The Seminoles’ domination of the Texas State Bobcats on Saturday night was enabled by the ferocious and unrelenting rushing attack from Dalvin Cook and others. Florida State was able to wear down their opponent with a constant barrage of big gains that tired out the defense and allowed the ‘Noles to score more points than they did in any game last season in a 59-16 victory.
This had the extra benefit of forcing the defense to stack the box and make them susceptible to play-action passes with Everett Golson. He capitalized on this, going 19-for-25 for 302 yards with a 12.1 yards-per-attempt average and four touchdowns in his first ever game with the Seminoles.
The stat line says Golson played lights out. But what does the film say? After all, numbers can be twisted or show something that never really happened. So was Golson as good as the numbers say he was, or did he benefit more so from others around him?
That question will hopefully be answered in what we are dubbing the “Film Focus”. Each week we will go back through the tape and try to dissect a player’s performance to gain a better understanding of how they did that week. The first player for this series will be the new and (hopefully) improved, Everett Golson.
Note: We will try to use the best angles we can get. Often times however we will be unable to fully see a play develop, which will impact how a decision is portrayed.
1st Quarter
9:51 – Fake handoff and Golson rolls out to hit Ryan Izzo for an 8-yard gain. Play worked just like they drew it up with the linebacker realizing his mistake too late.
8:59 – After keeping the ball and running to the left, Golson hits Jesus Wilson with a perfect pass out of reach of the defender. This is a quick play and a good decision by Golson since Wilson was the closest one who didn’t have a defender draped over him. Also some credit needs to go to “Bobo” for making a fantastic play to stay in bounds for a 9-yard reception.
3:20 – The pass intended for Mavin Saunders is swatted at the line. Good play by the defender, though on the bottom of the screen it does look like Travis Rudolph had some room to make a first down. Not a bad decision but not the best one either.
1:28 – Golson showed great patience on this play in waiting for Wilson to find the gap in the zone coverage. He throws it right on the money while allowing him to gain some extra yards for good measure. A 28-yard gain in total.
:57 – This is a simple quick out to Freddie Stevenson. Golson made a good decision when he saw the linebackers dropping back on the right side of the field.
First Quarter Summary: Head coach Jimbo Fisher is obviously not one to quickly come out slinging the ball all over the field. FSU established the run game and made sure the opposing defense would commit more men to the box. Golson made some good throws and was getting adjusted to the game’s pace.
2nd Quarter
11:30 – Another play-action roll-out that works perfectly. Unfortunately, Mavin Saunders drops a perfect pass.
11:25 – This formation was used all throughout the game and will likely be the default one for most of the season — two running backs on each side of Golson with two wideouts and a tight end as receivers. The angle makes it difficult to see how the receivers were doing downfield, so it’s not clear if Golson missed an open guy or not. Either way he dumped it off to Mario Pender, who scampered for a 5-yard gain.
10:50 – While the angles once again prevent a full analysis, this play seems to have less than stellar decision-making by Golson. There’s three wide receivers running routes and Pender acting as the dump-off option if none are open. Ermon Lane runs a hitch route that Golson isn’t looking at, so by the time he surveys to that side of the field, the option is gone. He decides to run to the left and try to pick up the first down with his feet, but comes up short. Pender was uncovered on the side however, and all the linebackers seemed to be heading to the opposite part of the field. If Golson gets it to Pender, he might run for more than just a first down.
8:59 – Oddly enough, a very similar play happened at the exact same time in the first quarter. FSU runs a play-action pass, and Golson finds Rudolph on the sideline for another amazing reception. He put the right amount of zip on the ball and Rudolph had the awareness to keep his feet in bounds for a 14-yard gain.
2:15 – Simple screen to Travis Rudolph for four yards. Not much to analyze.
1:09 – The angles make it impossible to see what Golson was looking at downfield. It’s unclear if everyone was covered, but he certainly acted like it with his pocket movement. He tried some fancy moves to avoid the pressure but the Bobcats were too quick up front. Sacked for a loss of five yards.
Second Quarter Summary: Up to this point, Golson has played decently for Florida State. Perhaps his most impressive trait is the ability to place the ball on a rope and get it to where just his receiver can catch it. Golson hasn’t really been asked to make plays for the Seminoles yet, but he has definitely made good decisions for the most part.
3rd Quarter
14:22 – While Rudolph was open on the side, the blitz got to Golson and his pass was short. Hard to completely blame him for this one.
14:17 – The halfback slip screen to Dalvin Cook is right on the money and gets FSU the first down plus a couple more.
13:10 – An absolutely fantastic throw by Golson allows Rudolph to pick up 21 yards here. While once again operating out of the 2-back set, Golson takes a quick look at his options before threading the needle between three Texas State defenders. This pass was especially Jameis Winston-like and seemed to mark the point where he began to really get a groove going.
9:17 – Florida State is hoping that some of Golson’s red zone turnover issues get cleared up with the 2015 season — this play definitely assured them of that. After realizing that none of his options are initially open, he rolls out slightly to the left and gets Travis Rudolph to follow him for the easy touchdown pass from about five yards out. Golson’s patience in the pocket is what helps save the play and give FSU a comfortable lead.
