Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 42 Louisville 31

Oct 30, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher prior to the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John

Fisher vs Grantham

Todd Grantham’s tenure in the SEC was rocky to say the least. Grantham led the defense at Georgia for four tumultuous seasons and had many Bulldogs fans calling for his head before bolting for Louisville this past offseason. It was Grantham’s departure that opened up the job that Jeremy Pruitt — Florida State’s defensive coordinator from last year — ended up taking when he surprised FSU back in January.

Grantham has had success at Louisville — until last night he had the number one defense in the nation — but in Fisher he faced a challenge that was shades of the conference he had just left. Last night was a battle between a coordinator who cut his teeth in the SEC and a coordinator who many in the SEC thought couldn’t cut it.

Fisher and Grantham are friendly, per Fisher, but you can bet both had something to prove last night and through the first 25 minutes Grantham looked to have the upper hand. Then FSU reeled off 448 yards and 42 points– by the end of which it was clear Fisher was just toying with Grantham.

Even early on, Fisher called a good game but his team executed poorly — penalties, mistakes, turnovers — and fell behind.

Once FSU got going, Fisher had free reign to do pretty much whatever he wanted. Never was that more clear than on the play FSU broke Louisville’s back with– Freddie Stevenson’s 35-yard touchdown reception.

Fisher goes with FSU’s jumbo package — two tight ends, a back, a fullback and a receiver — and gives Grantham’s defense a look that says run. This makes sense given the situation too — it’s third and six — FSU wants to make Louisville use its last timeout before pinning the Cardinals deep in their own territory. Given that Fisher was a little bit conservative in the same way in FSU’s last game, against Notre Dame, Grantham assumes that the run is the call. Louisville sells out to stop it. Instead Fisher decides to take a shot through the air.

Winston fakes the handoff to Cook and four Seminoles release. Winston opts to go to Freddie Stevenson, who chips and releases into the flat and nobody from Louisville touches him for the next 35 yards as FSU goes up two scores.

There’s a reason Nick Saban calls Fisher the best offensive coordinator he ever had.