SB Nation - Greg Carr

Countdown: #8 Clemson at Florida State 2006

FIGUREFOUR — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:00:18 -0000

Heading into this football game, Clemson had not beaten FSU in Tallahassee since Danny Ford beat up on the 'Noles down there in '89. Florida Sate (2-0 coming into the contest) came into this game ranked 9th in the nation and featured Drew Weatherford at QB and Greg Carr at WR for the 'Noles. Clemson came into this game 1-1 overall after dropping to Boston College earlier in the season. The big question for the Tigers coming into this game was special teams play (Clemson gave up numerous long returns--one for a touchdown--and could not convert an extra point the previous week in an overtime loss to Boston College). Florida State's offense had its own questions going into the game, as the 'Noles had struggled to get things going in the early part of the season.

7:45 PM ET, September 16, 2006

Doak Campbell Stadium

TALLAHASSEE, FL

ESPN Recap Tigernet Recap

This was one of the most exciting games that I have watched over the years, and remember it distinctly. We were out in Vegas on a guys trip and decided on the Belagio as the place to watch this one. Clemson was coming off of a ridiculous loss the previous week to Boston College--and by ridiculous, I mean we can't kick anything to save our lives (punts, kickoffs, extra points, nothing) and really gave away that game in Chesnut Hill. Needless to say, we all knew that we could win this game, but knew that we would have to overcome some obstacles to take down the Seminoles, particularly in the Doak.

Clemson really dominated this entire game. The Tigers had a good game plan on both sides of the ball and were able to both put points on the board and stifle Florida State's Jeff Bowden-led offense. Once again, however, Clemson tried to beat itself with shotty special teams play, as the Tigers gave up 9 points on field goal attempts.

Both teams were forced to punt on their opening drives, with Clemson surrendering a first down to the Seminoles through a roughing the kicker penalty. Florida State appeared to putting a drive together on its third possession until Clemson forced a fumble, which was recovered by my main man Duane Coleman. This turnover set up a two-play, 46 yard drive that included a 38 yard carry by Jacoby Ford and an 8 yard scamper into the endzone by James Davis. Unfortunately for the visitors, the extra point was blocked and returned by FSU's Tony Carter scoring 2 points for the 'Noles. At the end of the first quarter, Clemson led 6-2.

The two teams traded three consecutive punts. Finally, as the half began to close, the Tigers put together a 60-70 yard drive, setting up a field goal with around 3:20 left in the half. Clemson's special teams unit was again foiled, as Florida State was able to block the field goal attempt and Tony Carter again returned the block for a Seminole TD. After the PAT, Florida State led the Tigers 9-6. On the ensuing drive, Will Proctor was able to lead the Tigers down the field retake the lead on a 19 yard touchdown completion to Chansi Stuckey. The 2-point conversion was good and the Tigers went to the locker room up 14-9. Overall, Clemson should have been throttling the 'Noles at half, but were merely up a handful of points.

Clemson got the ball to start off the half and successfully extended its lead on an 80 yard drive. The key play in this drive was 54 yard reception by James Davis. Will Proctor was able to scamper into the endzone from 20 yards out for the score. Because of the special teams woes earlier in the contest, the staff decided to try (and fail to convert) a 2 point attempt. Clemson 20 FSU 9.

The Seminoles were able to piece together a 14 play, 54 yard drive that culminated in a field goal. The two teams went into the final period with Clemson leading 20-12, but Florida State driving. The 'Noles reached pay dirt early in the final period and successfully converted their 2-point attempt to knot things up at 20 a piece. The two collaborated to produce four consecutive 3-and-out possessions after the FSU TD, giving Clemson the ball with 2 minutes left in the contest. Fortunately for Tiger fans in attendance and watching all around the world, the Tigers were able to respond. Clemson successfully moved the ball to midfield through two JD runs and an 18 yard reception by Aaron Kelly. Clemson then changed the tempo, running a play on a quick count and completely catching the FSU defense unprepared. The resulting 47 yard scamper gave the Tigers the ball first and goal from the 4 yard line. Three plays later, Davis was able to punch it in from the 1, giving Clemson its first victory at the Doak in 17 years.

Overall, this game was memorable because of the win over the (over)rated #9 team in the land. The win broke the Tallahassee streak and was a contest in which the Tigers won in spite of themselves (poor special teams play kept this game close for the 'Noles). The final drive and the series of plays that were utilized in this drive really made this one game to remember (especially Davis' big run to create the 1st and goal scenario). I was really happy to watch this team bounce back and overcome special teams shortcomings to gain an important road victory in the state of Florida. See video below.

James Davis breaks off a monster run against an FSU defense that was not lined up nor prepared for the snap of the football.

Then Davis for the game-winning score:

Some game highlights:

and the Shoeless Highlights:

The Preview: Florida State Seminoles at Boston College Eagles

FSUncensored — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:50:44 -0000

Gametime is 3:30, on ABC or ESPN. How do you know which network to watch? I have you covered:

The TomahawkNation forecast indicates an 80% chance of a lot of rain, with temps in the upper 60's to the lower 70's. Wet.

Be here for the Tomahawk Nation livegamethread!

The preview awaits you. It is here to consume the rest of your day.

This summer, I wrote a preview of BC's defense. Unless you've been reading us for a while, you probably don't understand just how good BC's defense was last season. So read it.

Here's the part I want to highlight, my prediction.

BC plays a read and react defense under defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani (now the head coach), which means they rarely blitz. Spaziani is highly thought of as a defensive coordinator and is very detail oriented. He has always done a nice job of adapting his scheme to his personnel. And this year he has quite the task on his hands with the loss of his 3 best players (by far). BC returns only 5 starters on defense, and none of those 5 are projected NFL selections. To say that the talent has dropped off would be a huge understatement. It's highly doubtful that BC's defense will come close to what it did last season. Let's see what they bring back...

Defensive Line & Linebackers (The "Front 7")

Gone are the big boys we discussed above. BC doesn't have the ability to replace them. The best of this group is tackle Damik Scafe (6-3, 293, Jr.). He played a bit last year and will probably play in the NFL eventually, though he's an obvious dropoff from last year. The other tackle is tackle Kaleb Ramsey (6-3, 256, Soph.) Young and obviously not very strong, he's a major liability and most teams will be able to run on him.

While BC has major questions at tackle, they are considerable better off at defensive end. Austin Giles (6-3, 283, Sr.) will battle Alex Albright 6'2" 250 could also get the nod. At the other end, Jim Ramella (6-4, 243, Sr.) is a very solid player. These guys are good, but not great, and won't come close to having the impact that the two interior guys had last year. In fact, they could regress as teams focus on them and not the interior guys.

At linebacker, the Eagles are a mess. They lost Herzlich and he obviously isn't replacable. They also lost Robert Francois (6'2" 255), and Middle Linebacker Mike McLaughlin (6'0" 252) will try to return from tearing his Achilles back in March, but even if he does come back, he'll be quite rusty. Trying to replace Herzlich is sophomore Dominick LeGrande 6'2" 200 (yes, 200). He's not ready, but has to play anyways because of Herzlich's absence. LeGrande played safety last year. Sophomore Will Thompson (6'1" 235) will replace McLaughlin if he can't go. He has impressed people but is not as good as the guy he will be asked to replace. At the other position will be one of two redshirt freshmen in 6'3" 217lb Nick Clancy or 6'3" 222lb Alexander Disanzo.

These guys are much smaller, much less experienced, much less talented, and much younger. There's a huge dropoff for BC's defensive line and linebackers.

So BC's front-7 did weigh 1902lbs. This year, they will weigh in at 1711bs. That's a huge dropoff of 191lbs! No team in the country that I could find had this significant a dropoff, and nobody else was even close. That's to say nothing of the talent they lost (regardless of size), which they can't replace this season.

So 1711lbs combined in their front 7. Why does this matter? FSU's run game destroys small front 7's.

So, I was close, but I need to make a few changes. Giles is starting at DT, not Ramsey. McLaughlin is back and starting, though I was not impressed with him against Wake. He pressed too much. FSU also needs to make sure to exploit him in coverage, because he is not agile to put it mildly. LeGrande is their best linebacker, but he missed the Wake game with a concussion and is expected to return.

In any case, 1743lbs is their new weight, which is still 159lbs lighter than they were last year. Frequent readers will remember that I thought FSU could run on BYU because of their diminutive front-7 (under 1750lbs), and run the Noles did. USF's front-7 was decently sized at 1818lbs , but very very talented, and paired with a poor performance from FSU's line, the run game wasn't there. I won't say that BC's front-7 is as bad as BYU's, but they are nowhere close to USF's, or Miami's for that matter.

But so far this year, they have done a nice job stopping the run. Most of that work was done with the extra safety, however, and that comes with some consequences. BC's defense is really well coached. Spaziani is a great defensive coach. BC's guys know they have to take chances, but that comes at a cost. BC plays a lot of zone defense, with 8 in the box, and that leaves them exposed to big plays when their guys jump routes. As I discuss a bit below, Wake did exploit them some. Clemson, however, could not because their wide receivers are wildly undisciplined, dropped balls, and most importantly, because their offensive line is pretty bad and BC didn't really need 8 in the box to stop them. Wake's run game has been terrible for almost half a decade, and they still loaded the box and allowed 1st down passing.

Here's some notes from the Wake game:

Dr. Saturday Wrote:

B.C. controlled the vast majority of this game, moving ahead 24-10 early in the fourth quarter.

The Deacons could have been there, though, if not for a few of the usual blown opportunities, specifically a fumble in Eagle territory and a missed field goal in the first half. With its back against the wall, Wake drove for two long touchdowns in the fourth quarter to tie, using a grand total of three minutes to go 67 and 80 yards, respectively, to put the game into overtime on a Riley Skinner throw into the end zone with 11 seconds left; from there, following a B.C. field goal on its turn with the ball, the Deacons proceeded to move to the Eagle three-yard line with a chance to score for the win. Cue crushing fumble on first-and-goal, an Eagle recovery and a hard ending to one of the best comeback efforts of the day.

The desperately-needed B.C. win takes a lot of sting out of the Eagles' late defensive collapse, which couldn't get a stop at the end of regulation (and nearly failed in overtime, too) and gave up five passes longer than 20 yards, most in the second half.

But how much of those last two drives were because of BC's Prevent Defense as BC fans contend? What about the turnovers? Was Wake's run game all one play?

Deacons Make Good 1st Down Choices

Wake had less than ideal success with 1st down running, having success only only 4 of 14 1st down runs (defined as 50% of necessary yardage). 4 of them went for a "stuff" (less than 10% of necessary remaining yardage). The other 5 were somewhere between 11 and 49% of necessary yardage.

But part of that had to do with BC's decision to take away the run by using an extra defender down in the box (typically a very aggressive safety). So Wake countered by throwing on 1st down (this is similar to what Miami did to the Noles). Wake threw on 17 1st downs. Only three of those passes were incomplete. Of the 14 that were complete, 11 were successful, and of those 11, 8 went for 1st downs. That's 9.4 yards per pass, 11.4 per completion. But on the issue of the prevent defense, there is some merit to that. 6 of the 11 successful 1st down pass plays were on the last two drives, and BC was definitely playing off coverage. They also didn't play it that well, as some of the completions were rather short.

It is worth noting that two of the turnovers for Wake wasn't really turnovers at all. One was simply a fumble on 4th and 25. Another was an interception on 4th and 6 from midfield, intercepted at the goal line. Both plays were better or similar to the what would have happened if the pass just fell incomplete or the runner was simply tackled.

Situation	Plays	Yards	Yards/Play	Points/ Play
1st 10 Drives	45	328	7.3	0.222
Last 2 Drives ("Prevent")	16	147	9.2	0.875
Overtime	5	17	3.4	0 (Obvious)

Okay, so there was something to the prevent argument.

Long Distance Down Struggles Signal Lack of Pass Rush

Wake faced 21 2nd or 3rd down and long situations. They passed on 13 of those. These are known as high leverage situations for the defense. They were successful on 5 of those. 5 of 13 is very good for an offense in long downs, particularly when you consider what some of those plays were. On 3rd and long, Wake hit passes of 58, 26, and 38 yards. They got no pass rush, and some of the linebackers and safeties really looked awkward in coverage. When BC blitzed, they did not get to Skinner (no sacks and very little pressure).

Name	Rush	Yards	Avg
QB Rushing	7	3	0.4
WR Rushing	6	-7	-1.2
RB Running (w/o 76 yard run)	17	70	4.1
RB 76 Yard Rush	1	76	76

The point of this chart, is to show that Wake Forest ran almost 10% of their plays as runs to the wideouts, with poor results. The run game, for most of the day, wasn't special, and definitely inflated by the one long run (which of course, does count, so we can't dismiss it. When a defense loads the box, it increases the chance they stop the run, but also increases the chance of allowing a big run, because of the angles.

