The State of the Noles, according to "Dot Com"

[O-town Gator]

Dot Com's Warchant.com Blog

You may remember a couple weeks ago when I said not to put any stock into FSU's sloppy performance against Jacksonville State and that this team would be just fine going into the BYU game. This will be a very different blog.

Unlike that Jacksonville State game, you have to put stock into the shocking loss to South Florida. What happened on Saturday speaks volumes about the state of the program.

To play at a high level at BYU followed by an uninspired and lethargic effort at home against USF shows there is something dysfunctional going on. If a team plays extremely well one week but doesn't show up the next, the players aren't being prepared properly and/or there is a severe lack of maturity and leadership.

The turning point

From late in the first quarter until about midway into the second quarter the game hung in the balance. The Seminoles had many opportunities to make a score and take charge of the game but instead allowed the upstart Bulls to hang around and gain confidence.

After a couple of sluggish series to start the game, and a fumble by Tavares Pressley to start the third series, the Seminole offense appeared to find its rhythm on a drive that started late in the first quarter. The 'Noles put together a 13-play, 79-yard drive that should have ended in seven points and given FSU the early lead. Instead, the drive ended inside USF's 2-yard line.

After churning out 78 yards by mixing the run and pass, the 'Noles were knocking on the door with a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Instead of pounding the ball between the tackles, Jimbo Fisher elected to roll Christian Ponder out for a throw to the tight end, but the pass was knocked away. Again, instead of an inside run, the next call was a pitch out to the right side that went for just one yard. Finally, on third down an inside run was called but the Bulls' defense guessed correctly by stacking the middle and stopped the run for no gain. On fourth down, there was another pitch play, this time to the left, which was stopped for no gain.

I think you have to seriously question the play-calling, especially on first down. It struck me that FSU was trying to be cute by throwing on first down when you only had three yards to go. I know USF's defensive front was doing a good job up front, but you have to think that if FSU pounded the ball in between the tackles, the Seminoles could have picked up three yards in four plays.

The goal-line stand gave the Bulls huge momentum and they made FSU pay the price. Four plays later, B.J. Daniels completed a 77-yard pass, setting up USF's first score. What really struck me on the long pass play is that neither safety was down the field - both were near the line of scrimmage. It would seem like a safety would absolutely have to be out there to prevent those types of huge gains.

Then on the next play, South Florida went to the old tight end drag play that gets the Seminole defense every time. As many times as FSU has been burned for a score by this play, you would think somebody could finally pick it up. And why in the world is middle linebacker Kendall Smith in coverage on that play? He's the last player you want out there in the secondary tying to match up with a receiver or tight end. You may remember a couple weeks ago when Smith was matched up with a running back on a long pass against Miami. There is something wrong with the defensive scheme when your middle linebacker is being put in a position to have to cover a player like this in the secondary. It's not his fault; it's the coaches’ fault for putting him that position.

FSU was poised to answer USF's score, but everything that could go wrong did. On the 'Noles' next offensive series, Ponder made a running touchdown toss to Jarmon Fortson, but the officials negated the score saying that Andrew Datko held defensive end George Selvie. Replays showed that a flag probably shouldn't have been thrown as Datko didn't really wrap up Selvie, but the officials didn't see it that way. Then when USF was pinned inside its own 5-yard line, FSU's defense appeared to come up with a safety but the officials blew that call as well. Then, after forcing a punt, the offense was again knocking on the door. A swing pass to Taiwan Easterling was headed for a big gain, but the sophomore fumbled the football inside the 10-yard line. USF made FSU pay again when on the very next play Daniels found a wide-open receiver for a 73-yard score and the Bulls were suddenly up 14-0.

 

[O-town Gator]

State of the Noles, part deux

At that point in the game, momentum had permanently changed. South Florida was inspired by grabbing the early lead and their players gained a ton of confidence. Had FSU answered even once in the first half, it's unlikely that this would have occurred. While some of FSU's misfortune was the result of some bad breaks and bad calls, most was self-inflicted with turnovers, questionable play-calls and sloppy coverage by the defense.

How big was the loss?

Last week, there was a lot of chatter about just how big the win over BYU was to the program. This week the question has to be asked just how bad was the loss. You probably have to go to the infamous 30-0 loss to Wake Forest back in 2006 to find a comparable setback.

The Deacons humiliated and emasculated the Seminoles on that cold and damp November evening. It got so ugly that 80 percent of the stadium had emptied out by midway into final quarter. But I would argue that what happened on Saturday was worse.

Last season, the Seminoles finally took a step in the right direction with a 9-4 record, which included an impressive bowl win. With nearly the entire offense returning, and a positive off-season, there was every reason to expect the program to take another positive step forward. Even after the heartbreaking loss to Miami in the opener and the sluggish effort against Jacksonville State , everybody thought FSU had "crossed the line" with the dominating performance and huge win at BYU. It really looked like the program had finally turned a corner that fans have been waiting on for the past nine years. Instead, the USF loss represents several steps back. The mythical line we thought FSU crossed last week is now so far out of sight that I'm not sure if the players or coaching staff even knows where to look to find it.

Ultimately, the devastating loss to Wake Forest back in 2006 resulted in positive changes to the coaching staff. As a direct result of that game, Jeff Bowden announced his resignation and the entire offensive staff was overhauled in the off-season. The question now is whether this loss could result in a new round of sweeping changes.

While we haven't directly seen it, we hear enough behind the scenes to know that the coaching staff is not a cohesive unit. I really believe the decision to hire Jimbo Fisher as the head coach in waiting was a good one, but every year that goes by without the switch being made becomes worse for the program. Fisher has no control over what happens on the other side of the football and has no real authority to make the big decisions that impact the direction of the program. Fisher has one hand tied behind his back when it comes to molding a team he will take over at the latest in 16 months. Making matters worse, some of the coaches don't see eye-to-eye when it comes to both minor and major decisions being made, and again, Fisher can do nothing about it.

