FSU Football: Why Didn’t James Blackman get playing time?

The FSU football offense couldn’t get out of park Saturday against a porous Syracuse defense. Would James Blackman had made a difference?

FSU football fans thought they’d see the offense come to life Saturday against Syracuse or at least have a heartbeat. Neither came to fruition as the Noles were held scoreless in the first half.

It was bad as the Noles averaged less than four yards per play and had explosive plays negated by penalties the few times they did happen.

It was a combination of the offensive line and decision-making of Deondre Francois with receivers not doing him any favors with drops a couple of times.

As with most situations with a struggling offense, the calls for the backup quarterback began to get louder and came to a crescendo near the end of the first half.

Florida State Seminoles Football

After all, James Blackman played admirably as a true freshmen last season, leading the Noles to seven wins and keeping its bowl and winning streak alive.

He had all spring, summer and fall in Willie Taggart’s offense so one would think he’d get a shot in a game the Noles still had a chance to win at halftime after they struggled so bad in the first half.

However, that wasn’t the case nor was it considered according to Willie Taggart in the Syracuse post-game conference:

Thoughts

I’ll be the first to tell you I was calling for a change at halftime. I’m not sure what Coach Taggart was watching, but there were plays to be made at times and Francois didn’t make them.

Francois of 8-18 for 70 yards at the half and was absolutely no threat in the running game.

There were times he should have kept it on the read and he gave it only for the running back to get crushed. He missed wide open receivers, held on to the ball too long and lacked pocket presence in general.

I understand he was under pressure a lot of the game, but it was a game FSU seemingly could have won had they gotten a spark offensively.

I’m not saying Blackman was guaranteed to provide that spark, but up until that point FSU wasn’t offering much at all and should have been losing by double digits.

Not to mention the first offensive possession in the second half was another three and out after the FSU defense got a three and out on Syracuse’s first possession in the second half.

It was a matter of time before the FSU defense wore down after playing 45 snaps in the first half. Just putting a couple first downs together would have been helpful.

Just imagine if Blackman would have somehow brought FSU back to win the game? I’m sure huge concerns would still be apparent, but a win is a win and the Noles needed that one badly.

The schedule’s only going to get tougher from here on out and the second half of the Syracuse game was the perfect opportunity to give James Blackman a shot to see what he could do.