So back to their secondary. Here's what I wrote before.

Secondary

Remember all those interceptions? Kiss them goodbye. BC's secondary was allowed to play pass first, second, and last. Now? They'll have to use one of the secondary members (a safety) in run support. The burden on the secondary should be significantly increased. Were those defensive backs really that good? Or were they the beneficiaries of a great front-7 that put opposing offenses in tough situations? I think it's the latter. None of the BC secondary guys are likely all-conference candidates or NFL players (none are projected to go in the 2010 or 2011 draft). Let's have a look:

At Safety, BC should be okay with Free Safety Wes Davis and Strong Safety Marcellus Bowman. Davis is a 6'2" 215 Junior who produced 60 tackles, 3 tfl, 2 INT, 6 pass breakups last year. He's a decent player in coverage and in run suppot, but as with most of these guys, I expect him to get exposed because he now has to play run and pass (can't play 25 yards off the ball). Davis will be hung out to dry all by himself because Bowman, a 6'2" 217lb Senior will be called upon to help stop the run. Again, the loss of the great front-7 guys (both expected and unexpected) is going to put tremendous pressure on this secondary.

At corner, BC has similar problems. They return the experienced Roderick Rollins, a 6-0, 188-pound senior. Rollins has had the benefit of a lot of help from his safeties in his career and that help won't be there this year. He's decently physical, but can he turn and run after the initial bump coverage? We shall see. At the other corner spot is rising sophomore Donnie Fletcher (6'1" 188lbs). Fletcher is another big corner. They also have the experienced Deleon Gause 5'11" 174lb, a Junior who has good physical skills, but is inconsistent.

BC's secondary plays extremely physical, which is great when they have the help of safeties who aren't pre-occupied with stopping the run. But without safety help, if the corners can't run and run, they will be burned for long TD's. Wes Davis will have to prove that he can cover the deep middle instead of a deep half (now that Bowman will play down in the box).t

I am pretty impressed with Rollins, he's a quality corner. **Update** Rollins is apparently doubtful with some sort of leg injury. Fletcher, however, has been burnt on some double moves. Despite their decent showing so far, I stand by my summer evaluation. This secondary was a product of a really good front-7, which is just no longer there. It's very important for FSU to stay in manageable down and distance. If they can, it will be like the BYU game, putting BC in tough situations and forcing their hand. If the Noles cannot, it will be much tougher for them. Spaziani is the master of the 3-5-3 defense (not 3-3-5, but 3-5-3). Here's an excerpt, but check out Dr. B's great article on the subject (lots of video as well). That should kill an hour of work for you, at least.

The basic package appears as a variation on the 33 Stackset with an extra OLB/Nickelback playing, with the SS being the 5th guy in the underneath zone. BC's base is still a 4-3. WILL and SS take the flats underneath, with the two interior LBs playing hook/curl zone and the SAM taking a slot/TE (curl) zone up the seam (note that it could also appear as a shifted 4-3, with the Sam playing in a 3pt stance). The two CBs and the FS are playing the usual 3-deep zone coverage. In the figure above, W, S, and B are LB's (Will/Sam/Bandit), and the SS's are called "Dogs" on the callside, "Rover" on the weakside. One of them will most likely be a OLB or backup Safety/Nickel. Its just terminology.

Read the explanation (Long)

As that article indicates, hitting the 4-verticals play will be key. Wake did it to them. We saw FSU use this against Jax State (Caz Piurowski), and once against BYU.

BC's defense was the ACC's best and easily top 5 nationally. They beat FSU up last year. FSU had the youngest offensive line in the country and were destroyed by an ultra-talented and experienced set of defensive linemen and linebackers. I have full confidence that Frank Spaziani will come up with good game plan after good game plan, but his ability to get creative will be severely hampered because his defense will face far fewer obvious passing situations. He's also never been a blitz guy, and he'll definitely need to blitz FSU to get pressure, because FSU's offensive line can handle BC's 3 or 4 man rush. When BC blitzes, can their secondary handle the single coverage responsibilities against FSU's wideouts? Though they will run a lot of cover-3, I do expect to see some man at times, particularly when blitzing. I expect FSU to run the ball on BC, even without a 100% Christian Ponder, force BC to make adjustments that they really don't want to do, and then FSU will exploit them down the field. This game could look very different from a big plays standpoint. BYU was content to sit back, but BC will not. If FSU starts to run on them, or picks them apart underneath, Spaziani will blitz. Their blitz wasn't good against Wake Forest, but I suspect it will be better Saturday, if needed.

For Florida State, a lot of this game comes down to not beating themselves. They have to get DT Scafe blocked. Other than that, I would not be worried about BC's defensive players more so than I would about FSU beating themselves. FSU needs to throw when BC has predictable run personnel in the game, be it via play-action or a regular dropback. McGlaughlin is 30lbs bigger than any other linebacker BC has, and FSU needs to make BC pay for having him on the field, specifically because he isn't particularly mobile at this point. And if they remove him, run the ball. Jermaine Thomas is back this week as the starting running back, which should be good. I could See Easterling having a big day from the slot.

Of course, the major X-Factor is the rain, and there will be lots and lots of cold rain. I am not sure what that means for a team like FSU, and this game is played on turf. So far this year I predicted a very high scoring Miami game, a high scoring Win at BYU, and had a very uneasy feeling about the USF game, predicting FSU to win by less than a touchdown when everyone else saw a blowout. I don't have the same grasp on this game. I'll say FSU runs for 180 yards on 36 carries, and throws for 240 yards on 30 pass plays (28 throws, 2 sacks). It'll be good for 28 points in some nasty conditions.

I watched the Clemson and Wake Forest games in their entirety. I don't feel much can be learned from the Clemson game in terms of defending BC. Clemson has one of the top 3 defenses in the country. I can think of at least 35 teams I would trade defenses with. Clemson was able to do things to the Eagle's offense that FSU simply cannot do, because literally, Clemson has a definitively better player at 9 of the 11 defensive positions. Also, Clemson is much better coached. But we can still break down BC's Offense, which again, will probably look like what we saw against Wake and not Clemson.

In the off-season, I wrote this on BC's Offense. There have been some changes, so I'll quickly run through them.

The Eagles lost up and coming star coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who was fired after flirting with the NFL. That's a smart move for Boston College, because Jags is a very hot commodity and would have left soon anyways. He got a lot out of his players and his team outperformed the expectations of everyone. The Eagles also lost highly respected Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach, Steve Logan. Both are not with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Replacing Jagodzinski is longtime defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani. More on him later. Replacing Logan is Gary Tranquil, who was born in 1940. At one time, he was a decent offensive coach, but he's been out of the college game for 4 years. Where Logan was excellent and really took advantage of his player's talents and opposing defenses, Tranquil is not highly thought of. He runs a pro-style offense, does not spread teams out, and does not utilize his quarterback in the run game at all. His schemes are simple and from a purely schematic standpoint, Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews should own him. They are also abandoning their zone blocking scheme. Tranquil's offense is literally what Mickey Andrew's defense is designed to stop.

Unfortunately, there have been some changes here. I still don't think Tranquil is any good, but after their anemic showing against Clemson, they scrapped a lot of the new stuff and went back to the zone scheme that was successful for them last season. BC is running a lot of two-tight end sets, which scares me. I will say I was right in that they are trying to be more of a power run team. In an ideal world, they man-block a power run game. The next best thing for FSU would be power running w/ no QB threat from a zone scheme. The worst possible scenario would be spread run with a mobile QB. So it's not all bad, but it's definitely not ideal.

Boston College has a great offensive line. We talk a lot about how good FSU's O-Line can be, but I am here to tell you that BC's line is every bit as good. This is one of the best offensive lines in the country. They return all 5 starters. This is an excellent group. People make a big deal about his "big" these guys are, but they really aren't huge.

LT Anthony Castonzo (6-7, 287, Jr.)
RT Rich Lapham (6-8, 322, Jr.)
LG Thomas Claiborne (6-3, 323, Jr.)
RG Emmett Cleary (6-7, 270, R-Fr.)
C Matt Tennant (6-4, 294, Sr.)

Castonzo is a likely NFL 1st day pick (2nd rounder, maybe 1st, probably 2011 draft). He is an excellent pass blocker and is pretty quick. FSU's defensive end will have a tough time doing much against him. Lapham is obviously huge at right tackle. He is a very good run blocker but has bad feet and is a liability in pass protection. Not an NFL player. At Left Guard, Claiborne is an ex-defensive tackle who was excellent last year. He was 3rd team ALL-ACC and should be even better this year. Claiborne is an NFL player provided he keeps his weight in check. At Left Guard, Cleary is the newcomer to the group. He could be good eventually and was a tackle coming out of high school, but he's quite raw and will need to work on his back and knee bend to be any good. At Center, Tennant should be first team ACC. He's better than FSU's Ryan McMahon, though obviously less known. Don't get mad, FSU fans, I'm just giving it to you straight. BC has at least three NFL linemen who are probably 1st day (top 4 round) selections on their line. They return 4 starters and the line has 4 upperclassmen. This is an excellent offensive line and will make BC's skill position players look much better than they are. This isn't the most heralded unit in the country, but unless you judge offensive lines on things other than performance, talent, or experience, they should be considered one of the better groups. FSU will have one heckuva time against this unit.

Not much change here. Important to note that they were terrible against an all-time great Clemson defensive line, which was partially due to the Tiger's dominance, and partially due to the confusion. How disciplined to the scheme will BC stay? Will Tranquil try to throw some of his new stuff in there and risk confusing his own group? BC has a huge advantage here. They should be conservative and pound the rock until FSU clearly says "we're devoting extra people against the run, throw on us." FSU's DLine is now as bad as I thought they would be- they are worse.

At Quarterback, BC has Dave Shinskie, who is a 25 year-old Pocket passer and he also played minor league baseball. He hasn't played football in 6 years. More on him here. He's a good passer, because he was a decent prospect coming out of high school. He's not a run threat, however, and that's really what the 'Noles care about. They also have a kid named Tuggle, son of former NFL All-Pro Jessie Tuggle. He's an athletic freak but a really erratic passer.

If I were BC, I'd use Tuggle in the shotgun all day and run zone read down FSU's throat 55 times for about 350 yards. I think we'll see some Wildcat with him, but not as the base package, and that's a good thing.

The Eagles look good at running back. Montel Harris is their big back at 5' 10" 200. He had one heckuva game last year against the 'Noles as a freshman. He's not a home run threat, and this author thinks he's more of a product of BC's offensive line, but he does what is asked of him and grinds out tough yards. Last year he gained 900 yards on 179 carries (5 YPC), and caught 20 balls for 160 yards. The other back is Josh Haden, a scatback who gained 479 yards on 120 carries (4 YPC). He's 5'8" 182lbs, but should catch a few more balls this year. Blocking for these two is Senior James McClusky. He's 6'2" 250lbs and a mauler. He did hurt his Achilles in spring, however, and the Eagles desperately need him to be healthy this year as they utilize a 2-back attack. I fully expect Harris to get 200 carries this year, and also expect his average to drop a bit as other teams key on him more.

McCluskey is doubtful with an Achilles injury. So BC is running more two tight end sets, as I mentioned. Haden is still inconsistent, but he is very skilled and could break a long run. So about those wideouts and tight ends...

The Eagles do return WR Rich Gunnell, who was basically Robinson's equal in production, though far less explosive. Florida State's Patrick Robinson can easily handle him one on one without help (Robinson is CBS' #1 Draft Eligible Corner), and he'll be asked to as the 'Noles focus on stopping the run. They also have Justin Jarvis, who is 6'5" and was decently productive this year. Can Jarvis handle the increased role? That remains to be seen, but the Eagles are counting on him. The remaining guys are relatively unheralded wild cards. Junior Ifeanyi Momah is 6'6" 230 and caught 11 for 149 and 3TD's last season. He's their Greg Carr, except bulkier and about as fast as your average tight end. RsFr Clyde Lee had a decent spring I am told and could play some in the slot (though I suspect BC will not use many 3-wide sets). Finally, can Senior Clarence Megwa (6'1" 190) come back from a thought to be career-ending leg injury? If he can, BC will need him, because he started for them last year. Update: Megwa's leg is apparently healed, he's dealing with a hand injury and they expect him to be ready for the FSU game.

At tight end, 6'3" 250lb Soph Lars Anderson has a chance to be a very good pass catcher. Last year he snagged 9 balls for 85 yards. They also have Jordan McMichael, who was a very nice recruit in 2006 (I think), but has done nothing to date to impress anyone.

