Seminoles say they’re focusing on losing
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Florida State safety Derwin James believes the Seminoles are playing on eggshells.
Offensive lineman and outspoken team leader Alec Eberle believes his teammates simply need to bring some more of their own “juice to the party.”
Without metaphors, defensive end Brian Burns says the Seminoles have blamed each other, but they still have to work positively together after their worst loss of the 2017 season, a 35-3 thrashing at Boston College on Friday night.
“Of course, emotions got flared and people started pointing fingers,” Burns said. “But everybody just has to calm down and figure out what the real problem is to get it solved.”
Kicker Ricky Aguayo may have best summed up Florida State's first 2-5 start since 1976.
“We’re focusing on losing,” Aguayo said. “We’re scared to lose rather than being eager to win.”
Jimbo Fisher, off to his worst start as Florida State's head coach in his eight-year tenure, echoed Aguayo’s statement following the defeat.
The Seminoles, overwhelmed by their poor start, are playing with fear of clinching the team's first losing record since former coach Bobby Bowden's first season of his legendary coaching career in 1976.
FSU's nation-leading 35-year bowl streak, which began in 1981, also is on the line.
Fisher said his players have been too focused on avoiding dubious milestones instead of simply playing to avoid having their miscues turn into defeats.
“We’re so worried about that, in my opinion, and we’re forgetting about the process of changing and winning the game and playing well,” Fisher said, hoping to find solutions for his team’s play this season.
“Can’t worry about what can’t happen, what could happen or what might happen. You got to line up, and worry about what you can change.”
The Seminoles committed three turnovers while allowing Boston College to run at will at times. Eagles running back AJ Dillon led all players with 149 yards rushing and a touchdown.
B.C. quarterback Anthony Brown passed for only 54 yards and a touchdown, while running for 20 yards and a touchdown in the win.
FSU hoped to rebound from its demoralizing loss to Louisville at Doak Campbell Stadium last week, but took another tumble during a brutal season.
As players see miscues go against them during games, they collectively have a hard time responding.
Eberle, however, believes the Seminoles remain an encouraged bunch.
“If you need someone else to give you juice, that’s not going to work,” Eberle said of the proverbial motivation. “You got to bring AUTO RACING: Sebastian Vettel won the pole for Sunday’s Formula One Mexican Grand Prix. Points leader Lewis Hamilton, 66 ahead of Vettel, will start third. If Hamilton finishes at least fifth, he will clinch the season championship.
GOLF: Dustin Johnson shot a 4-under 68 in blustery conditions that led to big numbers, building a six-shot lead over Brooks Koepka in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai and leaving him one round away from becoming the first player to win three World Golf Championships in the same year. Koepka, who was tied with Johnson through seven holes, struggled the rest of the round, shooting a 73 . ... In search of his first PGA Tour win, 41-year-old Ryan Armour shot a 5-under 67 during a windy, chilly third round to take a five-shot lead over Chesson Hadley at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss. Armour, who led by one after 36 holes, had eight birdies and three bogeys to move to 15-under 201 . ... Cristie Kerr fired a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over defending champion Feng Shanshan at the Sime Darby in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Kerr, who posted the tournament’s lowest score of 63 on Friday, had five birdies in the opening nine holes of the third round and got two more for an overall 15-under 198.
NFL: Jaguars DT Marcell Dareus passed a physical, officially completing his trade from the Bills for a sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft. The Jaguars released LB Jonathan Freeny to make room on the 53-man roster . ... The Texans added T Duane Brown to the active roster after he ended a holdout which caused him to miss six your own juice to the party sometimes. I think we’re learning that, and we’re continuing to grow as a team.
“We have to keep Eberle added.
Aguayo, who believes FSU’s inability to come anywhere near meeting preseason expectations that had the team ranked No. 3 in the nation is no longer in play, says the Seminoles simply need to show their maturity at this point in the season.
“We’re scared to lose now,” Aguayo said. “We should be more fired up when we come out, focused on the game, and not focused on the season and making a bowl game.”
The Seminoles (2-5, 2-4 ACC) would need wins in each of its final four games of the season to have six victories for bowl eligibility. Five wins and ideal APR scores could also lead to a bowl invite.
At this point, James believes the Seminoles need to embrace their poor start in order to end the season on a higher note.
