Joshua Farmer had 16 tackles and two sacks coming into 2023, his third season at Florida State.

He was viewed as a big piece of the defensive tackle group, although Farmer was often mentioned lower on a list that also includes Fabien Lovett, Malcolm Ray and Dennis Briggs Jr. along with transfers Braden Fiske and Darrell Jackson. And he was viewed as a rotational part of the line. Just don’t use the word “rotational” around Farmer.

“I know I got better and I proved it Sunday night,” Farmer said. “I proved it to everybody over these next couple weeks that I’m a guy. A lot of people just looked at me as a nice rotational piece. But I know I’m a guy. That was the game to do it. I just have to keep it going over these next couple weeks.”

The word “rotational” appears to be demeaning in Farmer’s viewpoint, even though FSU and the majority of college football rotates its interior defensive linemen. Maybe now, though, Farmer can be viewed as an impactful part of FSU’s depth at defensive tackle?

Farmer had three tackles and a sack in his first college start, FSU’s 45-24 win over LSU on Sunday night. He was among the defensive linemen on the field for the game-opening drive, a tone-setting fourth-and-goal sack by DJ Lundy.

“I forgot who I was in with,” Farmer recalled. “I just looked next to him and I said, ‘They’re not getting in here.’ It was a want to.”

Farmer has shown plenty of want to in his FSU career, arriving as a 240-pound defensive end who quickly went into the strength and conditioning program to follow the coaches’ intentions of seeing him pack on weight and becoming a defensive tackle. He began this season at 311 pounds and has gradually improved, learning from defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins and earning more playing time in the 2023 opener.

On Sunday, Farmer had one of FSU’s four sacks along with Lundy, Briggs, Shyheim Brown and Kalen DeLoach (who shared a sack on a later fourth-down stop).

“He’s showing it for me,” FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “I trust him. He’s one of our better players in the interior. It’s important to have him out there. It was good to see him get a sack. Josh, he’s an improved player.”

Farmer is physical and quick off the ball. He may indeed be just beginning to show what he can offer as he begins his redshirt sophomore season. Farmer recalled an LSU offensive lineman who looked at FSU’s defensive linemen and said, “Man, you are good up front.”

Farmer smiled.

“We got them right where we want them,” Farmer said. “You don’t tell me that. I’m going to impose my will on you all game.”

FSU did, especially in the second half in limiting LSU to fewer than 10 rushing yards after halftime, forcing a Jayden Daniels interception (when a receiver slipped) and recording a third fourth-down stop. What the Seminoles showed is that, even without Jackson, who was watching and encouraging from the sideline in Orlando, the defense is capable of making stops. And the defensive line is as good as projected. Regardless of who is on the field.

“Everybody on the field is an alpha male,” Farmer said. “Everybody got that dog in them. If you are on the field, you are a starter. That’s what we said: If you are on the field, you are a starter.”

Farmer indeed was starting. And he looks like a “guy” up front for the Seminoles.

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