I don't think any of the draft eligible guys will get drafted. They really don't seem all that special. They aren't bad, but rather are just good college players.

Some notes. First, Gunnell has struggled, which almost certainly means he will have a big day against FSU, but Robinson should lock him down easily. Momah is definitely out. BC is using a tight end by the name of Chris Pantale, and he's been good for them. The McMichael kid is very good. Again, two tight end sets.

For FSU, most of the defensive line will play, but that is not to say they are healthy. Freshman JaJuan Harley, back from injury problems, will start at Rover over much maligned Senior Korey Mangum. Think of it as a mercy killing. Harley is the best athlete on the team and maybe in the ACC, but expect maddening inconsistency, busts, and also some highlight plays from the true freshman making his first ever start.

I expect BC to stay in two-tight end sets, with 1 back and two wideouts. They should be able to run the ball on the Noles, particularly with counters and traps, in addition to their zone run game, which is already good. I'm not re-inventing the wheel here. This is the same stuff you've seen since Chuck Amato replaced Kevin Steele as FSU's linebacker coach. Oh, they have a little speed-option they run as well. BC runs a ton of play-action passes, and I expect them to do well with those to their two impressive tight ends because FSU's players just aren't taught well on the defensive side. The defensive acuity just hasn't been instilled in these guys. It's not their fault. I'll take BC to have 200 yards rushing and 180 throwing, and 24 points.

Noles 28, BC 24.

Note: the heavy, heavy rain here is keeping my score prediction down. If it were higher, I'd predict a higher number.

'Nole Your Enemy: The Boston College Eagle's Offense

FSUncensored — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:36:03 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

4 months ago: Boston College quarterback David Shinskie passes the ball during NCAA college football practice, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Browse more photos »

We continue our " 'Nole Your Enemy" Series with Boston College. We started with South Florida (Offense, Defense) and continued with BYU's Offense and Defense.

On October 3rd, the 'Noles will travel to Chetnutt Hill to face the Boston College Eagles. Last year, BC got the best of the 'Noles in Tallahassee, 27-17. The year before that, FSU beat BC at their place and eliminated the Eagles from National Title Contention (remember that they had Matt Ryan in 2007). The year before that, BC beat FSU in Tallahassee (the day game where Weatherford threw the horrible pick-6 right before the half).

But how good was last year's BC offense and how good will they be this year?

On offense, Boston College was not great, but they weren't as bad as you might think.

The Fremeau Efficiency Index calls them the 43rd rated offense, while Bill Connelley's S&P+ measure says they were the 46th. That's very close. Remember that these measures adjust for opponent, so BC doesn't get a lot of credit for torching cupcakes, and they don't get offensive credit when their defense scores. They also don't credit teams for scoring in garbage time. Let's have a look:

FSU had the best offense in the conference, arguably, though this meausre has Georgia Tech a bit better. Boston College's was sort of middle of the road.

Here's Bill Connelley's measure (100 is considered average, so over 100 is good, under 100 is not):

FSU had the best offense in the conference by this measure. Boston College's was sort of middle of the road.

Here's a look at their passing game:

Hmm, it seems that BC's passing game was pretty average.

Here's their run game:

So Boston College's rushing game was pretty average as well.

I'll save you the charts, but their performance in conference games was about the same. That doesn't really matter though, because the above metrics adjust for opponent (playing a cupcake won't help the above numbers because of the opponent adjustment). Still you can check out that link if you want.

The Eagles lost up and coming star coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who was fired after flirting with the NFL. That's a smart move for Boston College, because Jags is a very hot commodity and would have left soon anyways. He got a lot out of his players and his team outperformed the expectations of everyone. The Eagles also lost highly respected Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach, Steve Logan. Both are not with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Replacing Jagodzinski is longtime defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani. More on him later. Replacing Logan is Gary Tranquil, who was born in 1940. At one time, he was a decent offensive coach, but he's been out of the college game for 4 years. Where Logan was excellent and really took advantage of his player's talents and opposing defenses, Tranquil is not highly thought of. He runs a pro-style offense, does not spread teams out, and does not utilize his quarterback in the run game at all. His schemes are simple and from a purely schematic standpoint, Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews should own him. They are also abandoning their zone blocking scheme. Tranquil's offense is literally what Mickey Andrew's defense is designed to stop. See for yourself:

FSU's Defense		Total Off.			Rushing				Passing
Opponent Type	PPG	Plays	Yds	Per Play	No	Net	YPC	TFL's	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	Int	Sacks	Dropbacks/ Sacks	QB Rating
Pro-Style	19	65	270	4.1	31	83	2.6	10	34	17	187	1.2	1.2	4.3	8.8	100
Decidedly Not Pro-Style	28	60	385	6.4	39	235	6.0	7	20	11	151	1.5	0.5	0.8	28	138

What I am trying to say is that Tranquil is a huge downgrade from Logan, but against FSU, it's an even bigger downgrade. Last year, BC used the threat of the QB run to hurt FSU's defense, including a 16 play (all rushing)- 67 yard drive, consuming 8:55 of the clock and icing the game (ended in a field goal). They literally ran the same play over and over again. FSU's defense was so poorly taught under lame duck coaches Mickey Andrews and Chuck Amato, that they let BC run some variation of the same play for at least 10 of those snaps. In any case, what we're hearing out of BC's camp is that the Eagles will run a pro-style attack featuring two backs. That will be juuuuust fine with the 'Noles.

Quarterback

Under center, The Eagles lost Chris Crane, who was inconsistent but not terrible. They also lost Dominique Davis, who failed out of school and has since transferred. Davis wasn't very good anyways, so that's not a big deal. In keeping with the elderly theme will be Dave Shinskie, a 25 year-old Pocket passer who played minor league baseball. He hasn't played football in 6 years. More on him here. I project him to be a decent passer, because he was a decent prospect coming out of high school. He's not a run threat, however, and that's really what the 'Noles care about. Seeing that he's a freshman, but older than this author, his maturity might mean that he won't be a huge downgrade. Of course, he also hasn't worked with these wideouts all off-season and been in the system at all.

Our friends at BC Interruption helped us out a bit here and Brian had this to add:

There is some serious talk about true freshman Michael Marscovetra starting. He has had as good of a summer as any other candidate and has good arm strength. I think the deciding factor will be Shinskie's maturity though and his effect in the huddle. Notable how far Justin Tuggle has slid down the depth chart, but as you point out, Tranquill/Spaz favor the pro-style pocket passer to the Tuggle/Davis, running-QB mold that Jags/Logan recruited. Just hope that Tuggle can be used in another way (message board chatter has been throw him in at LB just like his dad?).

I really don't know much about Marscovetra.

Offensive Line

Boston College has a great offensive line. We talk a lot about how good FSU's O-Line can be, but I am here to tell you that BC's line is every bit as good. This is one of the best offensive lines in the country. They return all 5 starters. This is an excellent group. People make a big deal about his "big" these guys are, but they really aren't huge.

LT Anthony Castonzo (6-7, 287, Jr.)
RT Rich Lapham (6-8, 322, Jr.)
LG Thomas Claiborne (6-3, 323, Jr.)
RG Emmett Cleary (6-7, 270, R-Fr.)
C Matt Tennant (6-4, 294, Sr.)

Castonzo is a likely NFL 1st day pick (2nd rounder, maybe 1st, probably 2011 draft). He is an excellent pass blocker and is pretty quick. FSU's defensive end will have a tough time doing much against him. Lapham is obviously huge at right tackle. He is a very good run blocker but has bad feet and is a liability in pass protection. Not an NFL player. At Left Guard, Claiborne is an ex-defensive tackle who was excellent last year. He was 3rd team ALL-ACC last year and should be even better this year. Claiborne is an NFL player provided he keeps his weight in check. At Left Guard, Cleary is the newcomer to the group. He could be good eventually and was a tackle coming out of high school, but he's quite raw and will need to work on his back and knee bend to be any good. At Center, Tennant should be first team ACC. He's better than FSU's Ryan McMahon, though obviously less known. Don't get mad, FSU fans, I'm just giving it to you straight. BC has at least three NFL linemen who are probably 1st day (top 4 round) selections on their line. They return 4 starters and the line has 4 upperclassmen. This is an excellent offensive line and will make BC's skill position players look much better than they are. This isn't the most heralded unit in the country, but unless you judge offensive lines on things other than performance, talent, or experience, they should be. FSU will have one heckuva time against this unit.

Running Back

The Eagles look much better at running back. Montel Harris is their big back at 5' 10" 200. He had one heckuva game last year against the 'Noles as a freshman. He's not a home run threat, and this author thinks he's more of a product of BC's offensive line, but he does what is asked of him and grinds out tough yards. Last year he gained 900 yards on 179 carries (5 YPC), and caught 20 balls for 160 yards. The other back is Josh Haden, a scatback who gained 479 yards on 120 carries (4 YPC). He's 5'8" 182lbs, but should catch a few more balls this year. Blocking for these two is Senior James McClusky. He's 6'2" 250lbs and a mauler. He did hurt his Achilles in spring, however, and the Eagles desperately need him to be healthy this year as they utilize a 2-back attack. I fully expect Harris to get 200 carries this year, and also expect his average to drop a bit as other teams key on him more.

Wide Receiver/ Tight Ends

The Eagles aren't hurting much here either, but they aren't exactly loaded. They have to replace their best wideout and their best tight end, in Brandon Robinson and Ryan Purvis, respectively. Robinson caught 42 balls for 646 yards. Purvis snagged 24 for 176 yards. The Eagles do return Rich Gunnell, who was basically Robinson's equal in production, though far less explosive. Florida State's Patrick Robinson can easily handle him one on one without help (Robinson is CBS' #1 Draft Eligible Corner), and he'll be asked to as the 'Noles focus on stopping the run. They also have Justin Jarvis, who is 6'5" and was decently productive this year. Can Jarvis handle the increased role? That remains to be seen, but the Eagles are counting on him. The remaining guys are relatively unheralded wild cards. Junior Ifeanyi Momah is 6'6" 230 and caught 11 for 149 and 3TD's last season. He's their Greg Carr, except bulkier and about as fast as your average tight end. RsFr Clyde Lee had a decent spring I am told and could play some in the slot (though I suspect BC will not use many 3-wide sets). Finally, can Senior Clarence Megwa (6'1" 190) come back from a thought to be career-ending leg injury? If he can, BC will need him, because he started for them last year. Update: Megwa's leg is apparently healed, he's dealing with a hand injury and they expect him to be ready for the FSU game.

At tight end, 6'3" 250lb Soph Lars Anderson has a chance to be a very good pass catcher. Last year he snagged 9 balls for 85 yards. They also have Jordan McMichael, who was a very nice recruit in 2006 (I think), but has done nothing to date to impress anyone.

I don't think any of the draft eligible guys will get drafted. They really don't seem all that special. They aren't bad, but rather are just average college players.

Boston College's offense should not be as good as they were last year by the time FSU rolls into town. I believe that BC's offensive staff is now much worse than they were last year (think Jeff Bowden bad), and their quarterback hasn't played organized football in 6 years. By the end of the season this offense might be as good as they were last year, but this preview concerns the FSU-BC game, so I don't care about what the Eagles do later in the year. As noted above, their scheme plays right into FSU's hands. FSU will be able to use the schemes that made Mickey Andrews famous, single cover Gunnell with Robinson, and dare BC to throw. I expect this offense to lack explosiveness, and while FSU will probably be burned once or twice with play-action, FSU's full-commitment to stopping the running game should be well worth it.

Tomorrow: Taking a look at BC's defense.

For more on BC, see:

BC Interruption or Eagle in Atlanta

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Florida State's Receivers Embrace New Roles

FSUncensored — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:45:44 -0000

Taiwan Easterling hauls in a pass against Colorado. He will work mostly from the slot this year.

View full size photo »

As redshirt freshmen in 2008, Taiwan Easterling and Bert Reed didn't think they would be relied upon, as Florida State returned senior Greg Carr and junior Preston Parker. But they would soon be asked to come through on crucial plays. Early in the first quarter against hated rival Miami, Easterling caught a 9 yard pass on second and 10, setting up an easily convertible 3rd & 1 which FSU converted on the way to scoring a touchdown for the early 7-0 lead. As the half wound down, FSU was again driving, hoping to add to their 21-0 lead. With less than a minute left, Reed took a short pass, made a 'Cane miss, and scooted 19 yards up the sideline for the first down. FSU would add a field goal to close out the half. Late in the third quarter as Miami cut the one time 21 point lead to just 9, and with the rain pouring down, FSU again dialed up Easterling's number, as quarterback Christian Ponder hit Easterling for a 27 yard strike on third and 13 as Taiwan ran a beautiful route on a drenched field. Then in the 4th quarter, as the Hurricanes had cut the lead to just 2, Easterling ran a reverse for 20 yards. The play was ballsy given the circumstances and it caught the 'Canes totally off guard.

