James Wilder fresh for FSU late run

Florida St. Seminoles running back James Wilder Jr. has not received a lot of carries this season, which should work in their favor as he will help shoulder the running load the rest of the season as he replaces injured running back Chris Thompson. In an interview with Corey Clark of NoleSports.com, Wilder said he believes that because he and fellow sophomore Devonta Freeman have not been used as much, he will have an advantage over defenders that have been playing all year:

"With us not really playing that much in the first half (of the season) we're fresh," said Wilder, who rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown in FSU's 48-7 win over Duke on Saturday. "Most teams have bodies that are starting to wear down. And we're fresh. We're fresh. So I think that's great."

So far this season, Wilder has run the ball 74 times for 439 yards, an average of 5.9 yards per game and eight touchdowns. When Thompson went down against the Miami Hurricanes one week earlier, Wilder and Freeman stepped up in Saturday's win against the Duke Blue Devils combining for 174 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Wilder accounted for 70 yards and one touchdown of that attack.

Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher has been please with how well the two ran against the Blue Devils, with the only problem being Freeman's fumble late in the game. The Seminoles play the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.