2018 FSU2017 FOOTBALL FSU FOOTBALL | GM. |4 VS. | N. ALABAMA ILLINOIS Game 4 - Northern Illinois FLORIDA STATE NORTHERN ILLINOIS Sept. 22, 2018 | Tallahassee, Fla. Doak Campbell Stadium (79,560) ESPNU | 3:30 p.m. 1-2 VS 1-2 0-2 ACC 1-0 MAC STAT LEADERS Head Coach Head Coach FSU NIU Willie Taggart (Western Kentucky '98) Rod Carey (Indiana ‘93) RUSHING Career Record: 48-52 (.480) | 9th Year Career Record: 45-26 (.634) | 6th Year Record at FSU: 1-2 (.333) | 1st Year Record at NIU: 45-26 (.634) | 6th Year #3 CAM AKERS #22 TRE HARBISON 38-210 | 0 TD 32-228 | 0 TD RADIO | SIRIUS: 111 | XM: 201 5.5 ypr | 70.0 ypg 7.1 ypr | 76.0 ypg TELEVISION | ESPNU PBP: Mark Neely PBP: Gene Deckerhoff MEDIA COVERAGE Analyst: John Congemi Analyst: William Floyd PASSING Sidelines: Edward Aschoff Sidelines: Tom Block #12 DEONDRE FRANCOIS #15 MARCUS CHILDERS 71-117-731 | 3 TD 43-76-325 | 4 TD FSU RETURNS HOME TO FACE NORTHERN ILLINOIS 60.7 comp. pct. | 243.7 ypg 56.6 comp. pct. | 108.3 ypg » Florida State returns to Tallahassee to host Northern Illinois. This week’s game marks the third home game among FSU’s first four games before the Seminoles go nearly a month before their next home game. RECEIVING » Florida State and Northern Illinois are meeting for the second time in their history. The first matchup came in the #8 NYQWAN MURRAY #9 JAUAN WESLEY Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2013, a game the 12th-ranked Seminoles won 31-10 over No. 15 NIU. 14-146 | 0 TD 14-124 | 1 TD 10.4 ypc | 48.7 ypg 8.9 ypc | 41.3 ypg » Since joining the ACC in 1992, Florida State is 73-23-1 (.758) in regular season non-conference games, including a record of 48-9-1 (.836) inside Doak Campbell Stadium. TACKLES » The Seminoles have won 14 straight non-conference home games, the 3rd-longest active streak in the ACC. FSU’s streak, which began in the 2013 national championship season, trails only Clemson’s 18 straight and Miami’s 17 #23 HAMSAH NASIRILDEEN #48 ANTONIO JONES-DAVIS straight wins in non-conference home games. Miami’s streak does not include its loss in the 2017 Orange Bowl 28 tackles | 19 solo 28 tackles | 14 solo played at the Hurricanes’ Hard Rock Stadium. 9.3 tpg | 1 QBH 9.3 tpg | 2 PBU » Willie Taggart is 1-0 in his career against Northern Illinois. He led South Florida to a 48-17 home victory over the Huskies on Sept. 10, 2016. 2018 SCHEDULE » In their win vs. Samford, the Seminoles forced five turnovers courtesy of four interceptions and one fumble recovery. The five turnovers were the most forced by FSU since forcing seven in a win at Wake Forest in 2013, and Date Opponent Time/Result the four interceptions were the most since a win vs. Idaho in 2013. The four interceptions also tied for the most by Sept. 3 No. 20 VIRGINIA TECH* L, 3-24 a Willie Taggart-coached team, while the five total turnovers tied for the third-highest total of Taggart’s career. Sept. 8 SAMFORD W, 36-26 Sept. 15 at Syracuse* L, 7-30 » Florida State completed 31 passes, all by Deondre Francois, in the win against Samford. The total was the highest Sept. 22 NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3:30 PM (ESPNU) by a Willie Taggart-coached team and tied for the 13th-highest individual single-game total in FSU history. Sept. 29 at Louisville* 3:30 PM (ESPN2/U) Oct. 6 at No. 21 Miami* TBA » Despite an average age of only 46.2 years old when the 2018 season began Sept. 3, Florida State's 11 full-time Oct. 20 WAKE FOREST* TBA coaches entered the 2018 season with 224 years of combined coaching experience and collectively have experience Oct. 27 No. 3 CLEMSON* TBA in every Power 5 conference. Nov. 3 at NC State* TBA Nov. 10 at No. 8 Notre Dame 7:30 PM (NBC) » The Seminoles’ current streak of 41 consecutive winning seasons is second in FBS history, trailing only a stretch of Nov. 17 No. 23 BOSTON COLLEGE* TBA 42 straight winning seasons compiled by Notre Dame from 1889-1932. Nov. 24 FLORIDA TBA » Florida State's streak of 36 straight bowl games dates back to the 1982 Gator Bowl. Nebraska had 35-year bowl *ACC Game; HOME GAME streak from 1969-2003 that was the previous NCAA record. The next longest active bowl streak in the country is AP Rankings Listed Virginia Tech’s 25 straight. Media Information ........................................2 Doak/Noles in the Pros ...............................13 Player Stats ...................................................17 Atlantic Coast Conference .........................26 Head Coach Willie Taggart ...........................3 Depth Chart ...................................................14 Last Time It Happened ................................21 Statistics.......................................................27 Game Notes .....................................................6 