The way Reed and Easterling were thrown into the fire was refreshing for Seminoles fans, who had become accustomed to an unnecessary amount of deference to upperclassmen under the previous offensive coaching staff, led by Jeff Bowden. That's not to say that Carr and Parker weren't used effectively, but Easterling was the 'Noles best wide receiver in 2008 and Reed was a dangerous weapon who changed several games with his speed. I sat down with both of them Sunday to discuss what we can expect to see from them and the receiving corps this year.

Taiwan will play mostly slot this year (the "Y). This is good for the 'Noles because he is excellent at reading defenses and sitting down in the vacated areas in zone coverage. He's also decent at running the bubble screens FSU used so well last year when teams showed certain alignments. I asked Easterling about playing the slot. "I can really play all over. I know all the routes for all the positions. ," Easterling said. He talked about making the reads in the slot. "it's not harder than the outside, I don't know, it's just different. You have to see the safeties and once you get the safeties you know the defense. I just watch a lot of film and it seems to come natural to me." He also credited his high school program with helping him get ready for the college level "we threw the ball a lot, no huddle stuff and the QB and I would make the checks at the line, so that helped me a little, but I didn't play there but for one year, so it was still a huge adjustment for me and I had to watch a lot of film."

Easterling is quite the film rat, and if he is recovered from his surgery (he says he is 100%, which is remarkable), he will be quite the weapon for FSU, particularly on 3rd downs. On his recovery, Easterling had this encouraging nugget "I feel a lot more explosive, because when i was doing my rehab I worked a lot of my smaller muscles in my leg that I normally wouldn't work." Easterling said he's a little sore, but feels good. He's also a lot bigger in the upper body.

Bert Reed was up next. The speedster with the newly shaved head said that he was excited about his move to the "X", which is the outside. "I really have to work on my release because the corners are up on me, and they weren't like that when I was in the slot, but I also don't have to block those 225lb linebackers, because at 175lbs that doesn't work too well." "I'm excited about playing on the outside where I can get the ball in space and only have to make one guy miss, even though I won't be catching those bubbles any more." [Realistically, Reed can and probably will still catch bubbles when FSU uses a trips (3-WR to one side) formation, or even in twins. FSU won't stop putting the ball in his hands.]

Reed also talked about feeling a greater responsibility this year. Last year, teams didn't respect FSU's run game (though it was very good), but they did respect the deep passing game (though it was poor), because FSU had two 6'6" wideouts in Carr and Corey Surrency. I asked Bert about the challenge and opportunity he would face as teams are likely to play single coverage against the 'Noles. "Oh we know they are going to try to stop the run game. The pressure is on us to make them pay when they bring those safeties down and play single coverage. But that also gives us opportunities for big plays. Ponder has more authority this year. If he sees them playing like that he'll let me know and I'll take off deep. We have to stretch the field and prove we can get separation and big plays deep. They have to fear us getting behind them." I asked Bert if any team showed that look last year. "Virginia Tech challenged us like you we expect to see this year, but other than that, nobody else really did. I guess NC State did a bit. Greg made Virginia Tech pay though with those two bombs." "We have opportunities to make big big plays deep this year through play-action and when teams pack the box. We were way short of our goal last year in big plays, and this year teams know we can run and we have to hit them deep if they try too much to stop the run."

I asked Bert about the hidden things Corey Surrency did. "His attitude was amazing, his attitude he brought to practice was great, and he did have the best things on our team. The catches he had to make were really tough. He was so tough and I made a lot of plays through Corey. I'm gonna miss running them bubbles and having him drive his guy." Bert thinks the wideouts need to step up to replace Surrency's blocking.

Bert also said that the game is really slowing down for him. "It really is. It's a comfort thing. I started to see that my 2nd year of quarterback in high school. Catching the ball now is almost effortless. It is becoming second nature and playing wideout now in my third year helps that." [Bert played QB in high school.]

Contrary to what Easterling said, Bert feels the reads at the "X" position are much easier than those at the slot (the "Y"). "Oh yeah, absolutely, because you have more time. You have less guys to read, and you can see everything because you only have to look in, not both ways. It makes it easier for me to know what to do." It seems that Easterling in the Slot and Bert at the "X" should be a good fit.

For more on what FSU could do with their wideouts this year, see Strategy Session: Bubble-N-Go

Will the Florida State Offensive Line Pass Protect in 2009?

FSUncensored — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:57:35 -0000

There's a secret in coaching circles that most 'Nole fans don't know about and those who do know don't want the rest of the college football world to know: FSU's offensive line was very good last year- for being the youngest line in the nation. It's that qualifier that should dig at FSU's starting five. It's like saying "that's a nice jumpshot- for a girl." The truth of the matter is that without the qualifier, the statement that "Florida State's offensive line was very good in 2008" is false. All told, if you evaluated their performance without knowing how young they were, you'd be hard pressed to come up with anything more than average. There's a big difference between wildly exceeding expectations and being elite on a national or conference scale. When FSU needed their offensive line to dig in and provide protection in 2008, in passing situations like 2nd & 8+ or 3rd & 5+, the line failed miserably. They simply could not pass protect. Sure, they made big strides in other areas, and looked much better than some of the garbage produced by Jimmy Heggins and Mark McHale in the early and middle parts of this decade, but 'Nole fans eager to have a decent offensive line jumped all over the idea that their boys up front were now elite. They have not yet earned the pre-season accolades being strewn upon them by the media. Not with last year's performance. This year the challenge is to become elite- not just elite considering their youth.

This piece uses advanced measures. You may be familiar with how some of baseball's advanced and highly-specialized, opponent-normalized measures are taking over the way the sports world operates. Baseball is being dominated by all kinds of super metrics, and football is swiftly moving in that direction as progressive athletic departments and professional teams move to hire the advanced minds to give their team the edge in self-scouting and talent evaluation. They seek to improve their performance through a better understanding of the macro and micro elements of the their approach. Here's a look at FSU's 2007 and 2008 offense through the lense of the best available measures.

Measure	2007	2008
Fremeau Efficiency Index: Adjusted Offensive Efficiency (Drive Based)	82nd	15th
Vartisy Numbers Offensive Rating (Play-By-Play Based)	71st	33rd
Varsity Numbers Rushing Rating	89th	15th
Varsity Numbers Passing Rating	47th	57th

Fremeau Link | Varsity Numbers Link A big thank you to Brian Fremeau and Bill Connelly. Without their work, none of this would have been possible.

Everyone knows that Florida State made an improbable leap with their running attack last year, improving from the 89th rated rushing attack in 2007 to the 15th rated rushing attack in 2008. (Rating based off Varsity Numbers S&P close measure, which is adjusted for opponent and removes garbage time possessions). They did this despite having the youngest offensive line in the nation with three true freshmen and two sophomores. The end result was the top offense in the ACC, earning Jimbo Fisher the ACC Offensive Coordinator of the Year Award. All was not perfect, however, as the passing attack went from being rated 47th to 57th nationally (Rating based off Varsity Numbers S&P close measure, which is adjusted for opponent and removes garbage time possessions).

We've already spoken about the running game at length here, here, and here. Today we'll talk about the passing game, and specifically the much-heralded offensive line.

By almost any measure, be it the very basic total yards, or the hyper-advanced Varsity Numbers Close S&P+ measure, FSU's passing offense took a step back in 2008. But the step back was not nearly as large as some of the unrefined numbers indicate. In terms of yards per game, FSU fell from 47th in 2007 to 82nd in 2008. That's quite the drop, but the smarter measures suggest the drop was really only about ten spots, not 35, as the 'Noles saw their passing game fall from 47th to 57th nationally. Why is this so?

To better understand just how far the passing game fell (not as far as you might think), it is important to understand the components of the super advanced passing metric. Close S&P+ is comprised of Success Rate, and Points Per Play (a measure of explosiveness), in situations where the game is not wildly out of hand, and then normalized for opponent quality.

Measure	2007	2008
Passing S&P (combination of the two)	47th	57th
Success Rate +	62nd	28th
Points Per Play +	48th	73rd

To understand what this means please follow (and read) this link follow link. It's detailed but you will learn a lot. If you do not read it, this will not make much sense.

Success Rate

This one immediately jumps out at me. Back in early 2008, I argued against Drew Weatherford and stated that he was selfish for taking a 6 yard gain on 3rd and 11 in order to not throw an interception. It helped his numbers, but not the team, as the punt team was called upon a record number of times. In 2008, Christian Ponder was almost the exact opposite, as he tried to throw for the first down a bunch. Throwing for 7 yards on 3rd and 10 is a great example of how regular statistics can be misleading. Everything about that play looks good for the quarterback, but it doesn't help the team much. When FSU needed a conversion, they typically got it in 2008 where they did not in 2007. The jump from 62nd to 28th is excellent and FSU would do well to maintain that 28th Success Rate position in 2009.

Points Per Play (explosiveness)

While the Success Rate was better in 2008 than in 2007, the 'Noles Points Per Play was not. Think of Points Per Play as Slugging Percentage (and Success Rate as On-Base-Percentage). FSU's 2008 offense lacked the big plays of the 2007 year, and the difference was noticeable, as FSU fell from 48th to 73rd in PPP+ (explosiveness). Why was this? Did FSU simply trade big play potential for more consistency? Sort of. It's not that simple.

To understand the results we have to examine the process. Last summer FSU knew that it had a very difficult situation at offensive line, as they suffered transfers, injuries, and had their most promising offensive tackle flunk out of school. The offensive line was the youngest in the nation. FSU decided that their makeup could do well in most games as a quick, double-teaming run blocking unit and a passable quick game protection unit. They didn't come out and say so, but the makeup of the offensive line (very small and young) wasn't going to be conducive to pass protection. That runs counter-intuitive to what many often think of when they conjure up images of a young line- as young lines typically do okay in pass protection but lack the tenacity and push needed to dominate in the run game. Typically, young offensive linemen are soft, but they do have bulk and it is that bulk which is needed to sustain the initial jolt delivered by the pass rusher. If a pass rusher knows he will have success witl the bull rush (straight ahead), he will not attempt other moves. FSU's line was different because it had the quickness to attain angles to block for the run, but the young guys were simply too small to effectively pass protect. The Problem was physical maturity. Kid's seemed for the most part to be assignment smart but lacked the bulk and strength to compete play to play. They couldn't withstand a bull rush and as a result, had to keep tighter than ideal splits in an attempt to force the pass-rushers outside. Think of FSU's 2008 pass protection as a high school basketball pack-it-in defense. It worked sometimes, but ACC edge rushers (more 1st round draft picks on defense than any other conference over the last 5 years) could beat the freshmen tackles to the outside. Additionally, Ryan McMahon struggled with injury and the sophomore center was routinely driven back. The pocket rarely existed for Christian Ponder.

Here's an important quote about pass protection:

Pass protection usually begins with the understanding that if the defense rushes five or six guys, you can pick them up, but your blockers will have to be able to block at least one defender one-on-one. No pass protection scheme can count on double teaming all possible rushers. If you can't handle Lawrence Taylor man-for-man, then a five man rush becomes like a seven or eight man blitz, but also with sound coverage behind it.

And trusting your protection as a quarterback really begins with an expectation of protection. Quarterbacks are told not to pay attention to the rush. You have to feel the rush but not look at it. That whole concept is built upon the assumption that most plays will be blocked successfully and to adapt to protection breakdowns. With FSU in 2008, no QB could reasonably have an expectation of protection, because it was not there. The Offensive Line's pass protection was nonexistent in summer practice, Fall Camp, and by most defenses. Sure, they did okay on some of the shorter passes and the screens- plays that didn't require them to have the initial bulk to sustain a rusher's jolt, but the dropback pass protection was just not there.

Aside from the offensive line's makeup, there are yet other reasons for the contrast in the run and the pass game. For a long, long time, FSU was pass first, second, and last. Heck, Bobby Bowden even wrote essays by the name of "The Pass First Offense". Forever and ever, teams geared up to stop FSU by stopping the pass. And going into last year, teams did not fear FSU's run game, nor their quarterback. No, they were scared of FSU's wideouts, however, in a big way. Greg Carr and Preston Parker, along with newcomer Corey Surrency (who teams regarded as a Carr clone) scared opposing defenses. Teams absolutely played to stop the deep ball. They kept their safeties back. Wayyy back. They did not stack the box. Defenses allowed the 'Noles to throw short passes and run the ball but they declared, via their pre-snap alignment, time and again, that they would not allow the deep ball. While Surrency and Carr had disappointing years, the very threat of the deep ball to them made playing back an easy choice for defenses. No team really challenged FSU's wideouts with single coverage- except for Virginia Tech- against whom Carr caught two crucial bombs.

