Why You Shouldn't Freak Out About FSU's "Slow" Start

Listen. Nobody — including Jimbo Fisher — is saying that FSU doesn’t have things to fix. It does. Tackling. Line execution on both sides of the ball. Finding a consistent rushing attack. Eliminating turnovers. Addressing blown coverages in the defensive backfield.

But there’s been something else present this year. Every game seems to have some sort of asterisk next to it. And while asterisks can readily become excuses, the interesting scheduling early in the season may have just helped FSU hide in plain sight– if that’s possible for a team ranked first and second in the nation’s two major polls.

Game by Game

Many thought the ‘Noles would blowout the Oklahoma State Cowboys to open the season. Too many dismissed the distraction of playing in a pro stadium during primetime. Many argued that this FSU team had experience with the biggest stage, fresh off a national championship game. But while many returning players do, this team did not. And it showed.

But the ‘Noles nevertheless escaped a P5 team averaging 9.83 wins per season since 2008. There’s a reason OSU quickly earned a national ranking it should have had all along.

Next the attention shifted to The Citadel. Surely this would feature the fireworks many expected in Arlington. Naturally, the champs’ homecoming would show the close contest in Texas was a fluke– mere opening night jitters. When the final score of 37-12 began making its way around the nation, the anti-FSU clamor gained momentum. 37? Against The Citadel?

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Florida State averaged a larger margin of victory last year than the 37 it posted in its first two games. The problem? Many failed to take into account the Bulldogs’ triple-option, bleed-the-clock approach. The better part of a minute elapsed between every Citadel snap, drastically shortening the game.

The fact is that the first-team FSU offense scored a touchdown on its first four possessions, and the game was over before halftime. Many cite the defense’s inability to get off the field quicker as an issue, but such carping dismisses one incontrovertible fact: the ‘Noles spent less than a week preparing for a novelty offense that The Citadel practices all year. Frankly, the Bulldogs should be better executing the option than the Seminoles are at defending it, especially given the preponderance of cut blocks that served to minimize FSU’s talent advantage. It just doesn’t behoove a team to spend more time preparing for a scheme it will probably not see again.

The Clemson game. That would do it. Like last year, it would serve as the game to truly announce the Seminoles’ dominance. Deshaun Watson, after all, is a true freshman, and a night game against the reigning champions would be too much to ask of an untested QB. Well, the same is true for a redshirt sophomore making his first start, as was the case with FSU’s Sean Maguire, who started in place of the suspended Jameis Winston following a week filled with ridiculous media attention and speculation.

But Maguire, and a defense that made plays when it had to, did enough — just enough — to beat a rival, nationally ranked team. And the ‘Noles did so without their unquestionable leader and most important player. “Clemsoning” was immediately cited on behalf of the guys in orange– but it’s funny how that often involves a Florida State team finding a way to knock off the Tigers.

The ‘Noles returned Winston for their trip to NC State, and against a team they throttled last year. We were certain to see FSU flash. Right? Not in Raleigh. The Seminoles were peppered with questions about their last trip to Raleigh, which was their last ACC loss. Oh, and the trip before that, which didn’t go any better. For redshirt seniors like Christian Green and Cameron Erving, two previous trips to Carter-Finley Stadium ended in expectation-crushing defeat.

FSU’s underachieving in Raleigh has become a self-fulfilling prophecy: The ‘Noles seem almost too aware of it, to the point that that knowledge, those memories, wind up playing out again, year after year. Only this time it resulted in a 15-point Florida State victory.

Been There, Done That

Compare that start to last year’s. After Winston’s coming out party at Pittsburgh (a game in which FSU trailed and was tied at the end of the first quarter), the Seminoles trailed Nevada, at home, until 3:21 before halftime. The ‘Noles then handled Bethune-Cookman, but not without surrendering 182 rushing yards.

When Florida State allowed an even 200 yards on the ground and had to overcome a 17-3 deficit at Boston College, the writing was on the wall: this team couldn’t defend the run, couldn’t tackle well enough to remain undefeated.

Sound familiar?

A Welcomed Change?

Enter Wake Forest. It’s the perfect game for FSU at this point in the schedule. Not because the Demon Deacons are a sub-par team (which they are), but because there’s no asterisk. Think about it.

*Jerry World
*Triple Option
*Winston Suspended
*Raleigh

Maybe — just maybe — the ‘Noles next two contests, against Wake Forest and at Syracuse, and the lack of story lines they provide, is just what this team needs: a chance to get past distracting subplots and focus, entirely, finally, on football.

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Why You Shouldn’t Freak Out About FSU’s “Slow” Start

By David Visser | Sep 30, 2014

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