I took in every snap of the game and it was just as I predicted in this forum, domination. I told you we would beat them by 10 points or more and we did. I never doubted for a second we would. There will be no more UF blowouts of FSU, that phase of rebuilding is OVER. I said we have an unstopable offense and I was right about that as well.  We basically stopped ourselves in that last game and we LOST that Miami game, they did not beat us. The only team that can really beat us is UF and if Mickey can concot SOME sort of plan against thier offense to slow them down, the game might come down to whatever offense has the ball last. We will average 400+ yards a game and 30 points for the rest of the season. We have a NC caliber offense people and we have Fisher and Trickett to thank for that.

Defensively, we now have the best 11 on the field seeing that Allen is entrenched at the field corner position. Its a matter of coaching them up. We're a little smaller but we still have talent and size in McDaniel and McCray. Stewart and White must step up as McNeil is playing himself into shape. The defense is improving but how much they improve is up to Andrews. Yes we have depth issues but if you really look at the two deep we're pretty solid. We're not spectacular like UF yet but a couple of recruiting classes will rectify that. We have enough defensive talent to go undefeated the rest of the way but how we use it will determine whether we go 9-3 versus 10-2.

7-5? 8-4? Don't think so.

Bottom line: The news of FSU's demise as a program are severely exaggerated.

Observations: Offense

1) Ponder: Tebow who? Ponder is THE best QB in the ACC and in Florida. I've seen all the QBs play and Ponder is the most prepared for the pros. His mechanics are almost flawless, he can make every NFL throw, he is extremely mobile, he has heart and takes what the defense gives him. The guy will be defeinitely be drafted higher than Tebow ever will. One more year in jimbo's system and we could be talking first round. He doesn't have the talent in the WRs that Miami has but still puts up incredible numbers.

2) Running backs: Are we deep or what? Pryor is impressive as is Ty Jones.

3) OL: They performed like the should have against an under-manned line for BYU. They absolutely dominated and they made Ponder and the backs look really good. Now they have to progress and dominate USF the same way.

4) WR: Forston must be more consistent as he is easily  the most talented reciever we have but my God what a head case! We are so deep at theis position its crazy and unfair at the same time. If forston becomes that consistent matchup problem we could be like OU was last year.

5) TE: Excellent game. They are learning and Reiliford will be a monster next year. Caz is now a serious weapon people have to gameplan for. 

Defense:

1) DL: Came on late with pressure but was limited by a smart scheme of the three step drop and fire being executed by BYU excellently for the most part. Once FSU started to sit on the shorter routes and started making Hall move and go through progressions they became more and more effective. They are getting better with each passing down. By the time GT comes to Tally the Noles DL will be ready PROVIDED Mickey coaches with some sense.

2) LB's: They played OK. I didn't think they executed their drops correctly, they were slow to recognize the draws of BYU. They played well enough to win and that's it. Bradham had a pretty decent game.

3)  Secondary: Its not one thing or another that plagues the secondary and leads to these sub-par performances, its many factors. One is that they are not being coached by Andrews correctly. Jenji giving up inside position for much of the game is an indication that. The backs have very poor technique and honestly Reid might have the best TIED with Robinson. Secondly, the man to man scheme with no change to different zones and different positional blitzes really makes it easy for a QB to pick them apart. The reads are just too simple. Lastly, They don'ty play up to thier talent. Reid plays with emotion, no one else plays like that in the secondary except for maybe Moody.

Jenji need not see the field except in zone coverage EVER AGAIN. Allen loooks like he wants to do something and he will be your starter from now on. Robinson was solid but where is the emotion? Jamie Robinson has performed at a C- level, he's lucky Parks is still injured and somewhat inexperienced.

Defensive Coaching: This is what preventing us from really competing for a NC this year.  We ahve enough talent to compete, our scheme is just out dated.