And even after FSU began to run the football really well (Colorado and Miami), teams did not respect FSU's run game. The 'Noles were putting up top 20 rushing performances, and yet their past reputation of rushing ineptitude still carried the day. Most of the time, Fisher did a good job of running the ball against these looks. Occasionally, he tried to force pass plays against teams when the defensive formation dictated that a run be called- most notably Clemson.

But teams did make some adjustments to what FSU was doing. Teams saw Wake Forest shut FSU down with their excellent front 7 and not involve their safeties. Opponents continued to try to emulate that game plan. It didn't work against the run for the most part, as FSU started to gash opponents, but it did work against the pass. NC State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and UF all did a great job generating pressure without bringing any blitz. They kept everyone else back in coverage. Unfortunately for the 'Noles, the youngest offensive line in the country could not protect against a simple 4-man rush. Typically when a team faces pressure, there are easier throws available because the defense is sacrificing a coverage player and rushing him, but the 'Noles faced great coverage and enormous pressure because opposing defenses were able to generate that pressure without sacrificing that coverage player to the rush. The other part of this was the complete lack of respect for the FSU play-action game, which is of course based off the threat of the run.

Here's a more detailed look:

Performance- Varsity Numbers 2007/2008	'07 Rank	'08 Rank
Passing Close S&P + (combo if Success Rate and Points Per Play)	47th	57th
Success Rate +	62nd	28th
Points Per Play+ (PPP+)	48th	73rd
Non-Passing Downs (1-10, 2-7 or less, 3rd and 4 or less) S&P+	47th	53rd
Non-Passing Downs (1-10, 2-7 or less, 3rd and 4 or less) Success rate +	37th	56th
Non-Passing Downs (1-10, 2-7 or less, 3rd and 4 or less) Points Per Play +	86th	47th
Passing Downs (2nd & 8+, 3rd & 5+) S&P+	53rd	27th
Passing Downs (2nd & 8+, 3rd & 5+) Success Rate +	96th	69th
Passing Downs (2nd & 8+, 3rd & 5+) Points Per Play +	82nd	57th

Okay, so you're probably trying to make sense of this, as you should. How could FSU's passing attack be rated lower in 2008 than in 2007, yet be slightly better on passing downs? The key is in the measurement. The performance on Non-Passing and Passing downs measures all plays run on those downs- not just passes. And if there was one thing Florida State did very well in 2008 it was run in passing situations.

Here's a look at every successful play (see definition of success rate linked above) the 'Noles fan on passing downs during the 2008 season. See if you can sense a pattern.

Against Wake Forest, FSU succeeded on 8 of 32 plays on Passing Downs (2nd & 8+, 3rd & 5+). FSU ran the ball 11 times in those situations, and had success on 4 of them (36% success rate). FSU ran 21 pass plays in passing situations, and was successful on only 4 of them (19% success rate). While neither are good, the Wake game was a microcosm of the stark differences had on the ground and in the air. Here are the runs:
Wake Forest: 2-10, run for 8
Wake Forest: 2-10, run for 11
Wake Forest: 2-10, run for 9
Wake Forest: 3-8, run for 18
FSU ran 21 pass plays in passing situations (2nd & 8+, 3rd & 5+), and was successful on only 4 of them (19% success rate). This should be the worst passing game in Fisher's history. Here are the passes:
Wake Forest: 3-5, pass for 8
Wake Forest: 3-8, pass for 16
Wake Forest: 3-5, pass for 21
Wake Forest: 3-10, pass for 10
Against Colorado, the 'Noles had a success rate of 35% on passing downs (6-20)
The 'Noles were successul running the ball 3 of 8 times on passing downs. (38%)
Colorado: 2-15, run for 60
Colorado: 2-7, run for 12
Colorado: 2-10, run for 7
The 'Noles were successful throwing the ball on 4 of 12 passing downs (33%)
Colorado: 2-8, pass for 6
Colorado: 2-10, pass for 15
Colorado: 3-8, pass for 17
Colorado: 3-7, pass for 24
Against Miami, the 'Noles faced 28 Passing downs, and were successful on 14 of them, for a great 50% success rate.
The 'Noles ran 15 times on passing downs, and had success on 8 of them! That's 63% successful running in long situations.
Miami: 2-10, run for 30
Miami: 2-10, run for 7
Miami: 2-15, run for 11
Miami: 2-7, run for 6
Miami: 2-11, run for 9
Miami: 3-20, run for 20
Miami: 3-8, run for 12
Miami: 3-11, run for 13
That's pretty remarkable. One of the best performances running in long situations I have ever seen. They were 6/13 on passes in those situations (46%)
Miami: 2-12, pass for 11
Miami: 2-10, pass for 9
Miami: 2-10, pass for 19
Miami: 2-10, pass for 17
Miami: 3-7, pass for 13
Miami: 3-14, pass for 27
Against North Carolina State's porous defense, the 'Noles faced 29 Passing Downs, and had success on 41% of them (12/29).
The 'Noles ran 17 times on passing downs against the Pack, finding success an impressive 7 times (41%)
NCST: 2-8, run for 27
NCST: 2-7, run for 8
NCST: 2-10, run for 11
NCST: 2-7, run for 12
NCST: 2-8, run for 16
NCST: 3-14, run for 15
NCST: 3-8, run for 8
Of the 'Noles 7 successful passing down situation runs, 4 gained a first down by exactly 1 or 0 yards. Talk about knowing where the marker is!
The 'Noles threw 12 times on passing downs, and had success 5 times (42%). You may find it odd that the 'Noles ran a lot more than they threw on passing downs, but consider that NCST's defensive line was abusing FSU's offensive line early in the game to the tune of 5 holding penalties and three sacks.
NCST: 2-14, pass for 13
NCST: 2-16, pass for 17
NCST: 2-10, pass for 17
NCST: 3-21, pass for 30
NCST; 3-17, pass for 23
The Wolfpack really hates playing the run apparently, but they were damn good rushing the passer.
Against VTech the 'Nole offense struggled on most every down. They faced 25 passing downs and had success on only 5 of them, for a horrid success rate of 20%.
VTech was very draw-conscious. FSU ran 10 times in passing situations, finding success only 1 time.
VTECH: 2-10, run for 8.
Because VTech was more focused on the run, FSU's success rate in the passing game was higher (27% on 4 of 15, compared to the 10% above)
VTECH: 2-8, pass for 13
VTECH: 2-15, pass for 13
VTECH: 3-20, pass for 39
VTECH: 3-10, pass for 21
Obviously, VTech's defense was top 10 nationally and Miami's and NCST's weren't in the top half, but this game showed FSU making a good late adjustment (discussed below).
Against Georgia Tech, the 'Noles did an excellent job staying out of Passing Downs, because they did well on first downs. The 'Noles faced only 17 Passing downs, and found success on 10 of them, which is an excellent 59%
The 'Noles ran 4 times in passing situations and absolutely dominated tech doing so, finding success on 3 of the four:
GTECH: 2-15, rush for 39
GTECH: 2-12, rush for 11
GTECH: 2-10, rush for 10
In a departure from the previous games, FSU threw 3X more passes than runs on passing downs (13), successfully doing so on 7 of them (54%)
GTECH: 2-15, pass for 14
GTECH: 2-8, pass for 20
GTECH: 2-17, pass for 13
GTECH: 2-10, pass for 9
GTECH: 3-7, pass for 12
GTECH: 3-8, pass for 10
GTECH: 4-6, pass for 9
The Clemson game is where we really start to see Ponder's injury impact the playcalling. While FSU was a great run team on passing downs earlier in the year, they tailed off considerably at mid-season. That's probably because Fisher didn't want to further injure Ponder. The 'Noles were 6/18 on passing downs (33%). Let's see how that happened:
The 'Noles had 8 runs on passing downs, and were successful on 4 of them, an excellent 50% rate. Interestingly, only one of them was Ponder.
CU: 2-13, run for 21
CU: 2-10, run for 11
CU: 2-10, run for 8
CU: 2-7, run for 27
I was really quite irritated with Jimbo's playcalling in this game. He was trying to force the passing game despite the huge pass protection issues FSU had (linemen pulled in the first quarter for massive blown assignments and poor play). FSU passed 10 times on passing downs, and were only successful 2 times, for a pitiful 20% success rate. Clemson was an extremely good team against the pass and while I've often praised Fisher, he was way too stubborn in this game. If FSU stuck with the run game (and the Clemson's alignment and ability to generate pass pressure with minimal rushers dictates that they should have), the 'Noles could have scored 60. Here are the two successful passes in passing situations:
CU: 3-7, pass for 14
CU: 3-13, pass for 14
Clemson's defense is extremely good and should content for the top spot in the nation in 2009. FSU must be patient and willing to run the ball against Clemson until Clemson shows that they are concerned with FSU's run game.
The Boston College game really showed just how good the Eagles defense was (2nd nationally). While most teams paid dearly for ignoring FSU's run game, BC was able to stop it with minimal personnel and still devote full attention to the 'Noles run game. The results were disasterous, as they would be for any offense in that situation (and most were against BC, as only two teams had more yards per play against BC). Florida State was just 5/21 in passing situations, which probably says as much about Boston College's defense (stacked with NFL starters) as it does FSU'S offense. Still, 24% succcess in passing situations will not get the job done. Let's look at the breakdown:
FSU only ran 4 times in passing situations, but were successful twice (50%, duh).
BC: 2-10, rush for 11
BC: 2-8, rush for 7
This really begs the question, why not run more in these situations? Clearly the 'Noles were quite good at doing so. The answer was Ponder, of course, as he was injured and the backups were not a reasonable alternative for a variety of personal and football reasons. Where earlier in the year the 'Noles would mix their runs and passes in passing situations, they did not do so starting with the GTech game- probably because of the QB injury.
In the passing department, the 'Noles were terrible here, successfully throwing in passing situations only 3 of 17 times! That 's 18%! I am yelling! Let's take a look at the three successful throws:
BC: 2-9, pass for 30
BC: 2-10, pass for 14
BC: 3-5, pass for 14
Again, BC had three top 40 NFL draft pick types- including two top 10 types, and they absolutely manhandled the 'Noles offensive line- even making Rodney Hudson looking terrible. It didn't help that Andrew Datko and Ryan McMahon were injured. Simply put- BC, like Clemson (passing plays only) and Wake, and UF, had an all-decade quality front-7 and rushed few men yet generated a lot of pressure while playing 7 or 8 men in coverage. FSU simply could not block them.
Against Maryland, the 'Noles did a great job on first down and avoided having a lot of passing downs, facing only 16, and converting 5, for a 31% success rate. That's not good, but given the context of the overall game it wasn't a big deal because there just weren't many of the situations.
The 'Noles ran 6 times on passing downs and were successful three times, again posting a decent running success rate of 33%. Ponder took off only three times and had the two successful runs. Go figure.
MD: 2-10, run for 8
MD: 2-10, run for 12
In the passing department, FSU, threw the ball 10 times, and was successful three times.
MD: 2-10, pass for 7
MD: 3-7, pass for 7
Md: 3-11, pass for 18
Maryland's pass rush was not very impressive and it's worth noting that FSU completed a lot of short stuff that just missed counting as a "success."
And against UF, nothing went right. FSU faced 27 Passing Downs, and found success on only 5 (19%). UF had the best defense in the nation and they are in line to have the best defense of all time this season. They shut down everyone in scary fashion.
FSU ran 8 times on passing downs, doing to successfully only twice. That's 25%.
UF: 2-10, run for 8
UF 2-7, run for 9
In the passing game, our offensive line couldn't handle the Gator rush, and they were able to generate a lot of pressure with minimal rushers. I've said this a lot now throughout this piece, but FSU's run blocking was at a level many would call "good", but their pass blocking was in the bottom 30 of all teams Nationally. FSU threw 19 passes on Passing downs, and was successful on only 3. 3 of 19 is 16% and that is bad.
UF: 2-10, pass for 8
UF: 2-9, pass for 12
UF: 3-14, pass for 19
In the Bowl game, FSU got back on track somewhat. The 'Noles faced 23 passing downs, and ran successful plays on 10 of them. That's not too bad- a 43% clip.
The 'Noles ran 6 times on Passing Downs, and were successful on 3, for a success rate of 50%. That's pretty consistent with the 'Noles performance all season when running in passing downs. Here were the plays:
UW: 2-13, run for 11
UW: 2-10, run for 8
UW: 3-5, run for 5
FSU threw 17 passes in passing situations, and had success on 7 of those tries. Let's have a look:
UW: 2-7, pass for 10
UW: 2-10, pass for 9
UW: 2-8, pass for 20
UW: 2-8, pass for 29
UW: 2-15, pass for 12
UW: 3-19, pass for 20
UW: 3-9, pass for 18

I know some of you like things in chart form. Let's do that.