7:10 – The Texas State defender is not fooled on the option play and pursues Golson immediately after he holds onto the ball. Despite this he is able to get a pass to Dalvin Cook, but Cook cannot hold on. Incomplete.
7:04 – This play looked just as impressive live as it does upon further review. After scanning the right side of the field, Golson locks onto Ja’Vonn Harrison and delivers yet another bullet in between multiple defenders for a gain of 22 yards. An absolutely gorgeous throw.
6:39 – Doak Campbell was ready to erupt if this pass to Kermit Whitfield was complete. Unfortunately, it was slightly overthrown and Whitfield was unable to get a firm grasp of the ball to control it. Golson spotted him outrunning his man downfield after the fake hand-off, and decided to take a crack at it. It was definitely catchable, though obviously not perfect. Still a great job of recognizing the situation and the best option on the field.
6:29 – Golson quickly spots Ermon Lane on the side after keeping it during a run-pass option play, allowing him to throw a quick dart for an 11-yard completion.
5:55 – The first planned quarterback run is a successful 8-yard gain. He shows off some speed after tricking the defense into thinking it was yet another rollout.
5:28 – Ermon Lane is open yet again on the exact same play ran about a minute ago. This time it’s a 12-yard completion down the side.
4:16 – In what would signal the beginning of a mild blowout, Golson stands tall in the pocket and floats a great pass into the hands of Ryan Izzo in the back corner of the end zone. Golson noticed immediately how Izzo had slipped past the coverage and made pretty much the only good option available. Touchdown.
1:41 – Kermit Whitfield showed Florida State fans what he was capable of with his moves after this catch, turning a 15-yard gain into 35. That being said, Golson should get credit for spotting how Whitfield had found a pocket in the defense and delivering it to him. It did seem that he had already locked onto who he was throwing to, but the results cannot be denied.
1:05 – Golson seems to have gotten a bit greedy with this attempt to Ermon Lane in the back of the end zone. Not only was it a bit of a dangerous throw (almost led Lane to the goalpost itself) but there was another receiver that was streaking across the middle with no one in front of him. Definitely not his best attempt of the night.
1:01 – There was really no good option to throw it to on this play. He has no choice but to run to the left and see what he can get out of it. Translates to a 1-yard loss.
:19 – FSU gets out of a third and long situation with this dump off to Mario Pender, who scrambles for an 11-yard gain. Golson made the right decision and avoids taking any unnecessary risk.
Third Quarter Summary: Jimbo Fisher finally decided to let him loose in the third quarter and it paid off big time. In between laser precision throws and Winston-quality play extensions, Golson showed how valuable he can be for the upcoming season. He completed 12 of 15 passes this quarter for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
4th Quarter
14:21 – Another short pass to Mario Pender nets 10 yards into the Texas State red zone. Golson seemed to be uncomfortable with the other options on the field and went the safe route.
13:35 – Golson decided to take another shot at the back of the end zone and hit Jesus Wilson for a 16-yard touchdown pass right over the middle. Wilson beat his man and had no defender in the back to help cover him. Great decision with an excellent result.
11:11 – With three wide receivers on one side of the field, it made sense that Golson was looking that way the entire time. Ja’Vonn Harrison is wide open in between the defense and gives him one of the easiest touchdown passes he’ll ever have. 55 yards for a score.
Fourth Quarter Summary: Two touchdowns in three passes is fantastic efficiency — no doubt about that. Florida State had an insurmountable lead by this point and Golson’s night was over after a strong finish.
Overall
It’s hard to not get excited for the Florida State offense after watching Golson operate in this game. The opponent wasn’t the strongest of course, but the formula for success is likely the same. Part of Golson’s problems at Notre Dame was the fact that head coach Brian Kelly put too much of an offensive load on his shoulders.
Fisher and his staff realized this and are putting the focus back on the running game for the Seminoles. Its effect was apparent. Golson operated from play-action and read-option a majority of his time on the field. When he was asked to go solo in the pocket, he responded by tossing four touchdowns and no interceptions.
It should be noted however, that he had more than a handful of passes that didn’t require complex reads or recognition. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does speak against the idea that he could just carry the team if needed to. Golson isn’t a gunslinger and he isn’t Jameis Winston.
Some might just look at the stat line and expect a prolific quarterback slicing and dicing a defense. The reality is much more down to earth: Golson will throw when the run game has been established or when Florida State has to move down the field quickly. This helps keep defenses honest and prevents them from just focusing on Cook and Pender as a way to stop the offense.
Perhaps the biggest thing to take away is this: Florida State seems to know how to use Golson. He’s not taking too many risks and coaches are focused on getting him into a rhythm before calling on him to make plays. How this strategy will work against tougher defenses has yet to be seen, but the pieces are all there. Ultimately, it comes down to trust and how much Fisher wants Golson to command the offense. This first game seems to have given him some security in this respect.