I've been looking at the posts by members saying that the season is over, that we're going 7-5 and some people are talking 6-6 or worst. This is all based on not an season ending injury to someone like Ponder or some other irreplaceable player, its based on one bad game by the defense against a very prepared and talented team in Miami in a rival game. True this was a very tough loss to swallow but for people not to see the silver lining in this is very short-sighted. People that are hoping off the bandwagon and predicting disaster is mind boggling to me. That was a game played by two talented teams with a lot of emotion and it must be taken as such. It should be looked at in isolation, not an example of how the defense will do in every game going forward. If you are predicting FSU's future based on this game then you are buying Fool's gold and most co-coordinators would not put this game in the context of that is the team they will see. Although I called for the resignation of MA myself right after the game,  I have been advocating that for two years. I think his decreased effectiveness regarding recruiting and strategy along with the lack of halftime adjustments in big games has adversely affected FSU and put an inordinate amount of pressure on the offense to outscore everyone since 2001. He called another bad game, simple as that. That said, we are stuck with him. So we'll move on. 

I remember when FSU lost two games at the start of the season and then reeled off 10 straight wins while beating the Nittany Lions in the Blockbuster Bowl. So don't tell me it can;'t be done especially considering the offense we have, the speed on defense and the teams on the schedule without the necessary components to take advantage of our weaknesses. This team reminds me of that team a lot. By the time FSU plays the teams that everyone is saying will wipe the floor with us,  they will have righted the ship. We are slowly getting back to the way it used to be in that aspect. If you're going to beat FSU, do it early, because its really hard to do it late in the season. This year will be no different as the offense will be scary by that time and the defense will be somewhat solid.

First and foremost, let's address the defense seeing how this is the performance that most impacted posters opinion of FSU football going forward this year.

1) The pass defense: Andrews aside, instead of looking how bad the defense played, give Whipple huge credit for passing through out the game on first down with play action and roll-outs. That was a master stroke that really confused MA. He had a lot of time because the Noles couldn't really blitz on first down as they had to respect the running game and Whipple knew it. Give Harris credit from learning from his mistakes and not repeating them. He handled the pressure very well and it looks like Whipple is their version of JF in making their QB and whole offense better. Also give credit to the effectiveness of Miami's line. They are good and they weren't expected to be.

That said, the Noles pass defense will not be torched like this again this year in this way. There is a really small chance they will give up yards like this again looking at the QB competition they will face in the next nine games and virtually no chance to give up the same amount of points related to the passing game. If you look at the schedule objectively and without bias (good or bad) there isn't a good QB on the schedule (besides Tebow) that can put up those numbers and there isn't a team that has the collection of speed and height in their WR corps that can remotely match Miami. Additionally, what OC on the schedule can really call a game like that? Maybe Meyer? Johnson will do his damage on the ground but that definitely won't be enough to offset their lack of their passing game, experience on the defensive line and increased motivation to shut down the run by the Noles as pay back for last season.

The fans are forgetting that the Noles probably played the worst game they will play this season. I don't think they will ever play that bad again this season or even come close. Everyone are calling them losers and I feel that they will come out swinging to prove to people that they are a good unit or at least better than what they have shown. I feel they will play better as the season progresses as will the offense. Even if they have a have another clunker  I guarantee we will win that game because the offense will be better and the damage won't be as severe as Saturday's game. MA will make some needed personnel changes and the players will be more motivated. To be fair to Andrews he did have a new wrinkle that was effective. He will probably put more in as the season progresses and you will see much better performance as well.

2) Run defense: We held the Canes to a little over 90 yards rushing. That's not bad as I think if they saw a real weakness in our run game they would have exploited more. They passed more than they wanted to because they saw it was going to be a tough time running for them and they adjusted. Whipple chose the path of least resistance which what good OC's do. Our run defense will be tested against such teams as GT, UNC and Clemson. But none of those teams have a credible passing attack. This is why I say this loss is fool's gold because the coordinators aren't stupid enough to just go into the game passing the ball when they know FSU would've made changes in personnel and strategy regarding the pass defense. They are also not going to go into the game passing risking turning over the ball and have short possessions given their QB's are either inexperienced, not great passers or lack the receivers to take advantage of the weaker than normal pass rush of the Noles. They have to protect their defense from the beast that is the Nole offense and give themselves a chance to win the game. I personally think the run defense will be ok but you can't tell from the Miami game. If we stuff BYU's power running game then I think we'll be ok.

