Florida State Will Be Down Key Player Against Stanford

Stanford football is in for another tough test this week when they take on Florida State, but it looks like the Cardinal will face a shorthanded Seminoles team. Earlier this week, it was reported that Florida State would be without star linebacker Stefon Thompson for Saturday night's contest.

Arguably FSU's most important defensive player, the Cardinal will now look to take full advantage of facing a depleted Seminoles defense.

Thompson, who aggravated his undisclosed injury in the Seminoles loss to Pittsburgh last weekend, was seen walking to the locker room in the second half. The sixth-year veteran is in his first season with Florida State, where he became an immediate starter given his experience and his familiarity with the 3-3-5 defense that Florida State runs.

So far this season, Thompson has made 12 total tackles and 1.5 sacks, and while Florida State is on a three-game skid, he has proven himself to be a big piece for their team. Playing one season at Nebraska last year after spending his first four seasons at Syracuse, Thompson has a lot of experience not only playing Power Four football, but has been around ACC competition for a while.

Thompson's best season came in 2021 where in his sophomore campaign for Syracuse, he made 77 tackles, tallied 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble. While the Orange failed to make a bowl game with a 5-7 record, Thompson proved to be a big part of the defense.

For Stanford, not having to face Thompson will certainly help, but the Cardinal still will have their work cut out for them. Seeing the offense enjoy somewhat of a resurgence after a rough outing the first two weeks of the season, the run game for Stanford has been inconsistent this year and with a good run stopper like Thompson out, this is the type of game that Stanford should run the ball well in.

As for a full injury report for both teams, that will be released later in the week. While Stanford has dealt with numerous injuries this season to several key players and their return timelines are still to be determined, the Cardinal are confident that they will start getting some guys back who can help them down the stretch.

With a lot of tough games still left to play, such as matchups against Miami, Notre Dame and Cal, getting guys back healthy will be huge.

Stanford and Florida State will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. with the game expected to air on ESPN. For the Cardinal, this week's game will be the program's Reunion Homecoming.