How it started, how it's going: FSU rebuilds depleted WR corps
Shortly after he was hired last December, Florida State football coach Mike Norvell scored a major win when talented wide receiver Tamorrion Terry announced he was coming back for another year.
It ended up being much ado about nothing. Terry was not much of a factor for the Seminoles in 2020, and by the end of the season, FSU was were leaning heavily on running backs to run routes for a depleted receiver group.
In the third installment of our "How it started ... how it's going" series, we take an in-depth look at how Florida State's wide receiver position has evolved in the 12 months.
Previous installments: Quarterbacks | Running backs |
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How it started
Florida State didn't have the deepest wide receiver rotation in 2019, but the Seminoles did have at least a few dangerous weapons. Four receivers caught at least 20 passes that season, including Terry, who led the way with 60 receptions and nine touchdowns. And all four of those receivers could have come back in 2020 had they chosen to do so.
Tre'Shaun Harrison, who caught 27 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns, was out the door shortly after Norvell was hired. Harrison, a former four-star prospect from Seattle who was recruited to FSU by former coach Willie Taggart and former recruiting coordinator David Kelly, entered the transfer portal in mid-December and enrolled at Oregon State a month later.
The Seminoles' best two receivers in '19, of course, were Terry and D.J. Matthews.
Those two combined to record 96 of the receiving corps' 191 catches in 2019 -- that's slightly more than 50 percent -- and 12 of the 18 touchdowns; that's 67 percent of the scores. Together, they were expected to give FSU one of the ACC's best one-two punches at receiver in 2020.
That, of course, never happened.
Matthews "opted out" of the 2020 season during preseason camp, later entered the transfer portal and has signed with Indiana. Terry, who was a preseason All-ACC first-team selection, battled through an early season injury, had a couple of dust-ups with the coaching staff and eventually left the team midway through the season.
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