FSU Football: Why the bye week is the gift and the curse
By Cole Maines
FSU football is off to a difficult start with a jaded fan base. How will FSU use the bye week to prepare for bitter rival Miami?
Bye weeks are double-edged swords. Coaches can specify gameplans, alter mistakes, and gain momentum. Conversely, it can also give too much time to prepare, permit the team and fanbase to wallow in self-pity, and leaves a bad taste in the fans mouth.
Especially after a loss like the one suffered against Georgia Tech. The online fan base quickly turned on the new staff when their craving for positive news was left unsatiated.
There are excuses aplenty. “Not a full off-season.” “Players dropping like flies.” “Bad officiating.” All are things that we heard before. If I’m honest, I would have rather played the way we played and lost than won because now nothing is hidden by the scoreline.
On the positive side, this shows how much further we have to go and where we could be. The fluidity of the first couple drives showed what the coaching staff is capable of at its best. Those first two drives went for 113 yards, and the FSU offense finished with 307 yards total.
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We saw what was thought to be one of the worst offensive lines in the league to be competent before injuries began to mount up.
The tight ends were a non-factor aside from Cam McDonald, who finished with four receptions and 41 receiving yards. The screens worked well with the running backs in the beginning, but they weren’t able to get much going on the ground after that.
The offense was methodical in its first two drives with a couple of explosive plays included.
Leonard Warner and Amari Gainer combined for 17 total tackles and 3.5 for loss. Sadly that and Asante Samuels’ two interceptions were the best the defense had to offer, as the defensive line got little to no pressure on Jeff Sims, and he was able to extend drives with his legs.