Florida State Football: How the Seminoles Can Avoid Another Upset in Raleigh

Jimbo Fisher is a proponent of the process; quick to point out that Florida State’s successes and setbacks have been equal partners in helping gradually shape the Seminoles into the top college football program in the country.

But while Fisher acknowledges that FSU’s 17-16 loss at North Carolina State in 2012 was a “wakeup call,” the fifth-year head coach also knows no matter how far his team has come since that embarrassing loss, a similar fate this weekend could be just as devastating.

So how can Fisher’s team avoid another upset in Raleigh, North Carolina, when the No. 1 Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Wolfpack (4-0) play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET? 

Perhaps most important in making sure history doesn’t repeat itself is remembering why it happened in the first place. Just like two seasons ago, FSU will roll into Raleigh with a top-five ranking and a legitimate shot to compete for a national championship. But a loaded roster and favorable spot alongside the game’s elite teams aren’t the only ingredients in a winning recipe.

“It takes more than just showing up with the name of Florida State,” FSU running back Karlos Williams said in an interview with Seminoles.com. “You have to go out there and play good football and execute every single down. Even if a bad play happens, [you have to] process [and] move on and play the next play and we have to do that this week.” 

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

If Florida State’s players learned their name alone isn’t enough to avoid blowing a 16-0 halftime lead and any potential championship chances, then Fisher also learned how to be a better coach in the wake of that loss to the Wolfpack.

FSU is 24-1 since that defeat and hasn’t lost a conference game since. The talent level in Tallahassee has certainly increased in that span, but Fisher’s ability as a head coach has experienced its own upward trajectory as well.

“You learn how to find ways to affect them and get them back in that mode,” Fisher said Monday at his weekly press conference. “How to coach them better and make better adjustments or whatever needs to be done, whether they are adjustments, emotional adjustments. Maybe pulling a guy for a couple plays to get his bearings back. Whatever it may be, how to maybe change a call, change something you are doing. 

“To just keep self-evaluating everything and process all the different phases around you to be able to get out of it.”

Fisher and his staff didn’t make the necessary halftime tweaks and adjustments to give the Seminoles the best chance to hold on to a lead and win that ballgame two seasons ago.

But such issues haven’t existed since then—just look at last weekend’s triumph over Clemson for evidence of that notion. Fisher and his staff revamped their offensive and defensive game plans in the back-and-forth affair against the Tigers, and those halftime changes helped FSU secure what would turn out to be an overtime victory. Avoiding another upset at the hands of the Wolfpack could come down to Fisher drawing on that second-half success.

"It was very tough, very frustrating, very point blank, but I guess it was another thing that we had to go through to make us the team we are now," Fisher said about losing two the Wolfpack. "And I think that loss may have had a huge impact on what happened the other night."

UPDATE (Sept. 26, 2014):

Thursday's injury report revealed that star defensive end Mario Edwards, Jr. and second-string tailback Mario Pender are both out for the North Carolina State game after the duo suffered a pair of concussions against Clemson.

With starting defensive tackle Nile Lawrence-Stample sidelined for teh season with a pectoral injury, FSU is all of a sudden very thin on the defensive line for this game. Avoiding the upset means relying on defensive end Chris Casher and defensive tackle Derrick Mitchell, Jr., who will both be making their first career starts Saturday. Casher and Mitchell have played well in reserve roles so far this season but will need to step and make impacts in a hostile environment if FSU's defense wants to slow down efficient Wolfpack quarterback Jacobby Brissett.

Without Pender, true freshman tailback Dalvin Cook could see his role dramatically increase behind Williams.

Brandon Mellor is a Florida State writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of Seminoles.com. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @BrandonMellor on Twitter.