SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- Florida State beat Boston College 14-0, Wake Forest 24-16, Miami 29-24, Louisville 41-21 and lost to Georgia Tech 16-22 in their five games before this. They out-gained those opponents by an average of 375-342 and won by an average score of 25-17. They outgained us 575-303 and beat us 45-21. What does that tell you about where we are right now?
- And State was without Dalvin Cook and Everett Golston, as well as four other players who played against those other teams.
- The Noles seemed ripe for the taking early as we stopped them on defense twice and drove down to score. Chris Spielman was criticizing State’s players for their lack of focus and effort. Then 15 seconds after we’d scored, they struck. Travis Randolph beat Corey Winfield to the inside. Winfield leapt for the ball, whiffed, fell down and tripped up the safety, Antwan Cordy, made the effort to get up and chase after Randolph. He caught up with him and attempted to box him down rather than wrestle him down. Randolph pushed Winfield aside and waltzed into the end zone. The crowd and the players were back in it and we were out of it as FSU put together three straight touchdowns to take command of the game. I hate seeing teams “get well” against us.
- The second TD came when two Orange D-backs let Randolph get behind them and Sean McGuire just played catch with him. Why does anybody even bother to run against our secondary?
- Then we got a break when they missed a field goal and we drove to their 44 yard line where Shafer, down 7-221 and with two yards to go, punted. Fortunately, we got what he wanted: a stop and a punt that was returned to their 45, such that we lost one yard but gained three downs (at the cost of a minute and 33 seconds). We drove down to the FSU 1 yard line, second and goal and Shafer called a time out with 1:10 left. We scored on the next play and kicked the conversion to make it 14-21 with 54 seconds left. For the second week in a row, having just scored and knowing we’d get the ball to begin the second half, surrendered momentum with a silly pooch kick and had the other team make a short drive for a score. FSU had 54 seconds to go 58 yards and they did to take a 14-28 halftime lead. I*t’s tough enough playing a team that has superior size, speed and talent at nearly every position. We make it tougher on ourselves when bad coaching decisions put our players in a bad situation.
- My question for Coach Shafer on his next show is likely to be about his deciso0n making in that last possession of the first half. But I always have a back-up question in case that one has already been thoroughly covered by then. As of now my back up is to ask why all our passes of any length are down the sidelines- this against a team that probably has the best pair of cornerbacks in the nation. When Ryan Nassib had his big year, he and Alec Lemon carved up defenses with intermediate passes over the middle. Why must everything be hurled down the sideline?
- It also makes it tough when you seem to be fighting the officials, as well as the other team. There were many unfavorable calls and non-calls in this game. Chris Spielman noted two pass interferences that should have been called. Rob Thompson was held- by the face mask- on the second TD. Antwan Cordy was mugged on a safety blitz on another big play. The ref’s failure to call these things probably gave FSU at least a couple of score they likely would not have gotten otherwise.
- Eric Dungey’s day: 11 for 24 for 120 yards and no scores. He looked like a freshman quarterback. He didn’t have any interceptions but did fumble for the game’s only turnover. He did run the ball 13 times for 46 yards and scored twice. But any game in which he carries the ball more than anybody else is a game where our offense didn’t function very well. A running quarterback is like a good hitting pitcher: if you relying on him for RBI’s, you’re going to lose.
- Riley Dixon punted 9 times for a 44.9 average. Those are good numbers. But he shanked one punt 27 yards and out of bounds on the FSU 41 and sent two straight line drives into the end zone from the FSU 44 and 41, respectively, meaning we got a net of 24 and 21 on those punts. No Heisman for you, Riley!
- We played a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who ought to be good in a couple of years, (Shafer mentions that several times in every interview, suggesting obviously that he’d like to still be coaching them when they reach their full potential.) Florida State also played a bunch of freshmen and sophomore who right now are better than our freshman and sophomores. What will they be like in two years?
- This one wasn’t “just a few plays”.
- And State was without Dalvin Cook and Everett Golston, as well as four other players who played against those other teams.
- The Noles seemed ripe for the taking early as we stopped them on defense twice and drove down to score. Chris Spielman was criticizing State’s players for their lack of focus and effort. Then 15 seconds after we’d scored, they struck. Travis Randolph beat Corey Winfield to the inside. Winfield leapt for the ball, whiffed, fell down and tripped up the safety, Antwan Cordy, made the effort to get up and chase after Randolph. He caught up with him and attempted to box him down rather than wrestle him down. Randolph pushed Winfield aside and waltzed into the end zone. The crowd and the players were back in it and we were out of it as FSU put together three straight touchdowns to take command of the game. I hate seeing teams “get well” against us.
- The second TD came when two Orange D-backs let Randolph get behind them and Sean McGuire just played catch with him. Why does anybody even bother to run against our secondary?
- Then we got a break when they missed a field goal and we drove to their 44 yard line where Shafer, down 7-221 and with two yards to go, punted. Fortunately, we got what he wanted: a stop and a punt that was returned to their 45, such that we lost one yard but gained three downs (at the cost of a minute and 33 seconds). We drove down to the FSU 1 yard line, second and goal and Shafer called a time out with 1:10 left. We scored on the next play and kicked the conversion to make it 14-21 with 54 seconds left. For the second week in a row, having just scored and knowing we’d get the ball to begin the second half, surrendered momentum with a silly pooch kick and had the other team make a short drive for a score. FSU had 54 seconds to go 58 yards and they did to take a 14-28 halftime lead. I*t’s tough enough playing a team that has superior size, speed and talent at nearly every position. We make it tougher on ourselves when bad coaching decisions put our players in a bad situation.
- My question for Coach Shafer on his next show is likely to be about his deciso0n making in that last possession of the first half. But I always have a back-up question in case that one has already been thoroughly covered by then. As of now my back up is to ask why all our passes of any length are down the sidelines- this against a team that probably has the best pair of cornerbacks in the nation. When Ryan Nassib had his big year, he and Alec Lemon carved up defenses with intermediate passes over the middle. Why must everything be hurled down the sideline?
- It also makes it tough when you seem to be fighting the officials, as well as the other team. There were many unfavorable calls and non-calls in this game. Chris Spielman noted two pass interferences that should have been called. Rob Thompson was held- by the face mask- on the second TD. Antwan Cordy was mugged on a safety blitz on another big play. The ref’s failure to call these things probably gave FSU at least a couple of score they likely would not have gotten otherwise.
- Eric Dungey’s day: 11 for 24 for 120 yards and no scores. He looked like a freshman quarterback. He didn’t have any interceptions but did fumble for the game’s only turnover. He did run the ball 13 times for 46 yards and scored twice. But any game in which he carries the ball more than anybody else is a game where our offense didn’t function very well. A running quarterback is like a good hitting pitcher: if you relying on him for RBI’s, you’re going to lose.
- Riley Dixon punted 9 times for a 44.9 average. Those are good numbers. But he shanked one punt 27 yards and out of bounds on the FSU 41 and sent two straight line drives into the end zone from the FSU 44 and 41, respectively, meaning we got a net of 24 and 21 on those punts. No Heisman for you, Riley!
- We played a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who ought to be good in a couple of years, (Shafer mentions that several times in every interview, suggesting obviously that he’d like to still be coaching them when they reach their full potential.) Florida State also played a bunch of freshmen and sophomore who right now are better than our freshman and sophomores. What will they be like in two years?
- This one wasn’t “just a few plays”.
