FSU Football: Can James Blackman right the ship after letdown loss?

FSU Football has put their faith and confidence in the man wearing the No. 1 jersey at quarterback – now, can he make them winners again on the field?

For most of the 2018 season, a decent amount of the FSU football fan base pointed their support for a quarterback who spent almost all of the season on the sideline – as the James Blackman fan club was bigger than one for any previous back up in part due to what he did for the Seminoles one season before in getting them to a bowl game.

His throwing for over 400 yards and multiple touchdowns in his one start against N.C. State last season gave fans the confidence that the Seminoles would be fine if he was named starter, a decision that came just days before the 2019 season debut against Boise State.

For the first half against the Broncos, Blackman has as many incompletions as he had touchdown passes – three – and looked like a quarterback ready to lead in his ability to throw both the deep ball, like a beautiful touchdown pass to Keyshawn Helton, as well as many the short game under new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles.

Florida State Seminoles Football

The second half? Well, FSU football was held scoreless and Blackman threw for about 50 yards in the air as the letdown was completed with an epic loss that had some critics calling it the new “Choke at Doak”.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and say that Blackman is the reason that the Seminoles lost – because he’s not. I’m also not going to sit here and say that Alex Hornibrook, the transfer quarterback form Wisconsin, should take over as stater – because Blackman lost two of his first three games as a starter in 2017 and still led the Noles to a bowl game.

But the fact of the matter can’t be hidden by our loyalty to the FSU football team – the excuses have to stop and Blackman is no longer just months removed from throwing high school passes in Palm Beach County. This is his third season in Tallahassee and he has emerged as the leader of this offense – now is the time to act like it.

During an interview this summer with Chop Chat during an event in South Florida, Blackman showed off a confidence that seems needed by the Noles – and even after the loss, showed that same confidence in what the future holds.

"“…We have to get right, set a change. Now we have to make up our minds and let each one of us know who we want to be, and that’s a national championship team. This one game can’t define us.”"

From this point on, Blackman has to show that confidence can transfer into more wins than losses – otherwise, the seat that has heated up for some of his coaches will get a little warmer for him as well.