Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 23 Clemson 17

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

Florida State snatched victory from the jaws of defeat last night against Clemson. That, or Clemson just couldn’t try hard enough to give the game away to Florida State. Either way, the Seminoles escaped with a win and their title hopes in tact. Even if it got a bit hairy at points.

There’s a lot to digest today in thoughts from the morning after. Everything from the play of Sean Maguire, to the offensive line struggling to Eddie Goldman wilding out in the second half. For a game that — at least at first blush — seemed to be brimming with negatives, there’s also quite a few positive things to take from FSU’s win last night too.

Namely, Florida State has now scratched and clawed its way to two close wins over quality opponents. Make no mistake about it, Oklahoma State and Clemson are both good teams and being in these kinds of games early in the season can certainly have a positive impact on Florida State going forward.

What was the big knock on FSU last year? They hadn’t been tested.

Last night, FSU was thoroughly tested. And that goes well beyond the field.

In his post-game comments an emotional Jimbo Fisher admitted that this had been an extremely difficult week, and that distractions had certainly played a role in disturbing the Seminoles’ usual routine.

Nothing renders a bye week more useless than a mid-week decision to suspend your starting quarterback. Fisher admitted the gameplan changed on Wednesday and then again on Friday as the team reacted to the news of Winston’s suspension. Between Sean Maguire being forced into active duty, the uncertainty over whether Winston would play at all and a Clemson team that had very little to lose– FSU was up against it on Saturday.

And though the win wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination– a win is still a win.

“Unbelievably proud of them. You know, we challenged our guys to find out who we are. We’re not where we want to be, but we do know who we are. That’s a team that will fight you, that will compete with you, that understands how to win, how to be a family, and understands how to love from within. It truly does,” said Fisher. “I’m proud to coach them. I need to coach them better. We need to do better in a lot of areas. That’s the good thing. We still got a lot of room for improvement. But I can’t be prouder.”

Sean Maguire Struggles

It’s tough to be overly critical of a backup quarterback when he gets just three days to prepare for his first career start. Had Sean Maguire had more time to prepare and take first team reps, then maybe his play would have been better on Saturday. As it stood, he struggled.

Maguire may still turn into a very good quarterback, but against Clemson there were some serious issues that showed themselves and will need to be addressed first. For one, Maguire’s pocket presence is extremely lacking.

Maguire faced pressure all night — and his line didn’t always help him — but his propensity for holding on to the ball too long caused him to take a couple of bad sacks.

At the start of the second half it seemed like Maguire had gotten some coaching in the locker-room, he was much quicker on his reads and let the ball rip. Not surprisingly that was when FSU began to move the ball with some regularity. But even then, he was staring down receivers, double clutching and had no sense of the backside pass rush.

This is all understandable.

Yes, Sean Maguire is the same year as Jameis Winston but it’s really important to remember that Winston is a once-in-a-generation type of talent at QB. Don’t let what happens off the field make you forget that Winston — in his first year as a starter — did things no Florida State quarterback has ever done. Winston has an uncanny pocket presence, he trusts his reads and he’s not scared to let it fly.

The same is not true of Maguire… yet. And expecting it to be in his first start is not fair.

But as Maguire watches the film this week there will be plenty to improve on.

The Offensive Line

First the good, FSU’s offensive line was better in the second half and was able to pave the way for Karlos Williams in overtime. But, realistically, for an all-senior unit with that many career starts under its belt– last night the Seminoles’ offensive line got manhandled by Clemson.

The problems started in the middle. Austin Barron struggled all evening with Clemson’s defensive tackles. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, watch the middle of the screen here where Barron blows his assignment:

The Tigers managed to collapse the pocket from the middle on a good number of plays last night. That’s also where Clemson had the most success blitzing. That, in turn, started making Sean Maguire take deeper drops and Clemson’s ends were able to pin their ears back and come after the QB.

Cam Erving may have won his first battle with Vic Beasley, but Beasley — who notched two sacks and two TFL’s — definitely took the rematch. On the night, Clemson sacked Sean Maguire five times and held FSU to just 13 rushing yards.

It may be time for Florida State to shuffle its line. The Seminoles have brought in a lot of talented young players on the O-Line over the past couple of recruiting classes and if the Seminoles continue to struggle to run the football it may be time to insert one and slide Cam Erving — who has practiced at center a lot so far this season — inside.

Eddie Goldman

When Mario Edwards Jr. left the game with a concussion it seemed as if FSU’s defensive front was in trouble. Not the case, Eddie Goldman — who came to FSU in the same class as Edwards as a fellow five-star recruit — was there to take over for Florida State when it counted most.

This was easily the best Goldman — who started every game last season — has looked in his career as a Seminole.

“I was just doing my job,” said Goldman after the game. “That’s what Jimbo tells us to do, do your job and be disciplined.”

That’s exactly what Goldman did. The junior DT only finished with two tackles, but when the play came his way he was extremely impactful.

Even when he was making mistakes, Goldman was impactful. One of the things you may not have noticed was that right before the bad snap that lost Clemson 24 yards and cost the Tigers points in the at the end of the third quarter, Eddie Goldman jumped offside early and wallops the center. That, in turn, looked to have made the center jumpy– and the resulting snap cost Clemson big time.

Then, with Clemson about to ice the game down in Florida State territory with it tied up late in the 4th quarter, Goldman came up with a huge strip to give FSU the ball back with a chance to go to overtime.

“Honestly I was just trying to make the tackle and I felt my hand on the ball and just kind of ripped at it a little bit,” said Goldman. “I was just trying to do my job.”

In OT, Goldman recorded a sack on second down and then helped blow up the line of scrimmage as Florida State stuffed Clemson on fourth down.

All in all it was a huge night for Goldman.

“And he wasn’t even expected to play,” joke Fisher after the game.

Odds and Ends 

• Rashad Greene, who had nine catches for 135 yards and a TD, continues to make his case as one of the greatest Florida State Seminoles off all-time. By the end of the season Greene will likely hold every FSU receiving record in the book, but it’s his knack for making that big game-changing play that will be best remembered. Whether it was a long run after the catch in Pasadena last year or last night’s 74-yard score, Greene shows up when it matters most.
• Mario Edwards Jr. suffered a concussion and did not return to the game. He’s likely day-to-day.
• Mario Pender also looked to have gotten his bell rung, he left the game late in the 4th quarter. No update on him as of yet.
• Last night was the first time since the ACC title game in 2012 that FSU didn’t score more than 30 points.
• Fisher said after the game that Jameis Winston will return on Monday.