Game	Success Rate on Passing Downs	Rushing Success on Passing Downs	Passing Success on Passing Downs
Wake	8/ 32 (25%)	4/ 11 (36%)	4/ 21 (19%)
Colorado	6/ 20 (35%)	3/ 8 (35%)	4/ 12 (33%)
Miami	14/ 28 (50%)	8/ 15 (63%)	6/ 13 (46%)
NC State	12/ 29 (41%)	7/ 17 (41%)	5/ 12 (42%)
V Tech	5/ 25 (20%)	1/ 10 (10%)	4/ 15 (27%)
G Tech	10/ 17 (59%)	3/ 4 (75%)	7/ 13 (54%)
Clemson	6/ 18 (33%)	4/ 8 (50%)	2/ 10 (20%)
BC	5/ 21 (24%)	2/ 4 (50%)	3/ 17 (18%)
Maryland	5/ 16 (31%)	2/ 6 (33%)	3/ 10 (30%)
Florida	5/ 27 (19%)	2/ 8 (25%)	3/ 19 (16%)
Wisconsin	10/ 23 (43%)	3/ 6 (50%)	7/ 17 (41%)
Totals	86/ 256 (34%)	39/ 97 (40%)	47/ 159 (30%)

And there we have it. The success on passing downs was undeniably buyoed by the ability ot Ponder, Smith, and Thomas to run in situations where the defense was expecting the pass.

Author Nole44 had an excellent comment I wanted to highlight:

1. FSU was 25% more likely to succeed running the ball on passing downs than throwing the ball on passing downs (40% success rate v. 30%). This makes me think we didn't run the ball enough on passing downs.

2. Based on my own recollection, a decent amount of the successful pass plays in passing situations came from bubble screens and similar quick hit passes (which were not featured in 2007). These operated almost like a run in my opinion, keeping the linebackers from cheating up too much and giving our lineman space to run out into the second level after hitting their double team. This bubble screen inflation, for lack of a better term, only underscores how incapable the offensive line was of creating and holding a pocket.

I touched on this above, but he's right. The dropback passing game was even worse when you consider that FSU threw a ton of screens (not dropback passes) and often had success with them.

Though I probably didn't need to list out all of those passes, I think you can see the point. FSU rarely had a completed pass go further than the 1st down marker. That's where the PPP+ (explosiveness) statistic comes in. FSU's passing game was not explosive because the line could not pass protect long enough for the players to run down the field. Almost all of the big pass plays came on screens (which don't require good protection) and jump balls (which don't require good protection). It's okay to have a low completion- high yards per catch passing game, but FSU's yards per catch were not even remotely high enough to make up for all of the blown protections.

The other obvious takeaway is that the success on passing downs came disproportionately from the run game, which isn't a bad thing, but it could be quite misleading to see the success on passing downs. One would think that the 'Noles passing game on 3rd downs was quite good, but we now see that it was the run game and particularly Ponder's legs in the passing situations that propped up the performance. There's a reason the passing numbers got worse and the overall offensive performance on passing downs improved: line play. The line was super quick and could adeptly lock onto smaller defenders when running the ball on passing downs. As discussed above, they still lacked the physical maturity to pass protect. Luckily, there are other ways to demonstarte this:

Bill Connelley discusses these here and here. It's a great measurement which separates offensive line play from the other players in the best available way. No measure is perfect, but it does do a nice job of comparing year to year performance. It doesn't disproportionately reward draw plays, as most of a draw play after the first few yatds is a back making people miss- even though FSU's offensive line is probably the best in the nation at downfield blocking, due to their athleticism. Here you go:

Performance	'07 Ranking	'08 Ranking
Close Line Yards +	85th	52nd
Passing Downs Line Yards +	56th	112th
Non-Passing Downs Line Yards +	91st	36th

Contrast much? Remember our discussion above on FSU switching to an ultra-light and young offensive line which was atypical of a young line which would be big and uncoordinated. This 112th ranking might surprise some of you who are constantly inundated with the Seminole media's praise of the offensive line. We're guilty here as well, as we too often said the offensive line was playing great instead of saying they were playing great considering they are the youngest group in college football. It's like saying she's not a bad ballplayer-- for a girl. The 2007 offensive line was decent in pass protection and abysmal in the run game. The 2008 offensive line was very good in the run game and terrible in pass protection. The tables turned.

I also found this article interesting, http ://www .footballoutsiders .com/walkthrough /2009/walkthrough -i-am-gm, I pulled some pointers on dealing with young quarterbacks. It doesn't discuss dealing with a young offensive line specifically, but some of this should apply to our discussion.

Run the football. It seems simple enough, but some teams forget that the newbie probably isn't ready to pass 45 times per game. Run more often on first-and-10 and second-and-long. Don't be afraid to run or throw a short pass on third-and-long; sometimes it's better to give the defense a chance to go to work than to put too much pressure on the first time QB.

As you can see from the numbers above and the numbers last season, FSU did a great job with this. They limited risk through the run game in an attempt to keep the pressure off the passing game- a passing game they knew was likely to perform poorly at times due to the choices they made in dealing with a pretty unfortunate situation at offensive line.

Increase your protection: Rookie quarterbacks, even great ones, aren't going to read a defense and expertly find the fifth option on a pass. Given the choice between more reads and more blockers, choose extra blockers. Use six and seven man protection schemes often (keeping in backs and tight ends).

Rolling the pocket and using additional blockers limits the offense, but when a rookie is calling the signals, it's better to be limited and well-executed than complicated and confusing.

A friend of ours, Oline0175 (highly respected high school offensive coordinator), had this to say about how FSU did with this idea: Thats definitely how I'd classify our passing game. FSU tried to keep it simple. They limited the scheme for the sake of the QB and WR's, but thats more because they couldn't count on the protection to be there for down the field stuff and the WR's to run the correct routes. Ponder also struggled at times to know where to go with the ball though, particularly in post-snap reads.

Run some low-risk junk. QB runs, direct snaps, unbalanced lines, etc.

This is obvious, FSU ran their QB more than they had in 15 years.

Limit the decisions. Handoffs, option, play-action, screens, pre-snap reads to constraint plays, and rollouts. Get the ball in the hands of the playmakers without having to make difficult downfield throws or complex reads.

This of course depends on experience and time. Balanced teams will usually be more simple. All pass teams will be more pass difficult (Texas Tech) and run teams will be more run difficult(Georgia Tech). I prefer a balanced offense with an even mix of running schemes and pass schemes. Your pass schemes will need to be less intensive so the players can learn and get the necessary reps to be successful. Theres a reason option teams run option. The goal of an OC always should be to get the ball into the playmakers hands but sometimes you have to be creative. You need to move him around, just like UF did with Percy

Mix easy-to-read passes with a good running game, extra protection, and a dash of trickery, and you have an offense that a (good) rookie can succeed in throughout the season. It's that simple- provided you're not also dealing with a terrible pass blocking offensive line. Then it's not that simple.

And there's also Coach Saban on young QB's.

Q. From a defensive point of view, when you're facing a quarterback that doesn't have much experience, how do you try to take advantage of that? At the same time with an inexperienced quarterback this year, how do you try to guide him through games until he gets that experience?

COACH SABAN: Well, you know, I think that everyone develops at a little different pace and rate, depending on their ability to learn the knowledge and experience, how they learn from their lessons. And I think specifically in our case Greg McElroy learns very quickly and has had some experience. But I also understand that until he makes plays in the game, he's not gonna fully have, you know, the trust and respect of all of his teammates, even though they really, really like him and they really like him as a leader.

I think the biggest mistake you can make in development of any new player, young player, inexperienced player, is give him too many things to do, and increase the multiples of the kind of mental errors that they can make.

I think that it depends, from a defensive perspective, who the guy is that you're trying to defend. If he's a smart guy, if you try to pressure him, you may enhance his chances of making plays because he understands it, he sees it, and his reads actually become a little easier.

If you try to play all coverage against him and don't pressure him and he's a good runner, he may hurt you with his feet.

So I think to really answer that question effectively, you'd have to know the specifics of who you were trying to defend.

We ask our own coach about this. Oline0175 pays his bills by coaching offensive football and he recently won a state championship.

"I think we ask every player to do the same thing whether they are a freshmen or a senior. It's holding them to a higher standard. But the case here was different; Jimbo is building for the long haul. He wanted the class of 2008 to be the class that changes things for this program, so alot of them were asked to play as freshmen and we took our lumps while they learned on the job. In the future, freshmen won't be asked to play as big of roles so they can learn at their own pace and do what they can successfully if they play. Also every player learns at a different speed. We'll have some kids come through here or pick up on things quickly but struggle getting acclimated to the speed of the game and we'll have some who just can't pick the game up and play fast enough that it doesn't matter,

You'll notice that he discussed bringing pressure or not bringing pressure. What he didn't discuss is being able to get pressure without bringing extra rushers. He didn't discuss it because it is a huge luxury for a defense, and one that they normall do not expect to have, but that teams did have against FSU in 2008.

The Look Ahead

There is much reason for optimism. The 'Noles return their entire starting offensive line in LT Andrew Datko, LG Rodney Hudson, C Ryan McMahon (who should havea healthy foot), RG David Spurlock, and RT Zebrie Sanders. The line bulked up more than 10lbs per man while actually losing body fat. Their play in the spring was much improved and they have been the most impressive group in the summer workouts. There will be much more on this in the preview, but the future for this offensive line looks very bright.

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Progression, Stagnation, or Regression? Wide Receivers and Tight End

FrankDNole — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:11:11 -0000

Every day while catching up on my daily Nole must reads, I very often wonder to myself, "Are my 2009 Noles going to be better than last year’s team?"

In the first part of this series, we analyzed the Defensive Line. Today we will take a look at the Wide Receivers and Tight Ends to determine if this unit has progressed, is stagnant, or has regressed in comparison to last years group.

Even though Jimbo Fisher and WR Coach Lawrence Dawsey have already released the preliminary and projected depth chart, I am willing to bet that if you were to talk to either one privately and off the record, neither one really knows who our top receivers will be this season.

I will not, and I do not think any of us need to beat a dead horse any longer by rehashing the fiasco that was our WR corps last season. Therefore, I will ignore the logistic nightmares that this group caused the coaches and their teammates with their "issues", and only present what they accomplished when they were actually allowed to be on the field and allowed to participate.

While it seems that the coaches have a laundry list of players available to put into game situations this year, none of those players have yet earned a reputation or can be considered a pass catching weapon that will really scare any of the opposing defenses. Will this be a problem that could affect the running game?

Last seasons lack of a deep passing game (other than the occasional jump ball downfield) along with the poor pass blocking have been very well documented here, and is something most of our regular TN readers are all too familiar with. While these two factors did contribute to an inadequate passing game, much of the blame also lies with the receivers running lazy and sloppy routes, they lacked clean and crisp cuts, and had a high number of dropped passes during the ‘08 campaign. Relying only on my memory and without any research to back this up, I believe our passing game’s bread and butter consisted of the WR or bubble screen. Fortunately we had above average down field blocking that created some very nice gains and kept us competitive in many close games.

Here are a couple of interesting (sad?) tidbits.

A) Three out of the top five wide outs from last season, Greg Carr, Preston Parker, and Corey Surrency are no longer on the team and the third most productive receiver, Taiwan Easterling missed all of the spring drills with a ruptured Achilles. He is apparently recovering nicely and ahead of schedule and may be ready by the first game. The first few weeks of practice will be very telling as to his recovery and his potential to play. Of the 174 passes caught by receivers in 2008, players responsible for 91 of those receptions are gone, and 30 (Easterling) are questionable.

2) Outside of Bert Reed’s 23 catches, not a single receiver on the roster caught more than 20 passes in 2008 and only one (Rod Owens) caught 10 or more.

D) FSU should get a boost with the return of redshirt senior Richard Goodman who caught 20 passes as a junior in 2007, and now has his legal problems behind him, but who must still serve his music suspension.

Last year the tight ends were once again not a factor in the passing game since they had to stay at home to help with the pass protection, thus eliminating another receiving threat and allowing the defense to either double up on a WR, or send another defender to rush and to pressure our QB. When this last scenario occurred the blocking TE, usually Caz, was very often cancelled out by the extra pass rusher and in many cases, the QB did not have time to look at his first, much less his second read.

