Wednesday - October 6, 2010
12:00pm CT

It is hurricane season once again. Despite both teams stumbling on the 11th of September they are both ranked and have a prime time TV slot Saturday night for the entire country to tune into. This rivalry has more heart break than any and unfortunately we’ve been on the wounded side for a good number of them. This game over the past several years has been won by less than an average of 5 points each game. Remember the dropped pass in the endzone last year? Ugh... oh well, ... game on.

Defense. Despite my criticism of Stoops seemingly being unable to make in-game adjustments at OU I’ve come to the realization that we just weren’t ready. Great game plan that took away our pass rush with quick 3 step/drop throws and inexperienced corners getting torched. Since then our D has improved dramatically (Ponder by the way said the team was overconfident going into Norman. Look for this team to be prepared every game they go into. The lopsided loss to OU may turn out to be a major benefit). FSU has gone from last year’s ranking of 108 to now a top 25 defense in most categories. And, we lead the nation in sacks. We’ve already matched all of last year’s sack total and our D against the run is outstanding thus far. Much of this credit has to go to the DL who are bigger and quicker thanks to coach Vic. Last year our D did not have a playbook (no, I’m not making that up) and this year disciplined play has been pounded into their heads. Dawkins in an interview after the UVA game said that this year the players understand their role and assignments which has led to our LB’s being freed up to attack the line of scrimmage. Great, aggressive play... and how about Texas native Mister Alexander destroying opponents two weeks in a row? He’s really shining with this new staff... hope he gets to introduce himself to Jacory Harris Saturday night.

Safety play continues to get better. Parks has been a quiet kind of get it done guy but takes care of business. Moody is just plain nasty... between he and Alexander I don’t know who knocks more people out. I’ve got to give props to Greg Reid – after the humbling experience at OU he made a vow to get better and he really has... his 2 interceptions last week were great examples of how he is becoming a complete player. X Rhodes, however, is such a pleasant surprise though I guess he shouldn’t be. Jimbo has been raving about him since the spring and he is the real deal and probably one of the best tackling CB’s we’ve had on the team in a very, very long time. JC transfer Mike Harris is also a great player and is a valuable substitution – when he gets his time on the field he has shined every time. Linebacker play has been very good and Kendall Smith has really become a complete player. It’s amazing how a new scheme can help a player improve so dramatically and gone are the days that our MLB was assigned to a RB on a wheel route pass. I love Mickey so that is all I will say other than it is nice to see our new scheme and we are seeing improvements every week. Now the question has to be can we stop the U?

On offense our ground game has been phenomenal. With the 3 back rotation of Thomas, Jones and Thompson we’ve seen more big runs for TD’s this year than in any I can recall in recent history. Coach Gran is earning his salary. Truly phenomenal talent but of course it all starts with the big uglies up front. Last week we moved Zebrie Sanders to the LT and moved Henry Orleus to the RT (Henry got torched at LT the week before and was benced for Faircloth who came in the second half and did a great job). Zebrie held his ground and for a frosh Henry played well. This week it looks like all American candidate Andrew Datkow will be back at LT and has practiced with full pads this week. Jimbo says he’s a go and Ponder said while the other guys did really well no one can match Datko... pretty good praise for the junior. Hudson continues to be Huddy…solid, dependable and one of the best guards to ever wear garnet and gold. If he stays healthy he will be one of the first players in the history of the ACC to be awarded all conference honors 4 years in a row. Amazing. Ryan McMahon at center was just named ACC player of the week... 'nuff said and Spurlock at right guard is just nasty. Watch a replay of any game and he has that Rick Trickett meaness... oh, and the holding call that negated the TD pass last week was bogus IMO. Kind of tired of watching UVA O lineman hold on to our DL every play but never called yet our guys our signaled out... crying over spilt milk... you’d think I’d be used to ACC refs by now.

Before I forget, kudos to Lonnie Pryor. What a complete team player. Great blocker, receiver, runner…he will do whatever he has to get the job done. Fisher loves him.

Passing game. Average so far... CP7 looks rushed at times and our receivers are still working the kinks out. So good to see Haulstead stepping up…kid has some major potential as does Rodney Smith. We need these young bucks to step up now.

So, this week’s game. Not going to make any predictions but recent history has shown that CP7 plays really well against da u. Whether he’s checking off and throwing the ball, tucking and running it doesn’t matter. While I respect their D I just don’t see how this year they could just shut us down while the past two years we’ve been able to move the ball at will almost. I hope, however, that we stick with the running game and get it going. I thought we abandoned the running game too soon in Norman but then again when you blink and all of a sudden you’re down by 4 TD’s I guess I would have gone to the pass as well. Defensively we need to hit Harris often and hard. If we do this we are good for a couple of interceptions. Special teams, we better be ready. Da u is actually more dangerous than we are…gonna need to bring the A game this week. Sneaky suspicion that we are going to see the TE used more this week and I really do think Jimbo has saved some plays/formations just for this game. While Shannon has been known for his ability to be a defensive genius our Jimbo has won most of the battles. Should be fun for all.

Go ‘Noles!
Jeff Harris
Die-Hard Seminole.