“This season ain’t going the way we wanted it to, but it’s just the hand we’ve been dealt this year. We need to finish,” James said. working,” games. Brown, who has two years remaining on his contract, was seeking a new deal, but he did not receive one. The team waived T Kendall Lamm.
SOCCER: Anthony Martial struck late against Tottenham to ensure Manchester United still has Manchester City within its sights at the top of the English Premier League. Martial came off the bench to score the only goal of the game at Old Trafford, preventing the third-placed Spurs from claiming a point in the absence of leading scorer Harry Kane. United remained five points behind City, which stayed unbeaten at the expense of West Bromwich Albion 3-2. Meanwhile, Eden Hazard scored in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Bournemouth . ... England rallied from two goals down to beat Spain 5-2 in Kolkata, India, and win its first Under-17 World Cup.
TENNIS: Roger Federer cruised past David Goffin 6-1, 6-2 in the Swiss Indoors semifinals to reach an 11th straight final when playing at his hometown event in Basel, Switzerland. The top-seeded Federer will face Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday, after the fourth seed beat Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 . ... Venus Williams rallied to beat Caroline Garcia 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 at the WTA Finals in Singapore to become the oldest women’s finalist at the year-end tournament. In the other semifinal, Caroline Wozniacki beat Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (9), 6-3 . ... Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (4), 7-5 at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna to set up a final against fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who rallied to beat Kyle Edmund 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4. That might’ve been the best thing I learned. It took a while. It started with me having difficulty swallowing. I went to a ear, nose and throat guy. He said it’s just stress — there’s a muscle in the neck area that responded to stress. He said, ‘You’ve got to cut out outside activities. Don’t go to that many cocktail parties or speeches or things like that. Back off those.’ That’s where I first started to learn how to say, ‘No’ to people and things I hadn’t to that point. I played golf. I cut out most of the other stuff. And I felt better.”
Alonzo Highsmith, former University of Miami football star: “I wish I’d known what would happen when I switched from defense to offense. I did it because I was a team player. [Coach] Howard Schnellenberger asked me to do it. He thought I could make AllAmerican as a linebacker, but I could make a bigger impact on the team as a fullback. He needed a fullback. People said, ‘Are you crazy?’ My high school coach always tells the story when they sent my film to Penn State, Joe Paterno said, ‘We don’t like highlight films. Can you send us the whole game?’ That was my whole game as a linebacker. Hugh Green said if I went to Pitt, I can take his number out of retirement. Bear Bryant said, ‘If you come to Alabama, we’re going to take Cornerlius Bennett and move him to the other linebacker.’ But I moved to fullback and my first year [in the NFL], I tore my ACL and it was never repaired right. I see old coaches, and they still ask how I moved to fullback. I don’t talk about it. But if I’d known what would happen …”
David Samson, former Marlins president: “I wish I knew it’s perfectly OK when there are people who are not doing things the way I would do them or at the pace I do them. There is more than one way to get to the goal that I have without doing it the way I do it. I was 31 when I started running a major league team and didn’t realize that. It was based on age and insecurity and overcoming the fact that I was employed by my stepfather and getting people to not think about that fact. Over time, as I got more comfortable within my skin and my ability, I was comfortable doing at a different pace and different manner than my own. But it took too long to get there. I wish I’d know that earlier.”
Jermon Bushrod, Dolphins guard: “I wish I’d known how to take care of my body better when I was younger. How to treat pain, for example. When I was young, I’d just take painkillers. A lot of Aleve. You learn as you go along. Now I get a massage two or three times a week. I have a physical therapist. I stretch. I take hot tubs. I have a room just for this type of stuff. When I was young, I’d go off the Aleve for a couple days and my body felt it was hit by a car I felt so bad. I’ve learned how to treat my body better as my career’s gone along.”
Tyler Johnson, Heat guard: “Just to slow down. Sometimes you want to go, go, go. Chris Bosh used to tell me I’d go from fast to fast. And I did. I didn’t understand the game enough. Now I go from pretty fast to fast. I’m trying to slow it down a little bit. Before, I always wanted top push the tempo. It could be 13 seconds left in the quarter, and I’m trying to take the ball and just go. It’s understanding situations, timing, when to go and when to go slower.”
dhyde@ sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @davehydesports;