Caz was basically playing as an extra lineman more than a receiver to help a young and inexperienced offensive line. On top of that, the Seminoles’ other two tight ends were both true freshmen. Despite his decent work as a blocker, Piurowski still established single-season career highs for catches (8), yards (83) and touchdowns (1). For the second time in the last three years, Piurowski averaged over 10 yards a reception in 2008. Bo Reliford and Ja’Baris Little combined for just one catch in their true freshman seasons. The bottom line though, our TE’s only caught a total of 9 passes all season.

Jimbo has said on several occasions during this off season that the tight end WILL be a factor in the passing game this year. If he keeps his word, Ponder will have two different 6'7" targets that can release a few moments after, or at the snap, find a seam in the secondary, and do what opposing teams have been doing to us for longer than I care to remember. Also, if Jimbo keeps his word, our defense will be forced to cover the TE during practices, and maybe this will teach them that the TE is indeed a eligible receiver in football (but I digress and this will be covered at a later date).

Once again just as in the previous story, we realize we lost some very good individual talent. I ask that you please remember that we want to try to look at the unit as a whole when you finally do vote, as to whether this collective unit has progressed, has remained stagnant, or has regressed, compared to last years unit.

OK now we will compare the two groups of Wide Receivers and Tight Ends.

2008 X WR=Greg Carr started 12 games and Jarmon Forston started 1 against Chattanooga. Carr is gone (Rec=39, Yds=542, Avg=13.9, TD=4, Avg/Gm=41.7).

2009 PROJECTED X WR=Bert Reed and Avis Commack

2008 Y WR (Slot)=Taiwan Easterling started 8 games, Ja’Baris Little (TE) started one, and Marcus Sims (FB) started 4 games.

2009 PROJECTED Y WR=Taiwan Easterling and Louis Givens

2008 Z WR=Preston Parker started 8 games, Rod Owens started 3, Corey Surrency started 1, and Bert Reed started 1 game. Parker (Rec=40, Yds=372, Avg=9.3, TD=2, Avg/Gm=37.2) and Surrency (Rec=12, Yds=237, Avg=19.8, TD=4, Avg/Gm=21.5) are both gone.

2009 PROJECTED Z WR=Jarmon Forston, Richard Goodman (Suspended first 3 or 4 games), and Rod Owens

2008 TIGHT END=Caz Piurowski started 9 games, Josh Dobbie started 2, Preston Parker (WR) started 1, and Corey Surrency (WR) started 1.

2009 PROJECTED TIGHT END=Caz Piurowski, Beau Reliford, and Ja’Baris Little.

OTHERS WHO CONTRIBUTED IN 2008 AND ARE NOW GONE=Corey Surrency (probably one of the best downfield blocking WR I have seen since Anquan Boldin).

OTHERS WHO MAY CONTRIBUTE IN 2009=Cameron Wade, Matt Dunham will play more of a H-Back role (think smaller pass catching tight end), Josh Gehres, Timothy Orange, Ashuwa Richardson, Willie Haulstead, Rodney Smith

Well there you have it. I guess the real question is not if Carr, Parker, and Surrency can be replaced, but whether their replacements will be able to make up the 10 TD’s, the 91 Rec’s, and the over 100 yards per game that left with them, and are no longer available to us. The question is whether any of the receivers will be able to provide the down field blocking that Surrency and Parker (sometimes) provided. The question is whether Easterling will return to close to 100% of his former self. The question is whether Fisher will keep his word and finally throw to one of the TE’s as promised, at least 3 or 4 times a game.

I believe these are a lot of obstacles to overcome. I also believe that we have heard the last of our WR "issues" and this will provide Ponder with the stability at WR which was so desperately missing last year. Things got so bad that we had TE’s and FB's starting games at WR, and WR's starting at TE, which I believe is something that is now behind us and in the past. I believe Easterling will be close to his old self. And finally, I believe Jimbo will make the TE’s a integral part of the offense like we have not seen in many years, because our OL should be much improved in their pass blocking to where Caz or Beau can finally be utilized as receivers.

MY BOTTOM LINE FOR THE WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT END=PROGRESSION.

What is your bottom line? Please vote now.

Now with the defensive line, receivers and tight ends out of the way, please stay tuned for the linebackers, secondary, backfield, offensive line, and special teams.

Poll

2009 FSU WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT END-PROGRESSION, STAGNATION, OR REGRESSION? Please read the story before voting. Poll closes Sunday August 2 at 7:00 PM

PROGRESSION

181 votes

STAGNATION

73 votes

REGRESSION

52 votes

306 votes | Poll has closed

Chargers Assign Numbers to Undrafted Free Agents

John (obviousman) — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:00:13 -0000

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The Chargers have assigned numbers to the eighteen undrafted players they signed following the 2009 NFL Draft. All but three of them are being forced to change their number either due to NFL rules or because their college number is already taken by somebody on the Chargers team.

#64 - Sam Allen (Wore #58 at Grand Valley State)
#46 - Darry Beckwith (Wore #48 at LSU)
#44 - Curtis Brinkley (Wore #22 at Syracuse)
#8 - Greg Carr (Wore #89 at Florida State)
#9 - Jeremy Childs
#58 - Anthony Felder (Wore #15 at Cal)
#71 - Dan Gay
#53 - James Holt (Wore #12 at Kansas)
#77 - Rashaad Jackson (Wore #91 at Clemson)
#13 - Charly Martin (Wore #17 at Texas A&M)
#60 - Ryan McDonald
#72 - Ben Muth (Wore #76 at Stanford)
#38 - Wopamo Osaisai (Wore #6 at Stanford)
#40 - Williams Rentmeester (Wore #34 at Wisconsin)
#3 - Rodgeriqus Smith (Wore #80 at Auburn)
#47 - Kory Sperry (Wore #80 at CSU)
#30 - C.J. Spillman (Wore #4 at Marshall)
#49 - Jerimiah Wurzbacher (Wore #80 at North Dakota State)

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue? Any tips you want to send our way? Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

Inside the Seminole Film Room: Florida State 28, Georgia Tech 31

FSUncensored — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:11:26 -0000

I won't have a play-by-play review this week, as I've had a lot of stuff come up.

As always, we use these terms to denote formations:

"Chollie" is shotgun, 3 wide, 2 backs, like Charlie Ward ran.
"KGun" is what the Jim Kelly bills teams ran, with 3 WR, a TE, and back.
"BAMA" is Singleback, Twins WR, Twins TE (we sometimes line up in this with the FB acting as an HBack or second TE)
Hawaii is a 4WR GUN Trips Overload look out of Hawaii's playbook. It's Shotgun, with 3 WR and a rb all on the same side. This is great for forcing defenses to show their hand early.
Wendy's is 4 WR, or 4 Standing players, stacked behind each other in groups of 2, on each side of the offensive line. This is usually run with a tight alignment. I named it Wendy's because it's effectively a "DoubleStack"

Let's look directly at the video:

Florida State vs Georgia Tech Highlights (via FSUTalent)

I wanted to focus mostly on the strides the offense made in lieu of looking at our defense get gashed by a modern day gimmick offense.

Video Time0:00	1/10	at Fs32	3WRSB	Ponder, C pass complete to Parker, P for 9 yards to the FS41 (Jackson, K.).
Double slants as Ponder hits the trail guy. This is an obvious zone buster play. Throw to back shoulder might not have been intentional, but was effective. Throw good.
0:10	2/1	at Fs41	Pistol Chollie	Smith, A rush for 12 yards to the GT47, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds (Butler, M.).
Triple option, but we actually pitch it. My guess is this is double option with a dummy fake.
0:20	1/10	at Gt47	Twin I	Ponder, C pass complete to Carr, G for 14 yards to the GT33, 1ST DOWN FS (Butler, M.).
No PA. 3 step drop, excellent throw. Good job to attempt to cut the Dlinemen.
0:30	2/8	at Gt31	5WR Gun	Ponder, C pass complete to Carr, G for 20 yards to the GT11, 1ST DOWN FS (Jackson, K.).
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1:07	2/7	at Fs13		Nesbitt, J. rush for loss of 1 yard to the FS14 (Nicholson, D).
The rare example of the double A-Gap submarine formation working.
1:17	3/7	at Gt30	4WR GUN	Ponder, C pass complete to Carr, G for 12 yards to the GT18, 1ST DOWN FS (Taylor, C.).
Again, double slants against zone. Inside guy draws the LB in, Ponder throws a strike to the outside man. 8 men in coverage.
1:30	1/10	at Fs32	Pistol Trips	Thomas, J. rush for 62 yards to the GT6, 1ST DOWN FS (Peterson, M.).
Zone blocking in all its glory. Watch the double-team from Zebrie and Spurlock. Beautiful. Note also that Gtech looked to be worried about the bubble here, and they don't think we can run to the right.
2:17	2-G	at Gt04	Twin I	Ponder, C pass complete to Holloway, S for 4 yards to the GT0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:05.
Notice how Ponder waits with patience and poise, clears the rusher, finds his throwing lane and throws the ball the only place he could put it, and Holloway made the nice catch.
2:47	2/8	at Gt34		Jones, R. rush for no gain to the GT34 (Verdell, T;Rolle, M).
2:57	1/10	at Fs17	Pistol Trips.	Thomas, J. rush for 13 yards to the FS30, 1ST DOWN FS (Morgan, D.).
Same exact play we ran on the 62 yard run. Same play. Now, while the 62 yard run was all blocking, this run was all Thomas. I'm more impressed with Thomas on this run than the 62 yarder. Spurlock needed to hold his double longer here.
3:08	2/15	at Fs25	Hawaii	Richardson, D rush for 39 yards to the GT36, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds (Taylor, C.).
10 blockers is better than 9 and I like this play. Good job by D'Vo to hurdle towards the end. Great zone principles, and great individual efforts by the skill guys including Caz.
3:43	2/15	at Gt41	4WR GUN	Ponder, C pass complete to Carr, G for 14 yards to the GT27 (Peterson, M.).
Very good throw on the slant, but we need to get that DE cut better so that he can't get his hands up. Nitpicking? I hope not.
3:53	2/10	at Fs33	Chollie w/ a TE?	Smith, A rush for 10 yards to the FS43, 1ST DOWN FS (Burnett, M.).
Datko and Caz make this play. Great first steps.
4:06	2/17	at Fs36	Chollie	Ponder, C pass complete to Parker, P for 13 yards to the FS49 (Griffin, S.).
Hey! The middle screen! I love our linemen. Look @ Datko down field.
4:18	3/3	at Fs36		Shaw, J. rush for loss of 7 yards to the FS43, fumble forced by Brown, E, fumble by Shaw, J. recovered by FS Stewart, K at FS43.
Well, one way to stop GT is to have them lose their QB to a fluke injury.
4:48	2/12	at Fs41	Chollie w/ a TE?	Thomas, J. rush for 11 yards to the GT48 (Taylor, C.).
Spurlock! Hell yes! Pancaking a DT! I think this guy might be my favorite player. Also w/ great blocks: Zebrie, Caz, and believe it or not, Marcus Sims. Make no mistake though, this play is made because Spurlock is quick off the ball and dominates his guy. Now... the pass pro... um... next year?
5:05	3/8	at Fs03	4WR GUN	Ponder, C pass complete to Owens, R for 10 yards to the FS13, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds (Butler, M.).
Not going to sugarcoat this… we held here. Now, besides the holding, Ponder made a play that we haven't seen made here in a long time. Really nice.
5:22	2/10	at Fs30	KGUN	Ponder, C pass complete to Easterling, T for 9 yards to the FS39 (Reid, R.).
Why do we pay Jimbo so much? Passing concepts. This is a curl and an out. It's a zone buster; here being a orizontal stretch, with a vertical element (10 yard curl). The outside defended MUST commit to the out route, while the inside defended must make sure the slot guy doesn't get inside. Ponder throws a strike here, stepping up in the pocket. This is an easy read for a young QB, but not always an easy throw. Jimbo gave confidence with the easy read, and Ponder used his ability to put the ball on the money.
5:31	3/1	at Fs39	I	Thomas, J. rush for 9 yards to the FS48, 1ST DOWN FS (Reid, R.;Burnett, M.), PENALTY GT offside declined.
Keep in mind that Gtech was consistently playing us to run left, but even so, Spurlock and Sanders run blocked out of their minds! Look at this blocking. Good scheme too, as the WR blocks the DE, but isn't required to hold the block long at all.
5:50	4/3	at Gt45	5WR Gun	Ponder, C pass complete to Reed, B for 6 yards to the GT39, 1ST DOWN FS (Taylor, C.).
Gong for this is the right call and we are very lucky to have a guy who will fist it to the media if they don't understand the principles of expected point value relative to field position. Anyways, the play… Reed shows good maturity running this route to the perfect spot, the line doesn't fall down, and Ponder makes the right choice, throwing a strike. Memo to ACC: we will average 31 points in ACC play next year, book it.
5:59	1/10	at Gt39	KGUN Trips Weak	Richardson, D pass complete to Parker, P for 39 yards to the GT0, 1ST DOWN FS, TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:04.
Great play by Parker, and not a horrible throw by Mr. Richardson either. Line needs to sell run action better here.
6:55	1-G	at Gt03	KGUN	Ponder, C pass attempt to Carr, G good, PENALTY GT pass interference declined.
Weird coverage from Gtech. Nice by them to peel the LB to the corner. Carr's arms are just too long. PI could have been called on either player here.
7:35	1/10	at Gt25		Shaw, J. pass intercepted by Robinson, P. at the FS41, Robinson, P. return 0 yards to the FS41.
We really, really need Patrick Robinson to stay next year. Badly. By any mean$ possible. Please. Someone help us out here, haha.
8:29	4/6	at Fs45	SB TRIP WR	Ponder, C pass complete to Reed, B for 9 yards to the GT46, 1ST DOWN FS (Taylor, C.).
Playcalling. Motioning Parker here lets Christian get a pre-snap read. Notice how we use the entire clock (scary, huh? Good teams use the whole thing, analyzing every second). Ponder can see that with the middle vacated by the defender following Parker, it will be up to this corner to beat lightning quick Bert Reed, since the CB is playing with outside leverage. That was fine before, but with no inside help, or the illusion of inside help, GT was screwed pre-snap. College corners are not beating Bert Reed to the spot; he's too damn quick. Great route by Bert. The line understands it's q quick 3 step drop and they block it well. Huge play. This IS Jimbo putting these young players in positions of confidence and leverage.
8:56	1/10	at Gt46	I	Ponder, C pass complete to Parker, P for 11 yards to the GT35, 1ST DOWN FS.
First, GT is holding Caz badly. 2nd, this is a really, really tough throw. My guess is that Ponder wanted to go to Caz, saw the route not developing because of the holding, and his 2nd progression was Parker. This isn’t a great throw, but it's very difficult to make. We couldn't throw this with Drew. Great catch by Preston and great job to get it to him.
9:09	2/3	at Gt28	I	Thomas, J. rush for 10 yards to the GT18, 1ST DOWN FS (Jackson, K.).
What do you think? Designed cutback? I doubt it. The 62 yard jaunt will get the accolades, but his 2nd scamper of the day and this run to daylight were much better from a running perspective. Some backs just see the lane. Some never do. Clinton Portis did this really well for Denver several years ago.
9:26	1/10	at Gt18	Chollie w/ a TE?	Thomas, J. rush for 12 yards to the GT6, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds (Burnett, M.).
Zone blocking! Effort! Conditioning! Coaching! Commitment to the run game! This play works because we're in better shape than the other teams (thanks coach Stroud), we play harder (not sure how), we're very well coached with an emphasis on footwork, and because we have a true commitment to run blocking within our zone scheme. Thomas appears to understand these principles. Holloway's block is great, no doubt, but watch how Caz, Datko, & Hudson block 2, then slide to seal while Caz climbs to the 2nd level. That is all about footwork and the commit step at the snap and nobody teaches that zone principle like Coach Rick Trickett. I'd post his e-mail and ask that we all give him thanks, but I doubt he wants to read through all that. THANK YOU COACH TRICKETT!! Beautiful. This team displays a ton of patience and confidence; a marked difference from the Wake game.

