Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 37 Oklahoma State 31

Each Sunday morning after a Florida State game, ChopChat editor Patrik Nohe gives his thoughts from the morning after.

Florida State University started its season with a close 37-31 win — far closer than anyone expected, at least — over the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday night. After the game, you could tell that the Seminoles were not happy.

Jalen Ramsey grimaced through his interview, telling reporters: “this was an eye-opener, a humbler.”

“This week we only practiced OK, we didn’t practice [up to the] Florida State [standard],” said Ramsey. “And it showed today.”

Meanwhile Jameis Winston admitted that, while the team congratulated itself on its win in the locker-room after the game, “we just have to get better.”

Up and down the team, you could tell that Florida State was not happy with its performance last night. It was evident in the team’s body language, you could see it on the players’ faces, you could hear it in their answers.

This was not a good week of preparation for FSU— and it was evident.

“I think hopefully this will be a good learning lesson for our guys in that, you know, you got to play great. It is not about being great; it is about playing great. And our preparation and things, we got to get better,” said head coach Jimbo Fisher. “We got to hone in on some little things and all the phases of what’s going on.”

Jameis Still Building Rapport With New Receivers

For much of the night, Jameis Winston seemed to progress through his passing reads by looking to Rashad Greene, then back to Greene, then to the flat, Greene one more time and then he’d scramble.

Winston attempted 40 passes on Saturday night, half of them were to Greene. While Greene hauled in 11 of those for 203 yards and a touchdown, the rest of the receiving corps struggled at points to create separation and Winston often didn’t look for them when they did.

After the game, Fisher was asked if Winston forced the ball to Rashad Greene throughout the night.

“No, because I called it,” said Fisher. “Game was on the line. You go to your money guy. And he was the guy — [we] tried — you know, O’Leary. But one of the things they were doing, they were playing some leverage on Nick, too, that created leverage for him to get open. And that was what we was going back to. I mean, if you’re able to get your best player the ball, you keep getting your best player the ball.”

While that answer is true in regards to the fact that Oklahoma State seemed determined not to let Nick O’Leary beat them, it’s also a bit misleading in that Jimbo Fisher’s offense doesn’t exactly lend itself to having a go-to guy. That’s one of the reasons Fisher — and by extension Greene — is so focused on route integrity. Without it, you not only potentially have receivers who don’t get open on their own, you also can’t clear out defenders and open space for other receivers.

At points last night, Greene — and the attention he was receiving — opened things up for other players and Winston just didn’t seem to want to pull the trigger. For instance, Jarred Haggins ran free on a coverage bust early in the game and Winston didn’t hit him. And even on some of the completions to Greene, Winston had other receivers running more open and he still chose to go to 80.

It’s understandable that Winston wants to lean on his best weapon. But if he doesn’t start to develop trust in his other receivers things are only going to get more challenging.

Blessing or Curse

There’s two ways a game like Saturday night’s can go. It can either be a preview of things to come or a wake-up call. FSU looked awfully complacent after the first quarter of last night’s game. FSU could have named its score — to borrow from Rhett Lashlee — when it was up 17-0 at the start of the game. The defense was fierce, the offense had shown it could move the ball.

And then the Seminoles blinked.

Credit Oklahoma State for playing a great game — if I had an AP vote they would certainly be in my Top 25 today — but Florida State also had chances to put the Cowboys away and didn’t. Or couldn’t.

Either way, it raises some questions heading forward.

“We got to get more hungry, you know? There is no reason to get upset because I feel like we needed a great game. And Oklahoma State was outstanding out there. You know, they played hard. They never gave up. They never gave up,” said Jameis Winston. “We had a couple opportunities to put the game away, and that just comes with it being the first game. And we have to get better. That’s an eye opener.”

Added Jimbo Fisher: “I think we’ll learn a lot from that. And, you know, right now I think, as a team, we’re a work in progress. We all know that. We have some good players. But we still have to play good. And I have to coach better. And we all have to look at ourselves in all three phases and get better.”

Florida State will have the Citadel next week, followed by a bye week before Clemson comes calling— so there will be time to make adjustments.

