CSU

 Quicksand. Remember when we were kids and we were absolutely convinced that this peril would be an incredibly active part of our lives. It was featured in almost every cartoon, nighttime sitcom and even on that beacon of truth - Gilligan’s Island. We were led to believe that quicksand was everywhere. You walk in the woods and your head should be on a swivel. Near a construction site in the dark; watch out! And don’t get me started if you are in a swamp or a beach. You are basically taking your life in your hands on those squirrelly surfaces. I have been struggling to accurately describe what I have been feeling since somewhere upon my exit from Aviva Stadium to the end of the first quarter this weekend. Although the actuality of it disappeared in my teens, I have been slowly sinking in theoretical quicksand for three months. A steady, helpless, slow centimeter-by-centimeter sink into oblivion. Does it help that while we were looking for anyone with a rope, your two rivals were in turn driving towards their first ACC Championship ever, and blasting through expectations and a potential coach expulsion to a good bowl and a turkey weekend basting? No, my friends those Cane and Lizard successes are like adding ankle weights to my feeling. Well, the combination of Mike announcing a complete reset and a lovely FCS blowout on a perfect weather afternoon in Doak has pulled me out of the quagmire. 

I have been convinced for weeks that the head coach favors Luke as our qb of the future. Early on, it was the practice comments. Then, after Brock played his best game of his ridiculously short career against Clemson, Coach went out of his way to praise the kid who did not participate. The last few weeks, young Luke has been overmatched in the pocket like a mouse inside the maze with walls closing in. He knows the cheese is out there cuz he can smell it, but he just panics looking at the walls and his olfactory abilities shut down. So, here come the lowly Buccaneers of CSU, and Coach Norvell decided to use this entire contest to break the kid out of his youthful habits. Early on, it was more of the same as the offensive line did their best to replicate their terribleness even though they outweighed the defense by about 50 pounds a man. So, Luke felt right at home in his maze. Then, on a key 3rd down as the Aussie warmed up, he hit Douglas for a first down. That was the end of scared Luke, and the kid that Mike sees during the week emerged. He floated out of the pocket and threw with confidence for the first time since Miami. Again, the opponent was horrific, but the kid had some zip in his zap. And at the other end of the string were a bunch of kids that we hope can’t find the transfer portal in two weeks. The five star twins Landen Thomas and Hykeem both made gorgeous plays. Freshman Danzy and McCoy are showing some juice and Cam Davis has hit feet under him again. The teenage skill players on this team can be built upon. Just one teeny weeny issue. The offensive line is slightly worse than cataclysmicly awful. 

I know you can’t solve global questions with a directional school from Charleston in town, but the linebackers are growing up and if you wanted evidence that the young people have not quit on the Coach, watch the back seven defensive effort. Edwin Joseph and Earl Little are throwing their bodies around like WWE mat drills. We finally are getting a look at Bama transfer Murphy and he looks the part. The defensive line has checked out of the Nole Hotel and are just waiting for their bill to be emailed. What they don’t know is that they are a living part of the NCAA commercials where 99% of athletes graduate into other careers. Let’s hope those accounting and pre-med degrees come in handy. Unfortunately back seven effort will not help much when your boys up front are sipping Kahlua Coladas. Let’s hope that the last game maybe ever in Doak - at night - brings out a last ditch emotional fire for a huge group of kids who have been on interstate autopilot in first gear for much of the season.

So, roughly a week from now the season will be mercifully over and we will announce much of an entire new coaching staff. We will hopefully salvage a middling to average recruiting class and the transfer portal will be on fire…again. I know many of you have completely given up hope that our current HC can resurrect this mess. And, hell you might be right. But, what is it like to live in that World? Not a helluva lot of fun. Try just a modicum of optimism and give this man who represents all that is good about FSU as well as our any have in his spot and won 19 in a row less than a year ago a real shot. He handles adversity (and we certainly saw that in 2024!) with class and never throws his kids under the bus. Yes, we are all tired of his mastery of coachspeak, but give him an excuse to talk about the actual school or the Tribe and he will make you blush with pride. 

The absolute floor for FSU football - ever - is six and six. We blew past the sub-basement without a sump pump this season, and it can’t ever happen again. But, forget about the $65 million reasons and give this new group a chance to Climb again in 2025. Have a good offseason kids! If Thanksgiving weekend goes like we think, I will be back with you on Labor Day 2025!