Nevada

Jeremy woke up with a start. Christmas. Covers went flying and he ripped out of bed and tore down the stairs making his feet sound like at least 6 kids. A plethora of wrapped presents awaited him under the tree but he was looking for the special deliveries. He was looking for 364 days of being-good-reward from the fat man wearing Alabama colors. Where was the new bike or the limited edition Matchbox Talladega Raceway? All he saw was a dadgum puzzle, and it said it only had 20 pieces. How hard could that be? Sheesh. Well, since that was all there was, he sat and opened the box and tried to figure it out. Two hours later, his parents awoke and trudged down to little Jeremy still looking perplexed with pieces strewn all around his legs. His dad Jimbo patiently said "Son, take those first 11 pieces with the flat edges and make them the borders...then the others will fit in and it will all make sense. You are thinking too much!"

It is good to have a plan. But Custer had a plan too, and unfortunately Sitting Bull saw what was coming down on Twitter the night before and made that poor dudes plan look really bad. Nevada was a toss it all-over-the-yard team - until their starting QB got hurt last week - and then they could not throw at all. But we have a twitter ban at FSU and did not get that memo, so Coach Pruitt played the entire first half with two linebackers and a nickel behind him on every down. If the bad guys won one gap up front, they had an 8 yard gain. When your 11 puzzle pieces are better than anything coming from Nevada including the Bellagio, it is time to stop playing games against the house and just win. Now, I respect the fact that he adjusted and dominated the last two and a half quarters, but we will not have that luxury in October.

For the second week in a row, our fears about our defensive ends appear justified. Is it just me or do Edwards and Hicks look like they are walking uphill in a snowdrift? I actually liked the energy and quickness that the two freshman Walker and Casher bring to the position, and I can see these two earning time as the season moves on. There were a number of times where we had four DT types on the line at once, and if Telvin and Christian Jones did not hit the right hole, we looked like Walking Dead lumberjacks turning and chasing a jackrabbit. Thank goodness for the two erasers behind in Brooks and Joyner. These two do not miss tackles. Hello ballcarrier...nice to see you...let's lay down and have a chat.

From an offensive standpoint, we really could not have hoped for more. We did not want to head to Death Valley waiting to see how Jameis handles adversity. He threw an ill advised balloon in his own end and then on the next series was a victim of a Trickett sit-in where the entire line refused to block for a play and got him ragdolled inside the 15. The next series, he came out and on two consecutive run/pass option plays - saw the Pack clogging the middle - and chose well by hitting bubble screens to Shaw. He hit all 13 of his passes after the pick and the rout was on. How about this group of receivers? The law firm of Greene, Shaw, Benjamin and O'Leary might be the best in FSU history. Seriously. Were the fab four this talented, or was our crazy offense and that Ward kid just that good? It is worth talking about, because these cats catch everything thrown in their zip code. Kenny Shaw gets his facemask yanked in full stride and then one hands a ball in the corner of the end zone. For the second week in a row, Rashad steps on the DB's dignity while he steals a Winston laser. When he was not scrapping with the coaches (I thought LD and Jimbo were going to rip the dreads out of his head on the sideline), Kelvin is also playing up to the natural freakish level that he is capable of. The scary thought is that we might lose every one of these dudes at the end of this season. So, these next few potential blowout weeks are crucial to get some of our babies some grown up food.

Apparently, Karlos Williams had been training with the FSU Mile High Circus, because that boy was shot out of a cannon on his first carry. Wow, was that fun! Seeing a man that big move that fast is just jaw dropping. Thus the reason that every kickoff this season has miraculously landed in Joyner's lap and not this human missile. I also loved the improvement we saw from Ryan Green from week 1 to week 2. He has some Timberlake wiggle in open space and these two in combo make me feel better about our backs if JWJ continues to look like The Fugitive (one armed man) out there.

When the second string kicker is in the game, chances are most of the player parents who made the trip went home happy. How do you know a game is out of hand...My daughter has taken to scoping out the scrawny walk-ons on the sideline and asking me "Dad is number 137 gonna get in? He is cute..." Speaking of things to complain about when the game is a blowout...I do not think it is too much to ask to have the video boards working for the 7 out of 365 days that you need them a year. It took the crack down and distance squad at least four series to discover that every play was not 1st and 10. The main scoreboard looked like half of it was hidden behind a screen. The most talked about college football game of the year is being played at the same time, and we got about 3 updates - none after halftime. The smaller LED boards looked like they had been used for target practice for the FSU rifle team and the opening was so disjointed that the band actually skipped the warchant. I understand opening game jitters, but this was Operational Parkinson's. Memo to new AD Stan Wilcox - If you want folks to get off their couch and travel 1-9 hours to come to Tallahassee for home games, get this stuff worked out.

Well, we got a preview of the wonderful BCC Band at the Bucs game last night, and if the game is not as compelling as some, the halftime should be dynamite. See you next week in comfortable, cool, breezy, never sweaty in September....Tallahassee. A boy can dream can't he?