Got up early and watched the game. First off 4-0 after the first four games when Clemson and LSU are on the schedule is impressive. How you got there does not matter right now.
My initial thoughts are this team is VERY GOOD.....this team is also flawed. You can be both. It is crazy that before the season you look at Clemson and your like that team is going to be tough to beat...Which they were but FSU is the better team and that is why they are unbeaten right now. Watching Clemson kicker come onto the field to try and win the game brings back bad memories. The kicker looked scared and he missed a chip shot. FSU would have still had plenty of time to come back and at least tie the game.
What I liked....FSU won. They won a game where the found a way to win. They were down in the first half and did not play well but were in the game at halftime.
QB- Jordan Travis - Couple of things....1) He has an injury that is hurting him. You could tell he was shying away from contact. There were many plays I saw him almost bailing out on throws instead of trying to step into it. He was clearly bothered by his shoulder which was hurt last week.
Next...and I know some are not going to want to hear this...The book is out. DC's are going to put an emphasis on 1) stopping fsu run, 2) stop Jordan from running. They are going to allow him to throw and beat them with his arm. You watch and the run game has gotten worse this year and most of that is a concerted effort from other defensive coordinators to not allow FSU run game beat them. You will see more of this going forward. Jordan is going to have to keep making some throws. The first quarter for Jordan was not good...He got better as the game went on.
Run Game - 20 rushes for 22 yards. The run game was non-existent....FSU can't run the table this year with too many more performances like this. There are times you are going to have to account for the extra guy in the box and still pick up yards. Looking over the rushing totals is ugly. I don't know what much more to say than FSU needs to run the ball if they have any intentions on winning the ACC title and making the playoffs.
Wide Receivers - Coleman is worth every dollar he gets from NIL. He is the best WR FSU has had in a long time and honestly the noles lose yesterday if not for him.
Offensive Line - along with the run game....these guys MUST play better. They are not opening up lanes to run through and Jordan got hit a lot yesterday. He will not survive the season if this continues. I did not focus on any one player but the line has to play better.
Defensive Line - Jared Verse - This game will be on his NFL Draft Reel come next year’s Draft. He made his presence felt and made some real nice plays. Fiske....For all the hype he got this off-season. He is a nice role player on most defenses. He makes some plays and other times looks lost. I expected Steve Entman the way the media spoke about him. You would expected Joey and Nick Bosa....He is a solid player at best.
Linebacker- Got to give Deloach props...He did not only make the biggest play of the game, he was active in other parts of the game. He does get lost in coverage at times but is solid most if not all the time.
Defensive Backs - I give up trying to figure out FSU defensive backs. These guys just make too many mistakes. They get out of position. They lose guys in coverage. It is never consistent on the back end of the defense. Good teams will be able to exploit this secondary. Knowles gets beat way too much.
Final Thoughts - I have watched a ton of football this year so far.
Penn State, USC, Washington, Oregon are all teams that I feel would be bad matchups for FSU. Washington would tear this secondary apart...They would throw for 400 plus yards. While there are concerns if you play these teams later...There are certain things FSU does well that can exploit those teams. FSU has a good team that can beat anyone in the country....But this team does have warts...
The poll....
1-FSU - I have FSU on top...They have an impressive win against LSU....and now a win against Clemson. The BC game was not great but stay unbeaten and most won't remember it.
2-Washington - I have watched them twice now and this is a team that is good on both sides of the football. This is Washington best team since 91. Penix is the best QB in the nation right now.....and I am a Huge Caleb Williams fan.
3-UGA- They are 3-0 but still need to play someone with a pulse. This team does not look like the last two years.
4-Michigan - They are one of the more complete teams in the country. They still need to be tested this year but only Penn State is a road block to another playoff berth in my opinion.
5-USC-Caleb Williams continues to amaze me. He made some plays last night that I have only see a handful of quarterbacks make. Their defense, while a concern, is still better. They did struggle to pull away from a bad ASU team.
6-Oregon - This Oregon team is their best since playing in the playoffs. Dan Lanning is an elite coach....He is going to win a ton of ball games at Oregon. Impressive win but that game was the easiest pick of the year...Colorado is about to get beat down a second time next week.
7-Penn State- I really like this Penn State team. They have probably the best backfield in the nation. Their defense is nasty. This team is well rounded. This is Franklin's best team.
8-Texas - I still have to see them keep winning to believe in them. I am not sold yet on Texas....
9-OhioState - Nice win last night but some middle of the road team in the BIg 10 will beat them this year. Is it me or has this team regressed every year under their coach.
10-LSU- Since they have lost to FSU they have been good. They have a team that not many would want to play this season. LSU will most likely win the SEC West this year.
Best of the rest....
11-OU
12-UNC
13-Miami
14-Alabama
15-Notre Dame
16-Utah
17-Duke
18-Washington State
19-Oregon State
20-Kentucky
21-Kansas-Did basketball season start.
