Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Quiet time after loss
Seminoles vow to block out noise after blowing an 18-point lead to Boise State
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida State Seminoles find themselves in a tough spot just one game into the season.
Semioles coach Willie Taggart was heavily criticized last season after the team went 5-7, and Saturday’s collapse against Boise State only amplified fan backlash.
As the heat turns up on Taggart’s already hot seat, the message throughout the team after a 36-31 loss to the Broncos Saturday was to stick together.
“[We’ve] just got to stay within our cocoon, not listen to the outside noise,” Taggart said. “I always tell our guys, ‘When you don’t play well, you know it’s out there. Don’t go looking for it. If we want it to be anything different, [we’ve] got to go all out and make it happen on the football field.’
“One thing I told our guys is, ‘I don’t see anybody getting distraught out of anything anybody says. We don’t play well, that’s what’s going to happen.’ Our guys understand that. We won’t change anything; [they’ve] got to do it.”
FSU quarterback James Blackman said it’s gut-check time for him and the rest of the Seminoles.
“It is not going to linger,” he said Saturday, comparing the team’s reaction Saturday to the way last season’s squad dealt with adversity.
“We are different, for sure different. We are going to hit the ground running tomorrow morning because we are not trying to feel this feeling again. We spoke about it before the game; something happened. Now we have to get right, set a change. Now we have to make up our minds and let each one of us know who we want to be, and that’s a nationalchampionship team. This one game can’t define us.”
Several players, including Blackman, announced they were staying off social media at the beginning of the year and defensive back Levonta Taylor said it’s important that the rest of the team resist signing on and allowing the negativity to seep in.
FSU’s game against Boise State was moved from Jacksonville to Tallahassee to avoid Hurricane Dorian, drawing an announced crowd of 50,917. Many Seminoles fans left at halftime, with the rest exiting Doak Campbell in a stunned silence.
After the loss, Taggart vowed to fans the FSU football program will get back on track.
“I guess you say that, stick with us. Stick with us. We’re going to get out of this, I can promise you that,” he said.
“Again, we can’t sit around and just talk about it. We got to do it on the football field. One game will not define us. Our guys are going to bounce back. We’re going to make them proud of this football team.”