Florida State’s Defensive Struggles Against Georgia Tech’s Counter Scheme
The Florida State defense found itself consistently outmaneuvered by a single play on Saturday afternoon: counter. Georgia Tech employed various forms of counter, but no matter the variation, it proved to be the Seminoles' kryptonite throughout the game. The most basic version, the GY counter, which involves a pulling guard and tight end, consistently exploited Florida State's defensive weaknesses. FSU’s base alignment often left them outnumbered in the box, making it nearly impossible to defend the counter without significant support from the safeties.
Related Content: A Tough Day for Florida State’s Defense: Key Plays That Broke the Seminoles Against Georgia Tech
In theory, when playing out of a 2-high shell, FSU's run fits should resemble the diagram below. However, on Saturday, these fits rarely materialized as intended.
Let’s break down some key plays from the game:
Q1 | 1st & 10 | 8:53
On this play, the defensive end does a decent job spilling the guard, who slips. The linebacker follows by spilling the Y (tight end), but the safety arrives late on the fill and misses the tackle. The safeties' delayed reactions were a recurring issue throughout the game, which is particularly puzzling given Georgia Tech's almost non-existent passing threat.
Q2 | 2nd & 4 | 9:15
Here, Georgia Tech aligns in a Trips FIB (Formation into the Boundary) and motions their tight end into the backfield on "escort motion," setting up counter with the pulling guard. FSU is essentially in a bear front, but the Mike linebacker fails to realign to the center during the motion, compromising the run fit. The nose tackle stunts strong while the end reduces, leaving both in the B gap—a misalignment that spells trouble. The strong-side linebacker (#9) displays poor recognition and fails to squeeze, getting easily kicked out by the pulling guard. The late pre-snap adjustment by the Mike allows the tight end to reach the play side safety, leaving no free hitters, resulting in a big gain. Cody Alexander pointed out on X (Twitter) that the backside defender must be ready to fold with the back away, allowing the linebacker to scrape over the top without worrying about the A gap.
Q2 | 2nd & 10 | 8:21
This play exemplifies proper run fits, but the safety’s fill is, once again, too late. It’s perplexing that FSU opted to play a 2-high shell, especially at such depth, against a team with little vertical threat. While they may have been in Cover 3 here (hard to tell on run), the safety needed to come down quicker against quarterback counter.
Q2 | 2nd & 6 | 5:38
This play showcases another poor fit by the safety, who takes the wrong angle despite knowing the linebacker will spill the puller. Additionally, the defensive end (#11) fails to recognize the counter and gets too far upfield. He needs to spill or dent the puller as close to the down block as possible to disrupt the play.
Q3 | 1st & 10 | 15:00
At the start of the third quarter, FSU brings weak-side safety pressure, which typically signals the defensive end should stunt to the B gap. However, on a down block, the end shouldn’t stunt into the wash but should instead come off the down block's butt flat, closing the B gap and violently spilling any puller. Unfortunately, the defensive end gets caught in the wash, leaving FSU a man short on the counter, with the backside linebacker unable to make it over the top due to the distraction of the jet motion. Another big gain for the Yellow Jackets.
Q3 | 1st & 10 | 14:24
This might be one of FSU’s best counter fits of the night. The defensive end and linebacker both spill the play, and the safety aggressively fills the gap for the tackle.
Q3 | 1st & 10 | 10:39
DJ Lundy, the Mike backer, (#10) executes a "run-through" perfectly on this play, leading to a tackle for loss (TFL). While this technique isn’t applicable on every play, it can be highly effective when executed correctly.
Q3 | 2nd & 3 | 2:58
Late in the third quarter, FSU’s defense does everything right but fails to recover a crucial fumble, leading to a drive that ends with a Georgia Tech touchdown.
Q4 | 2nd & 7 | 2:00
On the final counter of the night, with two minutes left and no threat of a pass from Georgia Tech, FSU once again plays a six-man box against 11 personnel, leaving them short a man on counter. The defensive play call is questionable, to say the least, given that it was clear to everyone watching that the counter was coming.
Conclusion
Georgia Tech entered Saturday’s game with a well-crafted game plan. Aware that they couldn't beat Florida State through the air, they used shifts and motions to out-leverage the Seminoles at the point of attack, combined with a plus-one quarterback run game. Florida State struggled all night to get enough defenders to the ball on counter, and when they did, they often failed to secure the tackle. The Seminoles don’t have much time to address these issues as they prepare to face Boston College, a team likely to run their quarterback frequently in their upcoming Labor Day matchup.