3) Special Teams: The special teams are below average and its no way to say it otherwise. BUT, they are not bad enough to cost us games. In the most important area, the kicking game I think we have found the next Bentley. Hopkins has a big leg and most important: CONFIDENCE. This is an area on the whole because of Hopkins will win us games or not hurt us instead of lose us games as previously thought. I'm disappointed in the punting but overall I'm not worried. Remember, Miami has some serious speed and only Clemson can match them with Ford. But he is not as special as Benjamin is by any stretch. This is an area that can be improved somewhat via some coaching this year and mostly recruiting next year.  

4)  The offense: I said at the early part of this year that Ponder is the key to the whole team and whether the TE will be used. This offense will be so good its scary. Its going to make the defense job so much easier as there isn't one defense that can hold us under thirty on the schedule IF we execute like I know we can  (and that's including UF).  Once Forston becomes more confident (and he will) they will be unstoppable as Jones really stepped it up and showed we still are a serious running team when we have to be. Ponder is the best player in the ACC. SCARY.

Now here is the question: What remaining teams on this schedule have 1)  the speed on defense to stop the offense 2) the speed, skill level, good QB and OC in Whipple's class to beat us (excluding UF)? Because that's exactly what its going to take to beat us this year.  The Canes played I think the best they could play under the circumstances but the Noles DIDN'T and they still barely won. The Canes didn't win the game, we lost it as we controlled our own destiny.  For us to go 8-4 or 7-5 you're saying that the three best remaining teams (Clemson, UNC and GT respectively) one with no experienced at all QB, one with no WR's and one with a limited passing game will all put up 500 yards on the Noles? I'm sorry, I'm not buying it at all.

Bottom line is we have an unstoppable offense like UF had last year, an ok defense and an overrated schedule. That doesn't equate to 8-4 or 7-5 to me and it shouldn't to you either. But, we'll see who is right and who is wrong.

They gave up 38 points, the worse: Putting a MIDDLE LB on a RB in space as a WR. He cost us this game. You can't give up 38 points and keep expecting your offense to score EVERY time they touch the ball. He's a below average recruiter and coach now and he needs to be fired after this season and preferably this game. The offense can only do so much. The defense lost this game and its no way I see Andrews coming back next year. He's old and he just needs to go. They Canes have way better coaching than we do on defense and more confidence. We made Harris look like Joe Montana. Jenji is terrible, Allen is terrible. Without a doubt Reid has got to start over those clowns. The Robs really disappointed me, P-rob look like he was lost as well as Jamie Rob. When the best DB on the field is a FRESHMAN  that hasn't played a down that means you are in SERIOUS trouble. I'm not worried about Clemson, NC, BC or even GT. I'm worried about ANY team with a half decent passing attack and decent WRs. Thank god we don't go against any teams with great passing attacks or we would have to outscore them like we had to tonight.

Offensively, we've got to find a better big reciever and give him a chance to play as Forston is just not ready to be the option at the goal line. He's good in space and across the middle but his hands are very unreliable. There is no way you miss that catch if you're not nervous as hell. Other wise the offense is as I predicted it would be: scoring over thirty a game.

The special teams are attrocious, don't blame Hopkins for this loss at all, blame Andrews and the defense for giving up 38 POINTS! Powell is just terrible.

Grade for the offense "A": Offense gets an A even with the limited run game which was partly Fisher's fault especially on Ponder's fumble.

Grade for the defense, "F-": The defense is THE worst defense maybe in the ACC

Very disappointing loss. I think we could play nothing but freshmen on defense and get a better result. I predicted 10-2, they can still get there seeing how there isn't a team they face with the passing scheme of Miami's along with the athletes to execute against ours except Clemson. I still think we win against Clemson (they will copy the Miami gameplan to a T with thier new QB), UNC and GT. We worried about the run defense, they suck true, but is the pass defense the cost us this game and that was supposed to the strong part of the defense.

Expect a lot of shoot outs, at least we have the best QB in the ACC to win them. 

Now we have to take this crap from Kirk Herbstreit until next year while Miami starts 1-3.

I didn't mean to be wrting anything today but Kirk Herbstreit really gets under my skin! We need to win the ACC over VT specifically in order to shut up critics like Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN. This guy NEVER has anything good to say about the Noles. He is all over VT like they are Bama of 92. In his analysis, this dude actually stated that the Canes were closer to being the Canes of old than the Noles were to being the Seminoles of old. Can you believe that crap? Then he goes on to say the Noles don't have a good offensive line. And he is supposed to be an expert? This is where all the nay-sayers are getting thier predictions from? But of course the Noles don't have anyone to blame but themselves for hiring JB and setting the program back to pre-1986 levels.

