Virginia Tech

Thud.

The Taggart Era was ushered in last night, and it was not exactly as scripted by Willie and his boyhood fairyland dreams - nor ours. But before I get into this somewhat familiar mess, since I was able to see first hand the USF version, let's talk about how FSU football fell from grace nationally and locally last night.

Having the opportunity to travel to collegiate venues across the country, I inherently compare every game presentation with our own. I am not saying that Florida State is on an unassailable pedestal, but it is defensible as one of the true meccas in college football atmosphere. ESPN did not dedicate an army of staff, their lead announce crew and a blimp to a listless home. It normally starts with the ridiculously talented Chiefs playing Uprising and more pregame, rises with all of Doak chanting and chopping in unison and crescendos with a flaming spear launching into our logo.

Monday night was a joke. The brain trust inside the Moore Center decided to bring the South side of Chicago inside the stadium, and let the Chiefs sit this one out. From the time the band entered the stadium 50 minutes before kickoff until they officially entered the field, they were not allowed to play. Meanwhile, a DJ and club mix rap echoed with distorted base across the field while our players danced as they went through pregame drills. It is not shocking to see them play if they practice like this every day. But, I digress. The rap club mix continued all game long. Yes, I understand that most of the kids in pads love it, but the 65,000 adults paying the bills like a little variety. What should have been a celebration of all that is great about the history of Seminole football that our HC has been preaching for months, became a drive-by in Compton, and our boys (and fans) were on the pavement.  If they do not fix this in a hurry, then the players will be the only ones listening to this garbage.

Speaking of waste, looking at our new Coach last night, I kept thinking of the scene in the early Star Wars series where our heroes were over their heads in trash, and the walls were closing in. Unfortunately, on Monday, R2D2 had his phone on silent and there was no saving us. In fact, Willie kept checking his phone GPS last night, and it kept sending him to Pensacola and Jacksonville, while every couch coach watching was begging him to go to Atlanta. When your line is struggling, slow developing running plays and East/ West behind the line junk is not an answer. Especially when your opponent has six out of seven back end starters that were at Prom last year. At least halftime offered a chance for redemptive adjustments. Yup, we had 1 first down in the second half. One. Cam's 85 yard scamper gave us our only 1st down and delivered a total of 80 second half yards. Let that math sink in for a sec. The entire rest of the half netted minus five yards. 60% of our plays called Monday night went nowhere or backwards. If he has any pride, he will internally admit that HE was whipped last night, and turn over the bulk of the offense on game day to his staff. Go recruit Coach. This ain't Bowling Green or Eugene.

TV may not have done justice to lethal simplicity. Most passing downs featured 3 or 4 wide receivers simply running straight down the field. Yup, you remember 4th grade when you tell Bobby and Tommy to just go long. No wonder freshman can play in this offense. Just look out for parked cars or the oversize mailbox and this can work. Slanting Cam or the immensely talented Laborn just over the line seems like a pipe dream. Nope, we are going to swing it wide to 260 pound TE's and ask tiny DJ Matthews to block for him. How about a 3rd and goal with the game on the line from the 10. I know, let's take Deondre out of the game and see if they expect a sideways run with 4 backs sweeping across the field. Folks, this was not an execution issue. This was a catastrophic offensive coaching failure.

It continued on special teams. Yes, Ricky missed a crucial kick, but how in Hosanna do 3 different guys collapse on top of our punter when he is standing on the goal line? They practically grabbed the snap from him. Meanwhile, our punt team decided to execute the rare double of not rushing the punter and never returning one either. Pleased we used that extra coaching slot for a special teams specialist. It showed. Although we heard that Noonie really scored (no replays were available from our crack Doak crew), we dropped a sure TD, and VT defenders were constantly being shot by invisible snipers, all of this has no bearing on who was the better squad last night.

Our defense gets a pass. And, I think we knew that was coming when we hired Barnett away from Michigan State. We might have to win some 3-love games this season, and he might just figure out how to get that done. Janarius Robinson and Marvin Wilson have improved dramatically and Cory Durden splashed next to Brian Burns all night. We lost some jump balls, but I think that is to be Lavonta Taylors cross to bear all season and he was all over the guy (not some dude running free down the field like last year!). Our weakness - covered up at times - was our size at LB. We have to find a way to recruit here, because other than super freshman Woodbey, there is not much in the cupboard to build on.  On this side of the ball, we actually did adjust in mid-stride. Their teammates gave VT the ball inside the 50 on seemingly every possession, and time and again, we found a way to force a punt. I honestly had a glimmer of hope when pure hubris gave us a chance on the 4th and 1 stop. But, 3 sideways trips to Monticello later, that hope was snuffed.

Do not buy into the cupboard is bare talk. This group is loaded at the skill positions and Deondre when the game was in doubt was pretty salty. Our former coach and current one can both recruit and it shows in individual talent. Yes, the line was horrific. Especially, when Dickerson and Kelly both joined Minshew on the sideline in the second half. So, we have guys on the OL just as good as the rest of the ACC outside of Upstate SC...we need to discover a way to win with this group and the ridiculous 5 star studs all around them. Let's give our new OL coach a chance with these (still highly rated) kids. I was impressed with Terry and his ability to high point the ball, and continue to be befuddled by how two coaching staffs now have been fooled by Keith Gavin and his ball skills. His end zone drop was a killer, and his failure to compete on the pick may have been even worse.

Football savants will tell you that the truism in every season is how much players improve from game 1 to game 2. The salient question is will the guys wearing the headsets have the same growth? Since our second act features a cupcake, I am not sure how much we will notice. But, if our trip to Upstate NY in two weeks features the same brilliance as Monday night, this honeymoon may be over before the garter is off. Coach Taggart killed the offseason. I mean, he did every...single...thing...right. This PR machine deserves a chance to show he can deliver, and I will absolutely give him that chance. But, if this was Broadway, he would already be in Paramus.

The good news is that it will not be nearly as crowded in the tailgate lots this week, and I am fairly certain my tents will dry out by then. It is a game time that reminds me of Seminole Saturday Nights, and maybe the on and off field product will do the same...