Report from Tallahassee FSU-UM

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:08 am

Actually I am back in Atlanta metro, but I went south to see my Seminoles play against the hated Hurricanes.
 
 Let me just say up front that I have been a Seminole fan for years and have had season tickets since 93. Let me also say that I have come away disgusted only twice. Last year against Notre Dame and Saturday against the Canes. I was proud of the defense, but the offensive ´game plan´ and QB play was pathetic.
 
 It sucks when your team loses. But it really sucks when your team plays as poorly as the Seminoles played on offense. It really bugs me when I hear Bobby Bowden talking about the rain and how it hurt the Seminoles and took them out of their offense.
 
 Let me just tell you that I was at the game and saw the rain -and it fell on both teams. Both teams played in the same weather. The difference was that one team had an offensive game plan and the other did not.
 
 As much as I hate the Canes, I found myself admiring their game plan. They kept things simple and safe for the most part and protected a QB who may be talented but is inexperienced. The Canes also found some very creative ways to get the ball to their talented tight end. They also stuck to the running game with Jarrett Payton. He fumbled once, and when the Canes got the ball back they handed it to him on the first play. Smart. Show the man some confidence and he will do the job for you. And he ended up with close to 100 yards. Took a screen pass into the end zone for their only offensive TD as well. And the onside kick was just brilliant. Hell, Bobby still thinks that it was an ´accident.´ Sad to see the old gunslinger get out-coached and see the Canes be the team taking the chances and running the trick plays.
 
 Meanwhile the Noles tried to hand the ball to Greg Jones and quickly gave up after a few tries. They then tried Washington and then Booker. They tried to pass and pass some more. There was no sense that a game plan had been designed. Short routes were open but ignored or missed by the QB. Deep routes led to incompletions or worse. Basically, the Noles were stuck playing in the I formation with a QB who can only play from the gun and can only run around and beat inferior talent by throwing it up and hoping his receivers come down with it. Meanwhile, the Noles have some very good RBs who don´t get a chance to show what they can do.
 
 Would the Noles have won with a creative game plan? Would solid offensive coaching have made that much of a difference? I don´t know. But it certainly would have been a much better and closer game. To the Nole´s credit, their defense kept the Canes out of the end zone time after time. A lot of field goals kept the score from becoming a blowout. But to the Cane´s credit, they protected their QB and the Noles did not register a sack. Again. For the third year in a row.
 
 On offense, the Noles beat up offensive line got beat by a Miami team that was suspect against the run. Nothing suspect about their defense on Saturday.
 
 I honestly think that FSU is not going to improve until they get an offensive coordinator with the experience and vision that is currently lacking. And what do you think the chances of Bobby dumping junior are? And FSU is stuck with a flake of a QB who obviously is never going to see the field and who never is going to be able to run an offense. He does not have the feel for the game. After 3 years as a starter and 4 years in the system, he still can´t get past his first or second read. He will never hit a tail back in stride. He will never learn to just get rid of the ball. What we have is a QB with more physical skills than Charlie Ward, but none of the smarts.
 
 I guess it could be worse. I could be a Longhorn fan!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 11:07 am

Actually that ´onside kick´ looked to be accidental. It came off the side of Monroes foot big time. He might have tried to pop it up in the air so the coverage team could get down and cover the kickoff easier and it just ended up that way. Coker said it wasn´t on purpose either...it was just a badass luck play.
 
 I was equallly unimpressed with the way the Noles played offense...I was expecting a shootout and all the ´Noles did was make mistakes. And I totally agree...both teams had to play in the weather so using that as an excuse is ridiculous. The Canes just played a safer, smarter game...especially with a lead and knowing that Rix wasn´t going to beat them.
 
 Needless to say its good to be a Canes fan when your team goes to FSU and wipes the floor with the ´Noles...sorry you had to be there to witness it. At least you don´t get to blame the kicker this year.