Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 43 Wake Forest 3

Oct 4, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Rashad Greene (80) carries the ball up the field against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the second quarter at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Injuries Hit the Offense

First it was the defense getting hit with injury issues, on Saturday it was FSU’s offense.

Austin Barron is likely out for a while– possibly the whole season. The senior center broke his arm in the first quarter and was replaced by Ryan Hoefeld.

“I thought (Ryan) Hoefeld did a nice job in the game. He had one high snap down there after the big play by Ermon (Lane). But for the first time going into the game and playing, that was critical, man,” said Fisher. “And I think he has a good chance of being a really good player.”

Hoefeld was actually a fairly surprising substitution. Based on the looks FSU has given at practice, it looked likely that Cam Erving would slide to center, Bobby Hart would move to left tackle and FSU would replace its right tackle in that scenario. It will be interesting to see whether Hoefeld is still the center next weekend up in Syracuse, NY or if Erving assumes the role.

Beyond Barron, Rashad Greene got a concussion and started throwing up, per Fisher. He missed the entire second half.

“No, they thought it was [a concussion]. They held him,” said Fisher after the game. “[Right now he’s] just a little dizzy, had a little headache and all of that. So we’re never going to take a chance with a player in that regard. Make some other guys step up.”

Rudolph and Lane did step up, but the bigger concern moving forward is how long Greene will be out. Mario Edwards just missed a game as he came back from a concussion. A particularly bad one can force a player out for a couple weeks or even a month. That Fisher said Greene was throwing up is particularly troubling. Fortunately FSU has a very winnable game at Syracuse next week, but the following Saturday Notre Dame comes to Tallahassee.

If Greene’s not back by then, FSU’s offense is in trouble.