With a 27-21 loss to NC State,
FSU’s national-title hopes are over before October ... again, Mike Bianchi writes.
TALLAHASSEE — The previous time the Florida State Seminoles had taken the field, they carried a No. 3 national ranking into the season opener against Alabama and were a trendy pick to win the national championship.
Now — three weeks, one canceled game, one rescheduled game, one hurricane and an injured quarterback later — the Seminoles have no hope for a national title after enduring a devastating 27-21 defeat at the hands of North Carolina State on Saturday.
This was supposed to be the year FSU took back the ACC from Clemson, but you can pretty much forget about that now that the Seminoles are 0-2 for the first time in nearly 30 years. The ’Noles had hoped to be in Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game at the end of season playing for a chance to get into the College Football Playoff semifinals. Now there’s a much more likely chance they’ll be in Charlotte at the end of the season playing in the Belk Bowl.
“This isn’t going to define who we are; our goal now is to try to win out,” said FSU running Jacques Patrick, a Timber Creek grad.
“There is no panic, but there’s an urgency,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Goals are
set before the season and once those are set, then you go play and deal with what happens. There’s no sitting around worrying about [where you’re going to be at the end of the season]. Now you line up and go play the next game and find out what kind of team you’re going to be.”
Jimbo pointed out that there have been other FSU teams that have rallied from slow starts to have good seasons. In fact, the last time the Seminoles started out with two losses was 1989 when Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles lost to Southern Miss and Clemson and then ran the table and beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
Then, of course, there was last year’s FSU team that got blown out by Louisville, lost to North Carolina and was out of the conference race by the beginning of October. The Seminoles would go on to finish 10-3 and defeat Michigan in a wild and wacky Orange Bowl.
At this point, it seems far-fetched to think the Seminoles can run the table against teams like Louisville, Clemson, Florida, etc. Even though true freshman quarterback James Blackman looked respectable (22-of-38 for 278 yards) in his first start in place of the injured Deondre Francois, you wonder how long he can stay upright and healthy behind FSU’s shaky offensive line.
Blackmon, a skinny 6-foot-5, 170-pounder, was sacked four times on Saturday and was hammered a number of other times. It’s doubtful he can continue to take such a pounding as the season progresses.
Francois’ presence was clearly missed in clutch situations. The Seminoles scored just one touchdown in seven trips inside the red zone and were 4-of-14 on third-down conversions.
Coming into the game, there was the hope that FSU’s vaunted defense
would be able to carry the team if Blackman and the offense struggled, but you can stick a flaming spear in that narrative now.
There were a number of defensive lapses, but here’s all you need to know: The Seminoles needed a stop on 3rd-and-7 so they could get back ball back as time was running out. Instead, NC State running back Nyheim Himes gashed FSU’s defense for 15 yards on a garden-variety running play. Game over. National championship hopes done.
To their credit, the Seminoles refused to use the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma as an excuse. Then again, how could they when a team like UCF, which also had a threeweek layoff because of Irma, went on the road and blew out Maryland 38-10 Saturday.
Still, it has to be demoralizing for players, coaches and fans that, for the second consecutive year, FSU’s preseason hopes and dreams have been hijacked not even a month into the season.
What’s even more troubling is that other teams in the ACC don’t fear the spear and respect the Seminoles like they once did. NC State defensive stalwart Bradley Chubb not only wreaked havoc in FSU’s offensive backfield Saturday, he spit on the Seminole logo when the game ended.
“That’s just disrespectful and dirty,” FSU defensive end Brian Burns said. “He’s going to have to deal with his karma.”
Unfortunately for the Seminoles, they have to deal with being 0-2 for the first time in a generation.
Hopefully, they can rediscover their own positive karma — not to mention their defense and offensive line.