Louisiana

 As all of you know, I am a Deckerhoff apologist. He paints the picture like no other, and offered just the perfect sprinkle of homer with a heaping portion of professionalism in the broadcast. The same can not be said for his peer two hours South, and on a special 1989 evening it was joyous to behold. The Noles had just dispatched South Carolina at home in the nascent moments of The Dynasty, and we rushed home to try and catch the end of the Florida game at Auburn. Little ones, by catch, I mean we were sprinting home to listen to the radio broadcast together, cuz there was no cell phone, internet, or omnipresent cable channel du jour to see the contest. So, there we were in a warm late night Tallahassee living room, 12 happy garnet clad humans, huddled around a stereo and living on every word uttered by the lizard play-by-play voice Mick Hubert. “Time running out, Tiger quarterback Reggie Slack is back to pass…he is looking…looking…scrambles to his right…fires to the end zone……..(silence while the Jordan Hare crowd erupts in the background,and all 12 of us stand at once and look at each other like 5 year olds on Christmas Eve…)…Oh No!…(more silence…now approaching 8 seconds; as our hands are raised high to hug and high five, but we just don’t really know)…Auburn wins the football game.” Living room pandemonium! The Noles win and the Lizard loses. It is another Seminole Saturday Night. To this day, I have never seen the highlight of that play. Did the ball get defected four times and land in an Auburn lap? Was it a miracle catch, or a wide open tight end? Mick never told us and we did not care. It was awful broadcast perfection for our little cadre of rivalry revelers. 

Skip forward to this weekend, and wow have time and technology made some leaps, but our hearts are squarely in the same locale. As we filed out of Doak, thousands of us were clutching our phones either watching the broadcast or at worst following a live play update. Walking the 200 yards back to the tailgate, the commentary from all around me on each play was Gene-worthy. 9 year old girls and 70 year old men sharing information like it was a stock tip. Yes, they are out of timeouts…yup, they missed the extra point…only 8 seconds left…he threw it out of the end zone…Vandy Wins! Strangers high five, and  garnet dogs hug gold cats. It was another Seminole Saturday Night. Oh, yeah, and Miami got thumped again but that seems routine now…

I know this four game run has seemed surreal to all of us, and the first half this week was no different. This team had almost no emotional energy, was completely uninspired on both lines of scrimmage and sleptwalked to a five touchdown lead. What is going on!!? We dropped a huge pass...no trouble... our best two wide receivers played about 5 downs...no problem... our offensive line was getting pushed around on every pass play forcing Jordan to Houdini to multiple first downs for the first time since the Opener against LSU...Who cares. We still rushed for over 200 (in a half), and did just enough on defense to keep the bad guys at bay. We knew a letdown was coming, and maybe that was it…beating a 5-5 football team by a zillion. If Jordan has a NIL deal on his baseball cap, then he is murdering it this half of the season. 

Louisiana had one of the best special teams return units in the country coming into the game, and they certainly had plenty of opportunities to practice on Saturday. It felt like the end of Butch and Sundance as this poor kid was all alone on his goal line and every one of his ten buddies in front missed their block on every kick. He was on the ten yard line and had 11 angry black shirts aiming a gold speared helmet at him. By the end of the second quarter, he had his fair catch hands raised before Fitz hit the ball. Speaking of which, give Coach credit again here for resurrecting our Charlie Brown from the dead. Ryan looks like a dude that will make a big kick now. I hope he never has to…but you can see the juice is back in this kids veins. 

If there is one nit to pick this weekend, it has to be the continued lack of development of our corners. Mickey Andrew’s used to coach db’s in clear stages. First you run with ‘em, then you run and try to find the ball, the you run with ‘em, and turn your head a pick that bad boy off. Well, we have not progressed past step one with any corner on the team. Renardo Green is our best, and he has not turned his head one time this season. We are absolutely ripe for back shoulder throws on every down, but we have not faced a qb that attacks this way since Wake and Clemson. Uh oh, the boys from Hogtown got that in them. I just don’t get it. We have the athletes to run in phase, and they are, but are not in position to make plays beyond an occasional ball swipe. Gotta improve here. 

Our defensive line might be getting used to only playing about 20 snaps a game, and that has resulted in an incredibly healthy unit. Josh Farmer got another sack this week, and Patrick Payton made yet another splash play. Broken record, but this is how you don't crash when your Lovett's and Verse's get drafted. Jammie Robinson is one guy that may not be so easy to replace. He is a human eraser, covering up all the mistakes in front of him, and near the goal line, is downright disrespectful to offenses. He created a lifetime repayable moment by tossing aside the U qb like a bad salad, and this week timed a run blitz like an Olympic swimmer on a block and met the running back as he got the rock. End of drive, and touchdown averted. 

Coach Fuller was justifiably pissed in the fourth quarter as his backups got whipped and the 7 touchdown advantage shrunk to a measly 5 as the final clock expired. He paced the sideline, threw his headset and generally lost his mind. I loved it. What I was not as excited about was the footwork and quick inaccurate throws from our future quarterback. AJ needs more time, and apparently only a Bowl blowout will afford that. He was bailed out by the walrus ballet of a grab by Markeston Douglas. Watching a 280 pound human contort sideways while making a one handed stab never gets old, and I only wish 80% of the student body had stayed to see it. Even the front row of 8 checkerboard boys had dwindled to a solo check. Oh well, Friday night is coming, and no one is leaving early on that one.

Eight wins. Six Years ago. Holy Smokes is this fun. Let's Go! The make this Seminole Saturday Night an easy non technology execution.