For the play at 0:30, this is the note: This was a check. Zone. Strike to carr. Immediate and throw. Nice running. Jimbo did a good job exploiting the hard corner and deep safety. If this was supposed to be a slant, however, it wasn't a very good route, and this would hurt us later...(Carr should have been flatter on the interception).
The offensive line got away with a lot of holding during pass protection and still gave up 5 sacks. It's not a criticism, but a reality. We need to hold more and more, even to the point of absurdity, because the referees will not call this.
I was very impressed with the run blocking of this offensive line, particularly the right side, which Tech essentially dared Jimbo to run on.
Tech was smart to play off and outside leverage in the first half; we hadn't shown that we could consistently throw the slant and the sit down. I didn't understand going back to this later in the game though.
Ponder made 2 or 3 highly questionable throws. I'm okay with it for now, because they were DOWN THE FIELD. If he was making them short and wide, I'd be very worried.
Ponder did a great job staying in the Pocket, sliding, and moving WITHIN the pocket in an effort to find receivers. The TD throw to Holloway is a great example.
Passing concepts that were heavily featured: Modified Smash (Curl and Out, instead of Curl and Corner). We also ran all curls several times out of 5-wide.
Rick Trickett said that only 3 of the 5 sacks were on his line. Be aware in calling for Jermaine Thomas that he doesn't yet do a good job in blitz pickup. I don't expect him to as a freshman.
I am going to save most of my defensive comments. We've already talked about this a lot throughout the week. Instead, I've included 9 big plays that hurt FSU in video... After the jump...

GT vs Florida State Cox 1 yard TD Run (via fireballflig)

GT vs Florida State Roddy Jones to the 1 (via fireballflig)

GT vs. Florida State Greg Smith TD run (via fireballflig)

Georgia Tech Football - The Florida State Game (via RamblinWreckTube)

GEORGIA TECH vs fLORIDA sTATE UNIVERSITY (via BerriePhoto)

Jimbo's unit surprises, Mickey's unit FAILS, Jody Allen needs to be fired yesterday, and FSU loses a giftwrapped game they had no business being in.

FSUncensored — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:47:36 -0000

As always, this is a blend of our member's thoughts and my own. Thanks to all who contributed. We didn't have many differing opinions this week, which is unusual for a loss.

I'm still trying to digest this loss. Truly disgusting. People are going to make too much of the Marcus Sims fumble. The guy fumbled, and we shouldn't be surprised, as he did it last week. Fumbling one week isn't a reason to expect that it will occur the next. Sometimes these are random. He may have a fumbling issue, but we can't claim to have known that based off of 1 fumble in the VT game. Let's go easy on ripping Simms. He's not a good player and we know that. He is a slightly above average player who we've had to turn to because we can't run Christian every play, because Antone is really dinged, because Carlton Jones is a shell of his former self as a result of his type 1 diabetes (15lb+ loss since arriving), and because Jermaine Thomas can't run the ball every play. He is horrible in pass protection, but we will need Simms down the stretch. As for using him there on the goal line, Jimbo basically said that he is in our goal line package, and Thomas is not. That might change in the future, but discuss the entire game instead of one play out of 65.

via img.fannation.com

Instead of talking about that fumble, let's talk about how the Noles were totally outclassed in this game. Let's talk about how we never stopped Georgia Tech.

I don't put this loss on Marcus Simms.

I put this loss on Mickey Andrews.

31 Points, 0 Turnovers, & 321 yards on 39 Plays.

8.2 yards per play. Up until GT's QB left the game, that's what they had done. 8.2 yards per play. I don't need to say anything more. 8.2 yards per play. Mickey's unit was ill-prepared. 8.2 yards per play. They played like garbage. 8.2 yards per play.

Some people are going to say that the Noles finally started to make adjustments. 8.2 yards per play. That is pure B.S. 8.2 yards per play. Do not buy that for a second. 8.2 yards per play. The Seminole defense didn't adjust to anything, rather Georgia Tech's QB rolled his own ankle. 8.2 yards per play. That is pathetic.

In a game that the defense was being counted on to carry the day, they were non-existent. Bad assignment football, strange formations with the 2 DT's, and poor angles meant 8.2 yards per play. In the back of every knowledgeable FSU fan's mind, we knew there was a chance that the defense could lay an egg against a team of this design. I dismissed that, telling myself that was silly, that Mickey wouldn't prepare these guys in a way that would allow such egg-laying, and that playing a running QB for the 3rd consecutive week would increase our familiarity. I was so very very wrong.

I like Mickey Andrews a lot. He is a good guy by all accounts, and has been excellent over the course of his career. Everybody can have a bad game. Let's consider this his bad game.

There are much deeper issues here, however, that we must eventually start to look at. Mickey's DB recruiting has been woeful over the past few years, specifically at the CB spot. We have a stud in Patrick Robinson, and an above average Senior in Tony Carter. I don't expect either to be back. I'm not a huge fan of our technique, and I am not speaking solely of this game. We could have major defensive issues next year, as Mangum and Jenjie are not anywhere close to starter level at a major D1 program.

Scheme wise, I tend to think that people are figuring out Mickey. That's not to say this can't be an excellent defense going forward. We can, if we execute.

Nobody should forget, however, that we were incredibly lucky to be in this game. We never stopped them with their QB in the game. They punted once. When you have defensive talent like this, you can't allow the opposing team to run all over you. Does anyone actually think the defense looked good in practice leading up to this game?

When one player plays poorly, I'll point that out. When the entire unit plays poorly, I'll point to the man in charge. We were so lucky to have their QB injure himself. That wasn't something we did. GTech was on their way to putting up FIFTY. Who would have stopped them? Not the Seminole defense.

The Yellow Jackets hadn't scored more than 27 points in an ACC game this season and had 31 on the board with 13:42 remaining in third quarter. _Steve Ellis

Look at this chart (in full-screen if you need to). Look at all the yellow going into our zone. There is a noticeable change after the GTech Fumble. This is just another example to show that we didn't adjust to anything and the only reason their offense stalled was the self-inflicted GT QB Injury.

Full Screen Version

I put this loss on Special Teams Coach Jodey Allen

Last week, I implored you to email the folks in charge and ask that Jodey Allen be relieved of his position. His unit is consistently horrible. He is not a kicking coach and should not receive credit for Graham Gano's amazing ability. Our kick coverage is some of the worst I have ever seen. GT had returns of 46 and 29 yards. Their total tally was 116 yards on 4 returns.

There is no way Jody Allen can feel safe in his job at this point. Many have called for his resignation before me. Our production at the defensive end spot has consistently declined since Allen replaced former DE Coach Jim Gladden.

When Jimbo finally takes over and cleans house, I'll take Amato or Allen in the "first to go" pool. Flip a coin.

The offense was shockingly decent

While Allen's guys were busy looking inept as usual, and Mickey's crew was doing less with more, Jimbo continued to prove, to me and other Tomahawk Nation members why we pay him so well. He did more with less. We didn't expect much and they delivered a ton.

The offensive line played slightly better in the passing game than I expected, allowing 5 sacks and a holding penalty. A sack rate of 15% is still terrible, but it wasn't disasterous for us. They really excelled in the running game. If you take out the sacks (college stats count sacks as rushing yardage), the Noles ran for 228 yards on 31 carries, or 7.3 per carry.

Photo Credit: Tallahassee Democrat

I was very impressed with Jermaine Thomas. He doesn't look explosive, and doesn't appear to have track speed. His best asset is his vision, and it is excellent. In trying to figure out a comprable back, all I can come up with is Ricky Watters.

It's great to see Preston Parker performing well. He is a key part of our offense, even if he's banged up.

Great job by the offensive staff to use all of their guys. They were giving us throws underneath, and we got them into the receiver's hands.

My thoughts on Ponder are mixed. I already think he is a good quarterback, but he also has a lot of room for improvement. The throw into the end zone was just bad. I just don't know how preoccupied he is with avoiding the pass rushers that beat our young offensive line on almost every play. Many members are concerned with him not leading receivers enough and throwing late (probably because of late recognition). There are several explanations for this. The first is that he isn't able to devote the proper amount of attention to down field because of the pressure in his face. The second is youth. The answer probably lies somewhere in-between. I lean to the former, however, because the pass protection is so poor. For anyone wondering, the pass blocking is much worse than in prior years.

The offense did their job. In the end, our defense asked the offense to do too much.

Insert a bunch of talk about how this team is tough and how they battle, etc. Whatever. The strength of our team was a huge liability.

Other Nole Writers React

Scalpem says the Noles must put this loss behind them and get ready for Clemson, as it is a bigger test than GTech was. He's right, Clemson is better than their record indicates. The random thoughts are up as well.
ChanrRant says the Nole's life on the edge style caught up with them. Good read.

Remaining Issues

Ponder is definitely injured. I think he has cracked ribs. It's pretty amazing that our offense produced like it did with the young OLine and a major part of the offense limited due to injury.
The Clemson game will almost certainly be a 3:30 ABC Regional split.
Will we be ranked after today?
We should and probably will beat all remaining ACC opponents.
Florida is going to wipe the floor with this team.
Dinnich is already writing us off, but Maryland still must beat us to secure the Atlantic. We really need Wake to drop another game.
I accidentally deleted the copy of this game from my DVR, so unless someone sends me a copy, I can't do the film review.