running backs have 30-plus carries this season and five have four or more. No FSU running back has had more than 14 carries in a game this season.

That rotation keeps each of FSU's backs fresh over the course of a game. It also could pay dividends of keeping them fresh over the course of a season, something that is more widely discussed on defense but certainly could apply in the backfield.

"If you come to Florida State, you're going to have to get used to it. You're not going to come out and be a superstar when you first get here," Hill said. "You've got to build up. Stuff like that, it's pretty good, it's cool with me."

However the reps are divided this weekend, the opportunity could be there for FSU's run game to have success against a Wake Forest defense that allowed Georgia Tech and Clemson to each run for over 150 yards and over 4.9 yards per carry in consecutive weeks early this season.