The start of the 2014 season is less than two weeks away as Florida State gets set to defend its national championship. While the Seminoles look to certainly possess a national championship caliber roster, FSU is on pace to begin the year with much of it tightly intact.
As college football and Florida State fans certainly know, the anticipated returning roster at the end of one season isn’t always the one that begins the next. Over the weekend, Florida State lost sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Jones for the year as the 6’4″, 200-pound target was deemed academically ineligible by the NCAA. Though the loss of Jones takes away Florida State’s tallest receiver, it is a relatively minor loss compared to programs throughout the rest of the country.
Since the beginning of August, a number of schools have endured major blows. TCU parted ways with the Big XII’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Devonte Fields, after the redshirt sophomore defensive end allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend. Notre Dame lost four key players for the year to an academic cheating scandal while Ohio State could be without starting quarterback and Heisman hopeful, Braxton Miller, for all of 2014 after Miller re-injured his throwing shoulder.
While other schools are scrambling to replace key players, the Seminoles are as close to 100 percent as they’ve been for the start of any season in a long time. Prior to the start of last season, Florida State lost a number of pass-catchers as wide receivers Greg Dent and Willie Haulstead were each kicked off the team for different reasons while fellow wideout Jarred “Scooter” Haggins and tight end Kevin Haplea each suffered season-ending knee injuries.
Fortunately for Florida State, the Seminoles were able to overcome those injuries to win the BCS title, but teams are rarely so fortunate. Though staying healthy in the preseason is difficult enough, the regular season presents a whole new animal. While Florida State did lose safety Tyler Hunter and linebacker Matthew Thomas during the regular season last year, FSU managed to stay healthy at places thin on the depth chart like at receiver and along the offensive front.
Whether it was Dan Kendra’s knee injury in 1998, Anquan Boldin’s in 2001, Antonio Cromartie’s in 2005 or Greg Reid’s dismissal prior to the start of the 2012 season, Florida State knows full well that things can change before the first kickoff of the year. While injuries, academic problems or off-the-field issues can all contribute to a team’s roster depletion, the Seminoles for now, look to begin the 2014 season in very good shape.
