FSU Football: Lethal simplicity offense is killing season for Noles

FSU football has been unveiling a new offense this season under Willie Taggart, and so far it is sadly living up to its name.

One of the first things that was said by Willie Taggart when he was named the FSU football head coach last December was the idea of bringing in his Gulf Coast offense – using the term ‘lethal simplicity’ to describe what was supposed to be a fast run game plan that was much different from anything that the Seminoles had run before.

From our friends over a Dictionary.com, the word lethal is an adjective meaning “of, relating to or causing death” while simplicity is a noun meaning “the state, quality or an instant of being simple.” So yeah, that sounds about right since the offense is current pretty simple and causing death to the 2018 season for the Noles.

There was no doubt that, with the offense Taggart brought in being the polar opposite of the pro style offense run by his predecessor, it was going to take some time for things to get working. But I don’t think anyone expected this kind of disaster through the first quarter of the regular season.

Through three games, the Seminoles rank 88th in total offense while currently sitting 48th in passing offense and – wait for it – 108th nationally in rushing despite having two five star recruits in the backfield in Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick.

Even worse is that fact that through two games against FBS teams, the Seminoles have combined for – wait for it – 10 total points. That’s right, the Noles are averaging a field goal and a safety each game in points scored against teams not named Samford.

Without question, a lot of the issues on the offense has to do with the continued poor play of the FSU football offensive line (perhaps reminding Deondre Francois of all the beatings he took as a redshirt freshman) as it is hard to establish anything when the quarterback is constantly on his back and the running game can’t get out of the backfield.

Still, this is an offense with too many athletes to use the excuse that a transition in systems would produce this kind of early results. It’s constant miscommunication between receivers and Francois, between blockers and the backs and so much more.

Should Taggart have tried to bring in his new offense in steps to work with a FSU football roster which was built as a pro style team? Maybe that could have helped. One thing is for sure, though: when your offense is below teams like Eastern Michigan, Wyoming and Liberty, things are getting as close to a panic mode as they possible can get.