’Noles irked by Hokies
FSU says Va. Tech injuries hurt tempo
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State coach Willie Taggart and his players said many of their drives during their season opener were thwarted by Virginia Tech’s defensive players crumbling and seeking treatment for cramps.
While they took responsibility for the ugly 24-3 loss, the Seminoles said the cramps led to TV timeouts that slowed the pace of FSU’s up-tempo Gulf Coast offense.
Seminoles fans have since shared clips of Hokies dropping to the turf untouched.
“That definitely affected the pace,” FSU running back Cam Akers said when asked about Virginia Tech’s cramping. “A lot of big plays were made. A lot of their cramps kind of killed our drives, but it is out of our control.”
When asked if he thought the injury delays were intentional during the ACC conference call, Taggart said, “It happened too often,
so it’s hard not to.”
ESPN.com reported Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said the heat and humidity in Tallahassee Monday night simply took a toll on his team.
Taggart said during his weekly FSU press conference he believes eventually there will be rule changes to help combat the issue.
“They make changes for everything else, I’m sure they’ll come up with something at some point,” Taggart said.
Injury report
Taggart gave a brief update on injured players Wednesday morning before practice.
Freshman linebacker Jaiden Woodbey was seen at practice on Wednesday continuing normal reps. He left the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game with an apparent shoulder injury. Postgame, Taggart revealed
that his shoulder came out of socket.
“He bounced back and did fine,” Taggart said on the status of Woodbey.
“Right after the game, I saw him in the locker room and he said it felt it a lot better, and he’ll be ready to roll.”
Starting right tackle Landon Dickerson was not at practice on Wednesday. The redshirt sophomore left Monday night’s game against Virginia Tech with an ankle sprain.
“We’re going to treat that and see how that goes,” Taggart said. “Big guys with ankle sprains is not good.”
Right guard Cole Minshew, who was out all last week due to injury, was practicing on Wednesday. Taggart said Minshew suffered a concussion at some point during preseason practice. The redshirt junior did not dress out for the game on Monday night, but Taggart indicated that he will be back this week.
Redshirt freshman linebacker DeCalon Brooks did not dress out at the game
Monday night and was not seen at practice on Wednesday. He, too, is suffering from a concussion but is expected to play against Samford on Saturday.
Redshirt junior Adonis Thomas, who shares the strong linebacker position with Brooks, started against Virginia Tech.
Freshman running back Zaquandre White and junior tight end Naseir Upshir were not dressed out during the Virginia Tech game but did appear healthy at practice.
Grading Francois
The coaching staff was proud of quarterback Deondre Francois’ overall performance against Virginia Tech. He threw for 233 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions.
“I just think that as he continues to improve, as he continues to really learn the offense,” FSU offensive coordinator Walt Bell said. “... And when I say learn, I don’t mean on a chalkboard. Deondre Francois can go up
there and tell you everything about everything. He’s one of the sharpest kids I’ve ever been around, but there’s no substitution for those physical reps. We just continue to stack those up and he’ll get better as we go forward.”
Taggart thought the redshirt junior started the game effectively, but as the game went on, he saw the efficiency of Deondre and the rest of the offense decrease.
“I thought all of our offensive players were trying to make the big play instead of the right play,” Taggart said. “I thought that’s what happened with Deondre — he wanted to help his team come back and make a play on a couple of those interceptions where he could’ve taken an easier throw where he should’ve thrown the ball and it would’ve been OK. And on another interception, a receiver ran the wrong route, so we’ve got to be on the same page.”