Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 34 Virginia 20

Nov 8, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook (4) fumbles the ball and is injured in a run play as he is tackled by Virginia Cavaliers linebacker Max Valles (88) during the second half at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

About Those Turnovers

“We had three of them. The first one was a receiver, second one was — I’m not going to say — and then the third one was a missed block that caused [Dalvin Cook] to get hit, but still, it’s no excuse to fumble,” said Fisher last night.

One of the biggest reasons for last year’s success was the lack of turnovers committed by the offense. FSU had just 18 turnovers in 14 games last year– many of which were committed by reserves in garbage time. This year, through just nine games FSU already has 19. FSU has gone from +17 in turnover margin a year ago to -1 this season. Jameis Winston threw just 10 interceptions all of last season, he’s thrown five picks in just the last two games.

Part of that is — for lack of a better way to put it — just the breaks. You don’t always get the bounces. Last year FSU did– this year it’s not.

Go back and watch some of the full replays from last season. FSU’s receivers dropped far fewer passes for starters. But beyond that, there were tipped passes last year too, there were also bad throws– they just rarely found their way into the waiting arms of defenders. This year the bounces have gone differently. Those deflections are hanging up just a little longer. They’re no longer fortuitously bouncing just beyond the reach of the opposing team. And those passes into tight coverage aren’t always finding their way to their intended targets anymore.

As Jimbo Fisher says, ‘that’s ball.’ You just don’t get the same breaks year in and year out. The defense has had some of the same issue. The groups still finds itself in good position on a lot of plays. But balls that were getting picked last year are turning into receptions this year. Yes, human error is also involved a lot of the time. But the differences between this year and last are slimmer than they look. Some of it is also just a difference in luck.

Different bounces.

Injuries have been the same way– last year FSU was blessed, this year has been a lot different. Last year FSU’s team was absolutely dominant, but it also had extremely good luck accompanying it. This team hasn’t had that.

As for last night’s turnovers, Fisher — for the second time in two weeks — put one of the interceptions on Travis Rudolph for stopping on a route.

“Had a freshman stop on a route, we had a dig route that was going to be wide open for either a touchdown or a big play, and he stops and his guy comes off and gets a pick,” said Fisher. “That one cost us because Ermon [Lane] was big-time open on the dig in the middle of the field and that guy would not have been there if we’d have went through.”

Fisher was decidedly less conversational about the second INT, saying only that both he and Jameis know the ball should have gone elsewhere.

As for Dalvin Cook’s fumble:”You can’t put the ball on the ground. That was all critical that led them to points. It was a call up front that we’ve got to get made and it was actually not made by the O-line, it was on the edge, but we’ll get that fixed.”

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