Florida

There is so much love in this relationship. Just having the opportunity to be only two hours apart while in school and then having good friends all around you year round (if you still reside here in Paradise) just makes this game a virtual four hour campfire hug. I think for me, the forever amore began when my former schoolyard mates decided to decorate my parents home in Ocala with an orange & blue paint-by-numbers scoreboard reminder along with an XO personalized message to their collegiate offspring. I can also recall with fondness the memory of that spectacular 1991 contest when our boys came up just short on a sun splashed day in Gainesville. The orange & blue clad fans above us were so thankful that we came to their home that as the clock turned to zed, they showered us with gifts from above. Our neighbor at the end of our row was a lovely 80 plus year old lady who was sporting an adorable homemade white Seminole dress. She will be forever grateful that her parting gift that rained down from the heavens was a Big Gulp cup of tobacco juice to allow some brown accents to her ensemble. Unfortunately, upon acceptance of this present, she collapsed and was unable to rise, and the local police officer only steps away was too busy laughing to get to her in time. A shame, as I know he truly wanted to help. I'm aware that I have probably only scratched the surface of the palpitations that many of you feel when you get near your dear friends from the Boys School East of the Suwanee, but winning this contest is never taken for granted - especially when it finishes yet another run at greatness. Never.

It must have been a stitch at practice last week. Clearly, the staff was able to see a side to Mario Edwards Jr. that none of us heretofore have ever been privy to. This 6'3" 300 pound stud was apparently running 4.3 forty sprints all week. When the staff saw this, changes had to be made. He became our primary option on a fake punt, and why not - with that elusiveness - scrambling for 13 yards around the edge is a relative stroll on Landis Green. MEJ also took his 300 pounds of raw alacrity to the defensive backfield as a game changing safety in charge of shutting down TE's on deep corner routes. This was either a glorious attempt at a Jr. sendoff, a blatant recruiting pitch to DE recruits in the stands, or a series of spectacular coaching blunders. You make the call.

Other than the above idiocy, this was the coup de grace for Charles Kelly's unit in 2014. Florida gave us a perfect matchup by featuring 3 and 4 receiver sets and playing right into our base defense. Without a huge numbers disadvantage up front for the first time in weeks, our DL absolutely owned the battle of the bulge. Derrick Mitchell Jr. had his best game of his career and the platoon of Casher and Walker was tremendous on the edge. The only real success that this lizard rushing attack enjoyed all day was broken play scrambles from the QB, and a healthier LB corps would have shut these down as well. I still struggle with the philosophy of the paddy cake pass rush, but when the other guys are 13 for 32, hard arguments are simply not valid.

A game after possibly his best effort of the year, our beleagured leader had the nadir of his career.  And we won. It was a strange day without focus for Jameis, and only true insiders know why. Could be the impending hearing, a bum ankle, or his girlfriend yelled at him on Friday. He is 20, and apparently human. Charley Ward started his career with back to back four oskie days and Chris Weinke was so spectacularly bad one Saturday in Raleigh that he set a six pick record that may never (we really hope) get broken. So Heisman horrible is possible. I am fairly certain that Jimbo's fifteen play script that he meticulously creates all week did not feature...run, pick, run, run, pick, run, horrible pick. But, thankfully, in the midst of this defecation at Doak, Terrence Smith found a football in his lap and took his bum knees on a 94 yard sprint to garnet & gold paydirt. If you were only just standing quietly and golf clapping during the biggest momentum play of the season, Jalen Ramsey made you add a 9 year old girl scream as he singlehandedly destroyed two reptiles whilst Terrence meandered. The evil spell that the ESPN wicked witch had put in Jameis' pregame pudding was broken, and the run was on.

On Dalvin, on Karlos, on Rashad and Saint Nick. To the end zone we ride! The next two series were ridiculously efficient, accented by sideline scuffles and O'Leary celebrations. Then with the game in hand and downtrodden opponents showering us with so many nonverbal white flags that Jimbo felt like Napoleon (just a tad taller); suddenly in the time it takes to cut Coach Kelly's hair, it wasn't. And yet another gut wrenching, fever inducing, binge eating, follicle killing, wrinkle inducing second half was upon us. At this point, why do we even worry? It always ends the same right? Uh huh, sure.

Dalvin Cook is pretty good. He might have a future at this running back thing. I know that the OL change is paying big dividends, but he is ridiculous in the open field. How about the back to back plays where he gains 54 yards, gets it called back on a horrible holding call, then grabs a screen, breaks another three tackles and rumbles for 28 more. What separates him from others is what happens in the backfield when a mistake happens in front of him. He jump cuts to the side and then accelerates right now upfield. Not normal. With Los probably on the shelf with a wicked headache from yet another cheap shot delivered from our friends, Dalvin may get 25 carries in Charlotte.

When the HC mentioned postgame that this team had a lot of improving to do in the next few weeks, one of the areas he might spend some time on is...gulp...special teams. With starters sprinkled all over the unit, we are a solid 100th in the country now in kickoff returns (Hey MEJ?). We have also somehow lost the ability to take advantage of Roberto's rain-inducing kickoffs to pin folks back and claim field position, and what in the World were we thinking before the half on that punt? They rush 5, and we blocked like a group of Wal-Mart greeters.  I would guess that in a week that will feature endless hours of instruction on how to keep your knees attached while 300 pounders dive at them, some extra special teams work will be welcomed by the boys...

I hear that FSU graduates all over the country are making sure that in their job hunts they highlight their alma mater and the passion they have for it. This insures that future employers will know that this candidate can handle undue stress and survive. The good news. We are twelve and oh again. There is no bad news. No really. There is no bad news. How in the World do we not appreciate two consecutive undefeated regular seasons? Thank you coaches, and thank you young men. It has been an amazing E Ticket ride (for you old Disney afficiondos), and let's hope it continues for another month...at least.