Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No decision yet on No. 1 QB
Taggart mulling whether to give nod to Blackman or Hornibrook
FSU coach Willie Taggart said Monday and reiterated Thursday he is not ready to name which quarterback will start when the Seminoles play at Wake Forest on Saturday.
He also acknowledged he is not using this week of practice leading to the Seminoles’ (3-3, 2-2 ACC) game against the Demon Deacons (5-1, 1-1 ACC) to determine who will be the starter.
“I wouldn’t say the week [will decide the starter]. I’m going to decide,” Taggart said during his weekly news conference.
James Blackman and Alex Hornibrook have shown they can run FSU’s offense. However, Blackman is coming off his worst performance of the season during a 45-14 loss to topranked Clemson.
Playing his first game since sustaining a knee injury in a win against Louisville, Blackman finished last Saturday’s contest 9-of-23 passing for 66 yards and two interceptions.
He was also visibly frustrated on the sideline.
Hornibrook was 8-of-12 passing for 84 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Tigers. In his lone start this season, the Wisconsin grad transfer tossed for 316 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-13 win over NC State.
“We always evaluate what we’re doing,” Taggart said ahead of the game at Wake Forest that kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will air on the ACC Network. “And then we make sure we do what’s best for our football team. Again, we want someone who wants to lead our team. We’ve seen it with both guys executing our offense really well. Last week, we [picked] the wrong week to have our worst offensive performance. I thought just everybody, not just our quarterbacks, but everybody just didn’t have a good game offensively.”
More touches: Whoever is the quarterback against Wake Forest, Taggart wants to see one thing from them: Get the ball to FSU’s playmakers.
Wide receiver Tamorrion Terry leads the team with 23 receptions for 467 yards and five touchdowns. However, he’s averaging less than four catches per game.
Running back Cam Akers, arguably FSU’s top player, has 616 rushing yards and nine total touchdowns, seven rushing and two receiving.
“I would like to see a lot of guys get the ball more,” Taggart said. “[Terry], Cam [Akers], too. He’s pretty good, too. But absolutely. We got to find ways to do that. I mean, we’re not helping ourselves when we don’t do that, so that’s on us to find ways to get those guys the ball because they can help this offense.”
Helton out: Sophomore wide receiver Keyshawn Helton will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, Taggart announced.
Helton was carted off the field during the first half of the Seminoles’ loss to Clemson. Helton had parting words for his teammates on his way off the field.
“I thought it was a pretty cool moment when he was leaving the field and him just telling his teammates, ‘Don’t y’all boys quit,’” Taggart said. “I thought that was pretty neat, and sure enough, they didn’t quit on him.”
The Pensacola native is second on the team with 17 receptions for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior cornerback Levonta Taylor did not see the field against Clemson. Taggart said Taylor hurt his knee during FSU’s victory against NC State, but is expected to play against Wake Forest.