Ship Righted …… For Now

The ‘Noles reeled off their third win in a row today in convincing fashion with a 34 to nothing shutout victory over an outmatched N.C. State team.  For the first time this year, FSU dominated an FBS team in every phase of the game.  We are beginning to see some of the potential that this team has and some of the talent that had them ranked so highly at the beginning of the season.  Make no mistake, this team has been decimated by injuries.  The FSU quarterback: on and off the field leader, E.J. Manuel was obviously the most important victim of this bad luck.  His absence from the team from the third quarter of the Oklahoma game to the second quarter of the Wake Forest game had more of an impact than the admirable job of Clint Trickett as backup made it appear to.  There is no doubt that this is E.J.’s team.   There are multiple factors involved in the confidence of a team.  It doesn’t matter how talented a team is as a whole if they can’t put a group of 11 offensive or defensive players on the field that can play confidently as a unit.  Injuries early in the season had kept that unity and confidence from developing fully in this Seminole team until now.  A third win in a row may have righted the ship for now, but but a storm may loom on the horizon.

Short Week / Long Trip

The ‘Noles travel to Boston College Thursday to play a night game on ESPN after a short week of practice.  On paper, FSU looks to be a vastly superior team to the 2 and 6 B.C. Eagles.  B.C. put up over 300 yards rushing on Maryland in their victory today and comes into this game extremely confident.  If we have learned anything by now, it is that we cannot take any team lightly, especially on the road.  This Boston College team is no exception to this rule.

Looking Ahead

Looking past the B.C. game, which the FSU players absolutely MUST not do, Miami looms on the horizon at home after an extended week off.  They say to throw the records out the window for the Miami and Florida games. Nobody wants to throw the records out the window more than Miami and Florida, who will come into their games with at least 4 losses.  It should be only 4 losses for Miami, assuming they can handle Duke, but Florida still has South Carolina before FSU and could very well have 5 losses coming into the FSU game.  In any case, the point is that these teams are wounded, wounded but still very, very dangerous.  Anyone who has been an FSU fan for any length of time knows that Miami is ALWAYS a threat to FSU and anyone who has been a college football fan for any length of time knows that playing in the Swamp is NEVER easy, even against a 4 or 5 loss Gator team.  No disrespect to Virginia either, who lies in between these two foes and has already beaten Miami this year.

These three wins have righted the ship, but the ‘Noles had better batten down the hatches, for there are indeed rough seas ahead.