Rosters ..........................................................15 FSU Records ..................................................23 Game Recaps ................................................37 Rankings/This Day in History .....................12 SEMINOLES.COM 1 2018 FSU FOOTBALL | GM. 4 | N. ILLINOIS HEAD COACH WILLIE TAGGART 1st season at Florida State | 9th season as Head Coach | 20th overall Hometown: Palmetto, Florida Alma Mater: Western Kentucky, 1998 Family: wife Taneshia; sons Willie Jr. and Jackson; daughter Morgan Florida State hired Florida native Willie Taggart to Taggart returned home to the Tampa Bay area prior be its 10th full-time head football coach on Dec. 5, to the 2013 season to take over a South Florida 2017. Taggart is considered one of the best offensive team that won three games in 2012 and turned minds in the country and has already proven to be a the Bulls into one of the most exciting programs in relentless and effective recruiter. the country by 2016. In his final year at the helm in Tampa, Taggart led South Florida to a 10-2 record COACHING HISTORY Taggart has led remarkable turnarounds at each and No. 25 ranking in the final regular season poll, Year School Position of his three previous head coaching positions. In the team’s first ranking since 2011 and only the 1999 Western Kentucky Receivers the season prior to his hire, the programs Taggart second time in program history the Bulls were 2000 Western Kentucky Quarterbacks inherited were a combined 7-29, and the best team ranked at the end of the regular season. 2001-02 Western Kentucky Co-OC/Quarterbacks he took over before arriving at FSU was a 4-8 Oregon 2003-06 Western Kentucky Asst. HC/Quarterbacks squad. His overall record is 48-52, including a 26-14 With Taggart serving as the primary play caller, his 2007-09 Stanford Running Backs mark since the start of the 2015 season. From 2015- offense broke 33 program records in 2016, including 2010-12 Western Kentucky Head Coach 17, his offenses had the fourth-highest points-per- scoring, total touchdowns, total yards, rushing 2013-16 USF Head Coach game average among FBS head coaches behind only yards, yards per play, yards per rush and points per 2017 Oregon Head Coach Mike Gundy, Kliff Kingsbury and Urban Meyer. game. Quarterback Quinton Flowers was named the 2018 Florida State Head Coach American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of In 2017, Oregon ranked in the top 30 in the NCAA the Year after becoming the first USF player to post HEAD COACHING CAREER in 15 different statistical categories, including 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the Year Team Record Conf. boasting the 12th-best rushing offense in the same season, highlighting a program-record 10 all- 2010 Western Kentucky 2-10 2-6 country rushing for 251.0 yards per game and the conference selections. 2011 Western Kentucky 7-5 7-1 18th-highest scoring offense averaging 36.0 points 2012 Western Kentucky 7-5 4-4 per game. On defense, the Ducks ranked 24th in His first head coaching job was one of the most 2013 USF 2-10 2-6 the country in third-down defense allowing a .333 difficult reclamation projects in the country, taking 2014 USF 4-8 3-5 conversion percentage and 27th in fourth-down over his alma mater that had lost 20 games in a 2015 USF 8-5 6-2 defense at .417. The defense had one of the best row. He quickly led Western Kentucky to its first two 2016 USF 10-2 7-1 performances of the season against Arizona’s winning seasons since transitioning from FCS to FBS 2017 Oregon 7-5 4-5 Khalil Tate, who ranked seventh in the NCAA with an and in 2012 saw the program reach its first bowl 2018 Florida State 1-2 0-2 average of 128.3 rushing yards per game, holding game. The Hilltoppers had a 12-2 stretch from Oct. 9 seasons 4 schools 48-52 35-32 him to only 32 yards rushing in a 48-28 victory. 2011 through Oct. 2012 with their only two losses coming to No.1-ranked LSU and top-ranked Alabama. POSTSEASON Showcased by Taggart’s Gulf Coast Offense, running Year Team Bowl/Playoffs back Royce Freeman rushed for 1,475 yards and Taggart transitioned to coaching after starting 2000 Western Kentucky NCAA I-AA First Round ranked 10th in the country with an average of 122.9 as Western Kentucky's quarterback all four years 2001 Western Kentucky NCAA I-AA Quarterfinals rushing yards per game in 2017. His rushing total and breaking 11 school records, highlighted by his 2002 Western Kentucky NCAA I-AA Champions allowed him to break the program record for career 47 rushing touchdowns, and left school holding 2003 Western Kentucky NCAA I-AA First Round rushing yards with 5,621 yards, the sixth-highest the NCAA Division I record for rushing yards by a 2009 Stanford Sun total in NCAA history.