FSU aims to correct third-down shortcomings
Florida State hopes to put together a complete game Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.
Last weekend, the Seminoles seemed to be on a roller coaster against Boise State in their season opener.
The first half against the Broncos was about as good as it gets for Florida State. The second half was about as bad as the Seminoles have looked.
And third downs were a problem for Florida State on offense and defense. The Seminoles converted just 1 of 12 third-down opportunities in the loss to Boise State while the Broncos were able to convert on 10 of 19 third-down chances.
Coach Willie Taggart and the Seminoles are looking to make sure they have corrected those thirddown issues when they take on ULM.
“I thought our defense did a good job on first and second down to get them in those situations, and then on third down we didn’t pressure,” Taggart said.
Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier “completed some passes in there. We’ve got to be better fundamentally and technically in order to defend those plays.
“We can’t give up 10 third downs. Period.”
The third-down problems led to time-of-possession challenges — Boise State had the ball for 40 minutes and three seconds and ran 108 plays.
Defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett said in retrospect that the Seminoles should have been more aggressive and that he leaned too much on a zone defense.
“In doing this over the years, I probably got a little too conservative and figured, ‘Hey, play top-down, make the tackle, get off the field,’ ” Barnett said. “One of those type things as opposed to being really aggressive. Believe it or not, my personality is aggressive. Just trying to overthink it. That’s on me.”
ELSEWHERE
South Florida at
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Georgia Tech: Coach
Charlie Strong’s Bulls (0-1) bring a seven-game losing streak to Atlanta against Georgia Tech, Series: FSU leads 2-0. including last week’s 49-0 loss to No. 17 Wisconsin. “I will say to you I still have confidence and I believe in this team and I know that we’re going to go take care of business,” Strong said. Georgia Tech is looking to rebound from a 52-14 loss to No. 1 Clemson.
George State: Fresh
● offa stunning 38-30 win over Tennessee, Panthers safety Remy Lazarus said this week that Division I-FCS Furman will give the Panthers a stiffer test this week than the Vols.
“I think [Furman] will give us a tougher battle than we faced Saturday, if you want to be honest,” Lazarus said.
Georgia State was a 12-1 underdog entering its road matchup against Tennessee, deservedly so considering the Panthers were coming off a 2-10 season. It should be noted that Tennessee has largely fallen off the map the last dozen years, going through seven coaches while winning just 28 of its last 88 games in the SEC.
LSU at Texas: The No. ●
9 Longhorns (1-0) host No. 6 LSU on Saturday night in the biggest game in Austin in more than a decade will measure just how far they’ve come. This is one of the marquee non-conference games of the season, and will help answer whether the Longhorns are truly back as a top program.
Old Dominion at
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Virginia Tech: Quarterback Ryan Willis gave himself pep talk this week, saying, “I can either feel bad for myself, sulk and feel like the world is crashing down or my second choice is put it behind me and learn from it.” Willis and the Hokies lost to the Monarchs last year and struggled in their opener against Boston College.