Syracuse

Jake had always been a straight A student, and he did it effortlessly much to the chagrin of his classmates. He played sports well enough, and participated in just enough clubs to live dangerously on the edge of the geek / jock equilibrium. Despite the incredible disadvantage that his cerebral abilities can bring in terms of snarky jealously, he somehow was very popular. Good looking and having been born to parents of quiet, yet incredible old wealth, girls were naturally drawn to him for all the reasons that young girls are drawn to boys like Jake. So, it came as a shock when Jake seemed to be in a weeklong funk. What could possibly be wrong in this idyllic existence? Well, after much conjecture from teammates and soul mates, the answer was finally sucked out of our protagonist. Jake had a zit. Yeah, ok....and one of the eggs in my caviar is a smidgeon too salty.

Fans leaving the Stadium Saturday night were searching for a blemish with this squad. With the wisdom only achieved with multiple postgame beverages and surrounded by experts with 30-50 years of Doctoral tenure in all things Seminole, it was eventually deduced that the 2013 Noles have two major flaws. Their third team defense is simply not as good as our opponents' starters, and who in the World knows if we are capable of playing even three full quarters of football without tiring?

It is time to formally recognize what this team we root for in North Florida is accomplishing as we progress through the scrimmage next week to our regular season finale in Gainesville. The 10-0 squad is only the 3rd such team in school history to get to this spot unblemished. They are winning by an average margin of 43 points, scoring 53 a game and doing all this while the starters are being caught literally playing hangman on the coaching white boards in the second half (true story). Just imagine for a minute the numbers that this offense would produce if our defense was Texas A&M bad; or how dominant this defense could be if our offense was Alabama-mind-numbingly-boring and our coaches were not worried about developing depth. Every great college team has their OK Corral, and if ours was a blip in  the second quarter in Chestnut Hill, the rest of the country should be very concerned.

Well, I guess young Jameis eliminated Coach Fisher's "clutter" this week. He is killing it in the court of public opinion, confirmed with the two pregame roars that exploded in Doak when his name was mentioned over the PA. Then he took the field and missed on only 2 of his 21 throws; one where KB went the wrong way and the other was just a Rashad drop. We have come to take for granted the ridiculous, but the perfect fade that only Benjamin could capture and the strength to throw across his body 40 yards to his 3rd read from a standing position and a waiting Nick O'Leary were still jaw-droppingly great. But for those in attendance, his Heisman moment this evening was racing 35 yards downfield ahead of blazingly fast Kermit (not easy), to throw his body at the only remaining impediment to Whitfield's 73 yard romp. You want to know why the 325 pound ugly, sweaty behemoths in front of him work so hard to protect him?  The defense rests, Mr. Meggs.

I can not begin to stress how important it is that our backups are getting this much quality time. Simply put, it is how you graduate players without a hiccup in dominance, and keep your stars healthy all year long. Watching the evolution of Karlos this season has been a revelation. When given a hole, he explodes through it like Usain Bolt running from his alimony payments. It is almost unfair how big and fast he is. We are also finally getting a taste of a healthy James Wilder Jr.,  as well as 3rd and shorts have become predictable and automatic. And remember, these two dudes don't start...yeesh.

Tough to accurately gauge how good this Syracuse team really is, but they were averaging over 200 rushing yards this season against an almost completed ACC slate. It seems that when we blow out an opponent, they are instantly dismissed as early century Irish immigrant, but just maybe we are pretty good. The first four series resulted in an Orange waltz (1,2,3...kick) while they attempted to run their "offense".  Down 28 love, with 1 first down and 12 rushing yards in 8 attempts, they decided to scrap what looked good in the film room and deal with the reality that Timmy and company needed to be fooled and not fed. We had 28 points before they had 28 total yards.

Our safeties are just stupidly good. Terrace Brooks came from our tailgate to make one play at the line of scrimmage, and Jalen Ramsey had two different Orangemen seeing red before halftime; both legal and vicious hits. When SU got their second first down in period two, it thankfully gave their fans a chance to stand and stretch. The second stanza was highlighted by young Chris Cashers' sack, strip and score. He is going to be a star and will fill Christian Jones current role very nicely next year. Now, I know that Eddie Goldman is playing next to Timmy, but this former 5* is just as unblockable as his linemate. I heard on the TV broadcast, the "expert analyst" opined that FSU did not have any interior lineman who scare anyone. Ok, you put on a helmet Skippy and line up across from these two. I think after two plays, you will choose to play against...ummm....any other interior line in the country.

Nice to see young Roberto take the driver out of the bag this week. That 53 yard kick showed that when we cross midfield, 3 points are possible. Good grief, it was good from 65 and into the wind. Reggie Northrup led the team in tackles (again) in a backup LB role in no small part because he is walloping other jerseyed dudes on special teams. No need to work on our kickoff coverage teams in weekly practice, because they are getting plenty of work on Saturdays.

Well, after a groundhog day 59-3 and 59-3 consecutive Saturdays, Vegas has caught on and made us...surprise!!...56 point favorites. I am sure the visitors section will be packed with potato people, so let's welcome them to Tallahassee and then enjoy the scrimmage.