This situation will only get worse until another overhaul takes place, and the USF game is a clear sign that a change is needed just as the Wake Forest game signaled it three years ago.

Post-game observations

A couple things stuck out to me right after the game. First, a good portion of the team didn't appear to be the least bit upset by what was a devastating loss. You certainly want your players to practice good sportsmanship after a tough setback but some seemed downright giddy, high-fiving with their buddies from USF after the game. As the players and media types rushed the field, two players didn't move and stayed on the bench in disbelief - and both seemed downright angry. Those players were true freshmen Greg Reid and Jacobbi McDaniel. I will also say that Christian Ponder was visibly upset after the game as well, and it carried over to the post-game interviews.

I remember when FSU lost to Miami back in 2000 and every player on the team was mad as heck. Nobody was smiling, nobody was buddying up to the players on the other team, and most were visibly upset because FSU failed to come up with the win.

If you wonder why most of the players didn't seem upset by the loss, all you have to do is look to the head coach. I remember when Bobby Bowden would get pretty irked when FSU lost a game. No matter what, he always carried himself as a gentleman and was very respectful to everyone in the room, but you could see a loss burned him up inside. On Saturday, he seemed no different than when FSU won at BYU the week before. A few times he chuckled and didn't seem the least bit upset that the season, and the long-term health of the program, had taken a major detour with the upset loss. If the players don't see a head coach that hates to lose, you can't expect them to be behave any differently. If you can easily shake off a loss, especially one as devastating as we saw Saturday, it becomes much easier to accept losing, which is something a competitive athlete should never do.

Bobby Bowden made the Florida State football program, is one of the greatest college coaches of all time and is an even better human being. That being said, he needs to seriously consider hanging it up after this season. He has accomplished so much, but it's time for the soon-to-be 80-year-old coach to hand the keys over to somebody younger and hungrier to drive the program. It's the best move for the program, and I have to believe Bowden knows that deep down.

I hope the money grab was worth it

I was very much against the USF game ever being scheduled. Other than filling up Doak Campbell Stadium and grabbing a few extra bucks a sellout brings, Florida State had nothing to gain but everything to lose. But in the face of a poor economy and sluggish ticket sales, Athletics Director Randy Spetman figured it would be a good idea to schedule a hot, up-and-coming in-state school to guarantee a sellout. The decision to grab a few quick bucks was made without regard to the potential long-term impact a loss could have on the program and recruiting. Col. Spetman rolled the dice but came up with snake eyes.

With USF pulling off the upset, a program once considered a second tier in-state team rose to FSU's level, and this could seriously damage FSU's in-state recruiting efforts for years to come. Also, the 'Noles are now relegated to being the fourth best team in the state, which could leave a deep wound since there is a ton of competition in the state for recruits, fans, booster contributions, advertising revenue, merchandise sales, etc. Losing this game hurts all of that, and the few bucks gained by the short-term grab could hurt FSU 10-fold down the road.

While the scheduling of USF was a poor decision without regard to the long-term impact on the program, the worst part was the timing of the game. Many argue that Miami had the toughest early schedule in the nation but you can make a good case, at least through the first three, that FSU had the toughest. Unlike Miami, which got 10 days off between the Monday night opener and its next game, FSU got just five. And the 'Canes also got nine days between games two and three. Meanwhile, after the short first week, the Seminole players had to get on a plane and fly all the way to Utah to play the No. 7 team in the country. Then they had to come back to Tallahassee and face a team that started the season with three cupcakes.

You knew the Bulls would spend the entire off-season and first three games preparing for this one game, while the FSU players had to bounce back again quickly after long trip across the country. The sad part is that this game could have been avoided all together. It simply wasn't fair to put the players in the position of having to play a game like this given the timing of the schedule just so the university could grab a few quick bucks.

Parting shots

* The cheap shot artist of the game award goes to South Florida's Zach Hermann. At the end of a play in the second quarter, with Jacobbi McDaniel nowhere near the football, the Bulls' junior right guard came from the back and threw his helmet right at McDaniel's knee in an obvious attempt to injure the freshman defensive tackle. Fortunately, McDaniel wasn't seriously injured but dirty play like this has no place in college football and Hermann should be suspended for multiple games but I suspect nothing will be done about it.

(My two cents: Things are different when the shoe is on the other foot and the Criminoles are on the receiving end, eh? Bet you weren't saying the same thing when Darnell Dockett deliberately injured Earnest Graham in The Swamp back in 2001, as well as attempting to injure Rex Grossman? Glass houses, Dotty.)

* I find it amusing that some on the coaching staff still believe that keeping players, and sometimes themselves, away from the media will enhance performance on the field. Since the first week of the season, Rick Trickett made all of his offensive linemen off limits for interviews. Then last week, he not only kept his players away from the media, he refused to speak himself. That policy didn't exactly work out with the way the offensive line was dominated by USF - five sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and FSU's ground game averaged 0.7 yards a carry. Funny how execution and preparation has a lot more to do with results than whether or not a player, or coach, takes 10 minutes out of his week to talk to the press.

This post was edited on 9/27 8:13 PM by Dot Com

(An additional two cents' worth: Either things are disintegrating at the home of the Flying High Circus. Based on what I've recently read about what allegedly took place in the f$u locker room between Jimbo Fisher and Mickey Andrews getting into a disagreement, there's potential mutiny on the bounty if indeed that's what really happened. "Dot" makes it no secret that he drinks the "Saint Booby" kool-aid, but his calling for old Diaperpants to retire somewhat bewilders me.)