Virginia’s second drive was a gut punch: The Cavaliers went with a jumbo, two-tight-end set and put together some physical runs with a few Beau Pribula rollouts where he found easy, short completions. Covering 63 yards in seven plays, Virginia put together what looked like a repeatable formula for a touchdown drive.

Or not.

FSU’s defense forced two punts in the first quarter. But defensive coordinator Tony White admitted on Tuesday he appreciated the Seminoles’ mindset and response as the game unfolded Saturday.

“You love the fact that it took it took some adversity, and it very well could have gone like the ‘Oh, no, here we go again type deal.’ And it led to other bad things,” White said. “But I think, again, that's the signs of growth, right? 

“Where you can get punched in the face, you can sit there and say, ‘OK, what happened?’ Went back on the iPads, looked at it, and said, ‘Hey, this is nothing that they're doing. It's 100% us.’ If we execute the right way, if we have our eyes right, we communicate the right way, then we should be able to win those plays.”

FSU’s defense hadn’t given consistent indication of what was to come. There were three turnovers forced against SMU. There were the early three-and-outs at Alabama. As White mentioned, “there were spurts throughout the first four games, some longer spurts than others.”

But FSU recorded 10 sacks and allowed just 37 rushing yards in the 38-7 win over Virginia. White credited an FSU defense that often showed a five-man defensive front to assistant coaches Terrance Knighton and Nick Williams.

What was the difference against Virginia? White said the Seminoles “executed consistently” and were “geeked up to play.” 

Now, FSU (3-2, 1-1 ACC) faces another prolific offense in Louisville (2-3, 1-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. (ESPN). The Cardinal feature the No. 22 scoring offense in the FBS (38.6 points) to go with a top-40 rush offense (198.6 yards) and top-25 pass offense (287.4 yards).

Lincoln Keinholz, an Ohio State transfer, has passed for 1,394 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception while completing 69.1 percent of his passes. Keyjuan Brown (367 yards) and Isaac Brown (322 yards) power the ground attack, while Kienholz also has six rushing touchdowns. 

Tre Richardson is Louisville’s leading receiver (28 catches, 445 yards), and FSU transfer Lawayne McCoy (17 catches, 342 yards) leads the team with four touchdown receptions.

“Their quarterback can can throw it, he can run it,” White said. “They got two elite backs that remind me of the Alabama backs. They got some wide receivers that are explosive as all heck. This is a really, really good offensive football team. So so we better be ready.”

White was also asked about a few specific players. He praised junior linebacker Chris Jones for being “edgy” and making the fourth-down stop, although he cited the line for doing its job to help him make that play.

Sophomore defensive tackle Kevin Wynn had three tackles and his first career sack. His 28 snaps was double what he played against SMU and Central Arkansas.

“Juju (Wynn) is going to be one of the one of the better D linemen to have played here in the conference,” White said. “And it's just a matter of making sure he's right. You got to got to protect these guys. You bring them along, especially up in the front where maturity matters. He's a young guy going up against old guys, and he's getting his body right. He lost some weight. He was fighting some injuries from last year and all that stuff. So again, man, you're seeing it.”

White feels FSU can build off the positive feelings of a win against Virginia. He’s seeing it carry over to the practice field on Monday and Tuesday.

“They see the value in making sure the hard comes during the week,” White said. “And what I mean by that is like, ‘Hey, you guys need to hold each other accountable to do your job. I'll do my job.’ It should look a certain way. Make sure the standard is upheld with the physicality and the effort, and good things will happen.

“The neat deal was they ran around hard as heck yesterday and today as well. And so they feel it, the confidence and all stuff. And again, the more that it's validation that ‘Hey, when you do stuff right, and we communicate, we're actually practicing the things we preach.’ Good things are going to happen.”

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