The Noles are closer to being back than everyone thinks, we just don't have the three and four deep chart for every single position like we used to. There were always constants in the 90's that made the Noles hard to beat:

1) A junior QB that waited his turn starting and another getting ready. We now have that back with Ponder starting and Manual learning slowly as he should.

2) NFL ready CB and safety so we can provide double coverage to the other side. We have that in Patrick Robinson and Jamie Robinson. We always had one good CB and safety and the other ones we just a little above average.

3) Fast DE's. Unlike many of you I think White will be a terror to deal with. He's physically more gifted than Brown and is gaining his experience against one of the best O-lines in the country. I think McNeil coming back is a tremedous boost for the pass defense as he is expereinced and better. We're two deep there so we should be fine at DE.

4) Incredible LB's . Check.

5) Deep stable of running backs. Check

6) A solid CB on the others side. people will disagree with me on this one. I think the Noles will be fine on that other side. It won't be T-Buck over there but we will have someone with experience size and speed over there. I think Allen will eventually start over there after the BYU game and Reid will become the main backup. Jenji might surprise but it seems he'll be a better FS than CB. But as I said earlier, this side is usually a little above average anyway and it will always get help from the strong safety over the top except in four wide sets.

7) A deep WR stable led by that one reciever: We have he deep stable to be sure, we just don't have that one WR that makes the other team back off. Either Forston or Reed has got to step up and become the scary reciever that people fear down the field to really open up the underneath routes. I think it will be Forston as he has the size to speed ratio that give CB's fits.

8) Fast penertrating DL. We have that but they need to be a little bigger and we need like two more of them right now.

9) A good OL that was better pass blocking than run blocking. We now have a OL that can do both, they run block better of course but they are now average in the pass blocking which will make the Noles REALLY dangerous. We now have good depth there as well.

10) Kicker. The Noles have only had three good kickers. The rest have been so-so. Hopkins will start and be consistent from 35 in probably and shaky from 40 out. Par for the course for Seminole kickers.

So aside from depth which can be corrected with next years class and the one in 2011 we are pretty darn close to being what we were personnel wise.  We lack that special WR and experienced DE but otherwise we are ready to rock.! We have a good team and a better schedule than what people think we do. We'll lose to UF most likely to take away our NC dreams (if Clemson doesn't get us first) but If the season goes as I think it will we will win the ACC and finish in the Top Ten.

And that means we can finally shut up people like Herbstreit.

And that will be good enough for me!

No matter what stats people cite the game still comes down to blocking and tackling. Basically your line play especially on the offensive side of the ball. It's as simple as that. When you build a team any coach worth his salt states you build the lines first inside out. JB never got that concept but Fisher does which is why after that first season the Noles are looking better and better. The reason why the Noles will be better this year is because the line play has improved on both sides of the ball. All the players are bigger and stronger and know the systems a lot better.

The better your OL the better chance you have to win. A good OL affects the amount of time a QB has to spot a WR, the amount of time a back can get through a hole. Football is a game of inches and the better your OL the better chance you have to pick up those inches and keep drives alive. This affects possession which in turn affects the effectiveness of the defense. It affects how the opposing team attacks your defense due to time constraints.

Why will Ponder be better? Not only because of more experience and confidence but also because the line will give him more time to pass. This will open up Fisher's playbook more because he now has more confidence in the OL that they won't get Ponder killed on more time consuming routes which tend to be the big hitters.

Why will the defense be better that everyone is wringing their hands about? 1) Because they are practicing everyday against the best line in the ACC, 2) They are in way better shape than last year while getting stronger and bigger and  3) They will not be on the field as much thus increasing their effectiveness and reducing the chances for injury in the front seven especially along the lines. The front seven's increased stamina will in turn help the secondary because they will stop the run way more effectively thus creating more 3rd and 8 or nines which are easier to defend against than 3rd and 3 or third and fours. 

The Noles win the ACC because we have the best OL in the ACC and the best overall team in the ACC, PERIOD.