22-Texas A&M
23-Maryland
24-Kansas State
25-Air Force
My initial thoughts are this team is VERY GOOD.....this team is also flawed. You can be both. It is crazy that before the season you look at Clemson and your like that team is going to be tough to beat...Which they were but FSU is the better team and that is why they are unbeaten right now. Watching Clemson kicker come onto the field to try and win the game brings back bad memories. The kicker looked scared and he missed a chip shot. FSU would have still had plenty of time to come back and at least tie the game.
What I liked....FSU won. They won a game where the found a way to win. They were down in the first half and did not play well but were in the game at halftime.
QB- Jordan Travis - Couple of things....1) He has an injury that is hurting him. You could tell he was shying away from contact. There were many plays I saw him almost bailing out on throws instead of trying to step into it. He was clearly bothered by his shoulder which was hurt last week.
Next...and I know some are not going to want to hear this...The book is out. DC's are going to put an emphasis on 1) stopping fsu run, 2) stop Jordan from running. They are going to allow him to throw and beat them with his arm. You watch and the run game has gotten worse this year and most of that is a concerted effort from other defensive coordinators to not allow FSU run game beat them. You will see more of this going forward. Jordan is going to have to keep making some throws. The first quarter for Jordan was not good...He got better as the game went on.
Run Game - 20 rushes for 22 yards. The run game was non-existent....FSU can't run the table this year with too many more performances like this. There are times you are going to have to account for the extra guy in the box and still pick up yards. Looking over the rushing totals is ugly. I don't know what much more to say than FSU needs to run the ball if they have any intentions on winning the ACC title and making the playoffs.
Wide Receivers - Coleman is worth every dollar he gets from NIL. He is the best WR FSU has had in a long time and honestly the noles lose yesterday if not for him.
Offensive Line - along with the run game....these guys MUST play better. They are not opening up lanes to run through and Jordan got hit a lot yesterday. He will not survive the season if this continues. I did not focus on any one player but the line has to play better.
Defensive Line - Jared Verse - This game will be on his NFL Draft Reel come next year’s Draft. He made his presence felt and made some real nice plays. Fiske....For all the hype he got this off-season. He is a nice role player on most defenses. He makes some plays and other times looks lost. I expected Steve Entman the way the media spoke about him. You would expected Joey and Nick Bosa....He is a solid player at best.
Linebacker- Got to give Deloach props...He did not only make the biggest play of the game, he was active in other parts of the game. He does get lost in coverage at times but is solid most if not all the time.
Defensive Backs - I give up trying to figure out FSU defensive backs. These guys just make too many mistakes. They get out of position. They lose guys in coverage. It is never consistent on the back end of the defense. Good teams will be able to exploit this secondary. Knowles gets beat way too much.
Final Thoughts - I have watched a ton of football this year so far.
Penn State, USC, Washington, Oregon are all teams that I feel would be bad matchups for FSU. Washington would tear this secondary apart...They would throw for 400 plus yards. While there are concerns if you play these teams later...There are certain things FSU does well that can exploit those teams. FSU has a good team that can beat anyone in the country....But this team does have warts...
The poll....
1-FSU - I have FSU on top...They have an impressive win against LSU....and now a win against Clemson. The BC game was not great but stay unbeaten and most won't remember it.
2-Washington - I have watched them twice now and this is a team that is good on both sides of the football. This is Washington best team since 91. Penix is the best QB in the nation right now.....and I am a Huge Caleb Williams fan.
3-UGA- They are 3-0 but still need to play someone with a pulse. This team does not look like the last two years.
4-Michigan - They are one of the more complete teams in the country. They still need to be tested this year but only Penn State is a road block to another playoff berth in my opinion.
5-USC-Caleb Williams continues to amaze me. He made some plays last night that I have only see a handful of quarterbacks make. Their defense, while a concern, is still better. They did struggle to pull away from a bad ASU team.
6-Oregon - This Oregon team is their best since playing in the playoffs. Dan Lanning is an elite coach....He is going to win a ton of ball games at Oregon. Impressive win but that game was the easiest pick of the year...Colorado is about to get beat down a second time next week.
7-Penn State- I really like this Penn State team. They have probably the best backfield in the nation. Their defense is nasty. This team is well rounded. This is Franklin's best team.
8-Texas - I still have to see them keep winning to believe in them. I am not sold yet on Texas....
9-OhioState - Nice win last night but some middle of the road team in the BIg 10 will beat them this year. Is it me or has this team regressed every year under their coach.
10-LSU- Since they have lost to FSU they have been good. They have a team that not many would want to play this season. LSU will most likely win the SEC West this year.
Best of the rest....
11-OU
12-UNC
13-Miami
14-Alabama
15-Notre Dame
16-Utah
17-Duke
18-Washington State
19-Oregon State
20-Kentucky
21-Kansas-Did basketball season start.
22-Texas A&M
23-Maryland
24-Kansas State
25-Air Force
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