How Resilient Are Jimbo Fisher's Florida State Seminoles?

Pass the salt.  And the hot sauce.  I need something to get this sour taste out of my mouth as I eat crow.

Last week, I went out of my way to sound the horns: FSU is back, and they will show the world in Norman, OK.

But as the crimson and cream confetti settled Saturday evening, I felt like Gerry Cooney’s promoter after his fighter got pummeled by Larry Holmes back in 1982.

Cooney was promoted as the best heavyweight to have never fought for a title.  He proved to be nothing more than an over-hyped opponent on fight night. 

Gerry came out swinging in the early rounds and even landed a treacherous blow that nearly floored Holmes in Round 4.  But Holmes pounded on Cooney’s face and body so relentlessly down the stretch that in Round 13—on national TV—Cooney’s trainer threw in the towel to protect his fighter from Holmes’ onslaught. 

Jimbo Fisher should have had a towel handy on Saturday.

All the talk, banter, analysis, and promoting in the world couldn’t save the Seminoles from a relentless pounding by a more talented, better prepared team. 

The Oklahoma Sooners easily rolled over the helpless Seminoles 47-17, and despite the 30-point drubbing, the score doesn’t even begin to exhibit the extent of the beating.

Quarterback Landry Jones looked like a Heisman candidate as he shredded the Noles’ defense for 321 yards and three touchdowns—in the first half alone—and at one point completed 14 straight.

Receiver Ryan Broyles was the recipient of 12 of Jones’ completions, as he racked up 124 yards.  Eleven other Sooners caught passes as well. 

Christian Ponder never looked worse, going 11-for-28 for a measly 113 yards, and threw two interceptions on back-to-back offensive plays during a 2-for-14 skid in the second half.  He completed under 50 percent of his passes for the first time in two seasons.

Ponder and E.J. Manuel combined for only 15 completions.  Though nearly every catch went for 10+ yards (they averaged 15 yards per completion), they had few first downs and barely any points to show for it.

Taiwan Easterling (three catches, 64 yards, 1 TD) and Jermaine Thomas (11 carries, 58 yards, 1 TD) were the only FSU players to really make a dent on the stat sheet.

The Noles didn’t allow much on the ground, as the Sooners attempted 41 rushes and only netted 93 yards.  But the secondary got lit up all day, allowing a staggering 400 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Beyond the numbers, the Seminoles just looked over-matched and confused.  Oklahoma routinely snapped the ball before the FSU defense was set, and receivers ran wide open all over the field as the defensive line presented no pass rush whatsoever.

It’s difficult to put things into perspective from FSU’s point of view, even days after getting pummeled.  Is Oklahoma that amazing, or is Florida State that embarrassingly bad?  There’s probably merit to both of those claims to some degree.

“You feel that sting, big boy, huh? That's pride [messing] with you! You gotta fight through that [stuff]!”  -Butch, Pulp Fiction

Now that the sting has subsided, it’s time to look ahead to BYU, and a Saturday game looming in Doak Campbell Stadium.  The Seminoles will need to forget last week and focus on the present, or there will be another 13-round TKO.

Christian Ponder is front and center.  This young man needs to pretend that their trip to Norman, OK was a sight-seeing tour and move forward.  He will need to be much better with his decisions, his arm and his legs.

The defensive coaching staff needs to buckle down and stay the course, and simplify things a bit.  When your defense isn’t ready for play at the snap of the ball, and defensive backs are looking at each other confused, it’s obvious this defense needs more teaching and more reps at practice. 

The players’ inability to grasp and execute this new scheme really doomed the Seminoles Saturday.  The coaches need to find something this defense is good at, and use it as much as possible.

And everyone was thinking it during the game, so I'll just come right out and say it: Greg Reid stunk Saturday. 

G5 needs to close his mouth and concentrate on his "day job" which is playing Cornerback.  He muffed a punt Saturday, spends too much time lobbying to play on offense, and routinely got burned in the secondary.

Beyond Ponder, some offensive player needs to step up and be a playmaker.  There are a handful of consistent guys (Easterling, B.Reed, Thomas) who just aren’t game-breakers yet. 

The only players who’ve shown a glimpse of that magic either aren’t on the field enough, or aren’t consistent enough (Chris Thompson, Willie Haulstead, Rodney Smith, Ty Jones).

And would it kill Jimbo and the offensive geniuses to throw to the tight ends more? Bo Reliford is more than capable, and sometimes a few tosses over the shallow to intermediate middle are just what an offense needs to slow down a pass rush or blitzing linebacker. 

Reliford was involved on the first offensive series (FSU’s only TD until the final play of the fourth quarter) then disappeared from the stat sheet.

The FSU faithful can only hope that last Saturday’s parking lot pounding can blossom into one of the following clichéd outcomes:

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

“We learned more about ourselves in that loss than maybe they did in a win.”

“That game was a wake-up call.”

“Through adversity, champions are made.”

Another fantastically appropriate cliché fits here: a true test of a team’s character isn’t whether or not it stumbles; it’s how it responds.

Let’s hope FSU shows some character and resiliency this Saturday against BYU, and doesn’t end up just another Gerry Cooney.