Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Coach Taggart embraces ’Noles’ new turnover backpack
TALLAHASSEE – Florida State proudly unveiled the “Turnover Backpack” during Saturday’s win over Samford game.
The backpack is awarded to any defensive player who forces a turnover.
Rival Miami made the “Turnover Chain” a national sensation last year and the Seminoles took some jabs on Twitter for copying the trend, but FSU coach Willie Taggart said defensive players cam up with the idea of “securing the bag” and he’s all for it.
“They wanted to do something for turnovers and they decided they wanted to secure the bag and that was their message — securing the bag,” Taggart said Monday. “They secured it five times on Saturday. I’m very impressed with it.”
As Taggart noted, the Seminoles forced five turnovers – four interceptions and one fumble recovery – against the Bulldogs. With turnover surge, the backpack earned a lot of television time.
It was was trending on social media and someone created a Twitter account for the “Turnover Backpack.”
“I love it when we get five takeaways and hopefully everybody else start loving it, too, because we’re getting a lot of takeaways,” Taggart said with a smile.
Laborn update
FSU running back Khalan Laborn’s injury Saturday likely will not end his season.
“He’ll be back,” Willie Taggart said. “He dislocated his kneecap. It wasn’t necessarily as bad as we thought it was when we were out there. But it will be some weeks.”
After Samford’s game, Taggart said the injury to Laborn will impact the game plan moving forward. After Laborn’s 37-yard reception against Virginia Tech, Taggart stressed the running back would see more playing time.
Patience for Akers
Running back Cam Akers, who broke FSU’s freshman rushing record (1,024) last year, was projected to be a playmaker this year.
So far this season, Akers 28 carries and half of those have been for two or fewer yards.
“I think with Cam, because of his expectation and things he wants to accomplish, he’s still got to be patient,” Taggart said. “When you get in the game and your down and things aren’t going our way, that’s when guys start to press a little more.
“He’s just got to relax and little bit and trust his training and trust everything that [running backs] Coach [Donte] Pimpleton has taught him to do. When he does it that way, great things can happen for us on the football field.”