Virginia's Mendenhall impressed by Akers, Florida State offense

Even still, Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall said his squad is well aware of the challenge that awaits when the Seminoles step on the field Saturday night in Charlottesville.

"If Boise State is 18th or 17th or 20th best team, I'm not sure how when you lose to a team like that that all of a sudden means that you're down," Mendenhall said at his Monday press conference, when asked about the state of the FSU program. "So I don't see anything on film that says they're down."

Some of that is coach-speak, sure. But Mendenhall did seem genuinely impressed with the Florida State offense through two games, and he said it's going to be a tough task to slow down the Seminoles.

Especially junior running back Cam Akers, who is coming off a career-high 193 yards rushing in the win over the Warhawks on Saturday night.

"When I mention the speed and the tempo of playing Florida State, I think you have to put it in two different categories," Mendenhall said. "It's the number of plays they run and how fast they run them. But their skill players in particular, from an exceptional running back to a fleet of receivers — on any given play, they can go the whole way. And the number of balls that go down field — I'm not sure I've seen as many in teams that I've prepared for.