Top-ranked Florida State was able to get the job done on Saturday night as the Seminoles held off a late rally from Oklahoma State to down the Cowboys, 37-31 in Dallas. FSU however, was hardly the complete football team that many expected nor did as the ‘Noles come close to covering the 19-point spread.
While Florida State struggled with a school that lost more lettermen than any other team in the country, there is little reason to believe that the Seminoles are anything, but a legitimate contender to still be part of college football’s first 4-team playoff.
Sure, there are concerns for Florida State. Offensively, the front five struggled against a young Oklahoma State defensive line as the Seminoles managed just 3.1 yards-per-carry and allowed a pair of sacks on quarterback Jameis Winston.
The wide receiving corps for Florida State also appeared very thin outside of senior Rashad Greene. While Greene had a career-high 203 yards receiving on 11 receptions, all other FSU wideouts combined for just five catches and only three players total at the position caught a pass. The Seminoles also managed just one touchdown on five trips to the red zone.
With the Florida State receiving corps proving to be thin on offense, the defensive front for the Seminoles was a weakness on the other side of the ball. Though the combination of Eddie Goldman and Nile Lawrence-Stample played well early, Florida State wore down up front as the game wore on.
There is obviously plenty of room for improvement for #1 Florida State, but the good news is that there is plenty of time to get that done. The Seminoles have their home-opener with the Citadel and a bye week to get things corrected before a critical ACC showdown with Clemson on September 20th. For Florida State to see that one sub-par performance early in the season is not a death sentence, it needs to look back no further than last season.
One of the great stories in the country in 2013 was the turnaround from Auburn. After going 0-8 in SEC play the year prior, the Tigers won the conference in 2013 and came up 13 seconds short of winning the national championship. Auburn’s season however, began with a hard-fought 31-24 victory over a Washington State team that finished just 3-9 the previous season.
Florida State certainly won’t be sneaking up on people as Auburn did last season, but the Seminoles entered 2014 with expectations similar to Alabama last year. Though the Crimson Tide rolled to a 35-10 season-opening victory over a Virginia Tech squad that finished just 7-6 the previous year, Alabama managed just 206 yards of offense.
Despite a dismal offensive showing to open the season, Alabama finished the regular season 11-1 and quarterback A.J. McCarron wound up being a Heisman finalist. Had there been a college football playoff last season, the Tide most likely would have been a part of it.
Florida State’s 37-31 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday night may not have been pretty, but it did come against a team that put together three 10-win seasons in the past four years. The Seminoles didn’t hit their stride last season until a late September contest against Boston College in which Florida State rallied from an early 14-point deficit and allowed a season-high 34 points. The Eagles went just 2-10 the previous season. Florida State also found itself behind to Nevada in the second quarter of last season’s home-opener.
While the lack of depth at receiver and along the defensive front looks to be a major concern for Florida State early on, it doesn’t have to be for the entire season. Many expected true freshmen Ermon Lane and Travis Rudolph to contribute at wideout on Saturday and for defensive tackles, Derrick Nnadi and Demarcus Christmas to do likewise for the defensive front.
In such a tight game, coaches were hesitant to force the youngsters into action on Saturday, but FSU will plenty of time to get them game-ready before Clemson comes to town. Some of last year’s key contributors didn’t find their niche until the latter parts of the season either.
Nate Andrews didn’t make a splash for the Florida State defense last season until the final week of September. Andrews would go on to intercept a team-high four passes for a team that led the nation in that category.
As a freshman, wide receiver Kermit Whitfield scored four touchdowns with three coming from at least 74 yards out. Whitfield didn’t score his first touchdown until FSU’s seventh game last season. Whitfield would wind up being one of the heroes of the BCS title game as his 100-yard kickoff return gave the Seminoles a 27-24 fourth quarter lead.
Florida State was also without wide receiver Jesus “BoBo” Wilson and defensive end Chris Casher for Saturday’s opener in North Texas as each were suspended. Casher has the ability to become perhaps Florida State’s best pass-rusher while Wilson brings a change of pace to the receiving corps. Having both in the lineup will also prove critical to the team’s depth at those positions.
While Saturday’s performance in Dallas wasn’t the championship caliber showing that Florida State had hoped for, many teams that go on to have great seasons don’t peak until the latter parts of the year. The Seminoles have a number of kinks to work out and some key depth issues, but nothing that can’t be corrected. It wasn’t until a hard-fought win over Boston College last season that FSU began to assert itself as a national championship contender.
