Miami

 Mike was about to enter 7th grade and his parents had decided that he was too old to drop off to school and there was a bus stop right next to his house anyway. Convenient answer, but they were also not listening to him repeatedly telling them that everyone in school knew that Seb was on his bus and that guy spent his Saturdays updating his Wikipedia page for greatest bullies of all time. He had so much lunch money, he had a direct deposit app (Ugh, I hate modern bullies!). Well, Mike was obviously super nervous the night before his first day of school, although for his safety, he did insure that his parents credit cards were all in good standing. He did not need Seb’s app to register a problem on day 1! The next morning he ate everything in sight for breakfast, knowing that it might be 12 hours before he ate again. He trudged at a glacial pace to the bus stop, and waited on the inevitable. The double doors opened and he climbed the stairs and sat quietly as close as possible to the driver for obvious reasons. Then, nothing…Seb was occupied in the back and ignored him. Mike got all the way to school and stepped off the bus confident and even a little cocky. Then with the speed of a hiccup, two boys came running up from behind, seemed just to brush him, and took his entire backpack and his wallet from his back pocket. 

Well Sebastian, that damn big ugly bird that roams the Hurricane sidelines and his massive trenchmonsters that got off the bus with him from Coral Gables had Micheal Norvell very, very nervous coming into this contest. Turns out they were indeed incredibly good, but that was not who stole our collective soul. It was that dadgum little scatback Toney that made our life miserable. Granted, it took almost three full quarters until Coach White brought in a corner to cover this roadrunner. Until then, Miami was just lining this kid up in the slot and we matched with a safety or (gulp) a linebacker. He was the best player on the field and was an easy read running crossers in front of Beck or just grabbing a sideways toss and galloping untouched for 5-20. He was the best player on the field (think Dalvin every game against Miami ever), and almost single-handedly won the contest.

I went into this game absolutely convinced that we could not match up physically with what Miami had built on both lines of scrimmage. It felt like if we even got close to a stalemate on the lines, we had a chance to take the game. Maybe Doak could deliver a few false starts, and we would prevail. Alas, it may not have been a stalemate, but we competed - especially on defense. 

The defensive line had some tough love lessons in Charlottesville last week, and deserved our collective concern facing a Cane OL that might be the best in college football. But, much like Alabama, our front seven found a way to slow the running game. Hat tip to Coach White. The bummer is our lack of defensive end talent and that meant that Carson Beck - who when you make him even take one step off his platform - will toss a drunk quail; was able to stand like a Times Square mime in the pocket. The aggression that was missing the last few weeks was back, as was the groupthink in tackling. But, Gerry Wilson chose a very bad game to have his worst week. He was not physical enough at the point of attack on a number of tosses behind the line. He also played roulette on the goal line and put all his money on black while the wheel was hot on red. He gave up his hips on a fade presnap, while the receiver took one step, came inside and was uncovered by our man. But, as mentioned, we had enough wins on this side of the ball to still win the game. It was the offense that went to Seattle without an umbrella. 

Thomas Castellanos was not good enough on Saturday night for the Noles to win the football game. I understand he said as much in the postgame locker room and for that his character gets a big check mark. But the final score was not 28-22, but actually 3-0. And two of those three were horrific decisions by TC at crucial spots. The first was a nervy 4th down call when we were only down 7-3. He had a wide open Gavin right in front of him for a first down, but the process speed and his risk it or no biscuit philosophy had centered on a deep ball to Pittman. Randy was open early, but alas the ball was not. The second pick was just a disaster of a decision. Squirrel was never open and he underthrew him into double coverage. But, it was not just the picks that hurt this night. In the first three quarters and indeed all season, when he starts to elude a rush, the passing part of the play is over. He is taking off, and for much of the night, this hero play did not deliver. Miami was too fast to allow big plays here. Only late was he scrambling with his head up looking for a play, and that was forced by 4th down or die situations. That needs to be the new norm, With his speed, scramble drills could become the best play in our book. But, his propensity to throw back foot, sidearm, bending backwards invariably to no one has to improve. That can happen if he just slows down just a beat. He is quick enough to escape, and get his footwork slowed to get on plane. It’s a long season and Gus gets AARP benefits. This can improve. 

I saw the post game stat that Miami had 34 QB pressures in the game, but to my vision the line held up pretty well. In fact, the backs ran very hard and if it was not a blowout, we might have caused some problems here. I absolutely love our receiving corps and the youngsters in Boggs and McCoy are real. It is a shame that Kromah fumbled, because he was a force in this big boy football game. Jump cuts at his size again are special. And his two receptions are a harbinger of really good things to come. 

The zebras stayed out of the game for the most part, but they had an opening drive miss on two crucial calls. One was a punch in our quarterbacks face, and the other failure to call the DPI in the corner and it may have cost us some points. But, when you give up 28 straight, the refs are not an issue. I think what was so unusual to me was the atmosphere in Doak. Not sure what television reflected, and probably due to the home team laying an egg, but the stadium to me was a level down Saturday evening. Night game against your rival felt like a layup for a nuthouse. But Miami for the first time in my 42 year personal memory did not bring their band. Their fans apparently filled out a pre-event questionnaire that mandated that they were actual college grads or simply wealthy enough to pay Tallahassee hotel rates, because that was the quietest and most polite group of green and orange folks I have experienced. 

It all just contributed to a weird night where the home team outgained the visitors by a bunch, had twice as many first downs and forgive the late heroics, got run out of their own building. What happens next is more important than any series of games in Mke Norvell’s FSU career. He simply can not let an off night in Charlottesville become a three game skid. That play ran in 2022, and Yelp gave him no stars. This team still has a chance to be the start of a renaissance in Tallahassee, but stacking recruiting classes are the only answer. Going on a new 4-6 game winning run will ring that bell. 

This group needs to take heart from the play on both lines and take on the bully swagger that Miami came into this contest with. The Desirs and Kevin Wynn look like the kind of freak freshman d-lineman that as upperclassman dominate opponents. This helmet matters, and the rest of the season is time to take all these lesser teams lunch money and pride as Mike Norvell simply has to get his team ready to go at kick and show this conference who they should be worried about before they step on our bus.