But whether this game will serve as wake-up or a warning remains to be seen.

Roberto Aguayo Still Doing Roberto Aguayo Things

Roberto Aguayo was perfect on the night — as he has been in 14 of his 15 career games — kicking three field goals and four extra points for a grand total of 13 points on the evening.

Aguayo now has 170 career points. This is relevant because Dustin Hopkins — who kicked for four years from 2009-2012 — is the all-time NCAA leader for points in a career by a kicker with 466. It took Hopkins until the end of his fourth season to reach that mark. Aguayo is on pace to shatter it. At his current clip, he will pass Hopkins sometime towards the end of his junior year.

In fact, former Wisconsin RB Montee Ball holds the all-time NCAA scoring record for any player (non-QB’s) with 500 total points scored. Aguayo stands a very good chance to beat that mark as well.

By the time Roberto Aguayo is done at FSU, it’s possible he could be the all-time NCAA points leader, period. Not just for kickers. How do you top a Groza award? You score more points playing college football than anyone, ever. And Aguayo is on pace to do just that.

Cason Beatty Still Doing Cason Beatty Things

It’s tough to be too pointed when critiquing the play of a college athlete. They’re not pros. They aren’t getting paid. They’re students. The level of criticism needs to be very measured.

Having said that, it’s getting tough not to just call it like we’ve been seeing it for the past two-plus seasons— Cason Beatty is not helping Florida State at all. His punts always seem to be at risk of being blocked — an issue that, admittedly, is not solely Cason’s — and his average and hang-time leave something to be desired. Last night he averaged 35.8 yards per kick — with a long of 39 — and his punts were low-hanging, allowing Oklahoma State to get good yardage on several returns.

Walk-on Jonathan Hernandez may not be the answer, and former Lincoln punter Brian Crews isn’t on the 105, but FSU has to figure out something because the punting game has become a liability. There were moments last night where you could tell Fisher was considering going for it on fourth down rather than risk punting to Tyreek Hill. Part of that was the fact Hill is a dynamic player.

But part of it was also the state of Florida State’s punting game.

O-Line Woes

Florida State’s senior offensive line didn’t play up to its billing on Saturday night. The Seminoles have a talented group there, but Oklahoma State got pressure on Jameis Winston when it needed to and held FSU to a 3.4 yard rush average.

Part of the problem may be at center. At times Jameis Winston appeared to be unhappy with Austin Barron’s shotgun snaps — particularly the height — as they convened along the sidelines between drives. And Oklahoma State was able to get push up the middle at several key points.

It has seemed like Jimbo Fisher would like to get bigger at center since last Spring and LT Cameron Erving has spent some time at the position over the Summer and in Fall camp— but so far FSU maintains this is just a contingency plan. Something for “just in case.”

But what does “just in case” constitute? Is it only in the case of an injury or could something else qualify as a “just in case” scenario? It’s possible Cameron Erving could be asked to shift inside at some point this season and a younger player like Roderick Johnson, Kareem Are or Wilson Bell could be inserted at tackle. Or it’s possible Austin Barron just had a rough first game.

But it’s safe to say Seminoles fans missed Bryan Stork last night.

Run Karlos, Run

Karlos Williams had a rough night last night. Many expected the senior running back to have a huge debut as FSU’s starter but it was tough all around for Williams yesterday.

In the morning he got news that his grandmother had passed and it was tough sledding for him last night too. He was able to fight for 66 tough yards on 23 carries — despite not getting much in the way of blocking — and he was there when FSU needed him at the end of the night, but there are still some questions lingering about him after his first start.

Williams is a big, strong, fast running back, but his vision at points seemed to be lacking. On many of the run plays Florida State ran the blocking never developed to get him outside, but there was room underneath. Last year Devonta Freeman was excellent at cutting back and picking up four or five safe yards inside. That was not something we saw from Williams last night. If Williams is going to put up the kind of numbers fans are expecting this season, he’s not going to be able to do it entirely off the edge. He’s going to have to show that he can cut it back and take advantage of the lanes that develop underneath.

He struggled with that last night. But, given everything on Karlos’ mind at the time, it’s worth waiting a week before getting overly concerned.