5 Reasons Why Florida State Can Still Win the Atlantic

The life of being a sports fan can be a ton of fun, and at the same time it can be gruesome to watch your childhood team fall short of expectation. 

Florida State may be off to an awful and slow 2-2 start, but many things have not gone their way.

Everybody thinks this team is done with Clemson winning the tiebreaker but I am going to convince everybody why Jimbo and the boys will still be playing at Bank of America Stadium on Dec. 3.

Clemson Schedule

The one constant in sports is that once a team passes their big test, most people just assume they have a clear cut route to the finish line. Boy, that could not be more of a fallacy.

The Clemson Tigers won a huge non-conference tilt against Auburn and came right back to knock off Florida State. Congrats, Clemson nation, that is a huge win at the moment, but this game will be useless to look at if you can't take care of the business on the road.

It starts this weekend against a hostile environment in the Virginia Tech Hokies where Bud Foster usually tees off on high explosive teams that come to Lane Stadium. Also, did I really hear Kirk Herbstreit honestly say he thinks Clemson would be favorites on the road?

Unlike most "experts," Herby knows his information well, but Clemson is already listed as touchdown underdogs by those really smart "experts," and I do not see how the Tigers can shut down the Hokies explosive rushing attack of Logan Thomas, David Wilson and Josh Oglesby.

Even if Clemson can miraculously escape, they then have to go on the road against a scorching hot Georgia Tech team and eventually Maryland before hosting North Carolina. Did I mention those games are all in a row with no bye weeks in late October? 

Florida State Schedule

Talk about a completely opposite schedule, but the Noles have as easy of a schedule as I have seen in quite some time. Not to disrespect the likes of Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina State, Boston College or Virginia, but those teams may all fail to reach a bowl game this season. Don't believe me? Just follow their games and you will realize how bad they have been recently in the season. 

I am not saying we will blow all of those teams out, but I can guarantee the nation barring more injuries (knock on wood) that FSU will be double-digit favorites in all of those games. 

The two toughest ACC games will be at home against Maryland and at home against Miami. No offense to those teams either, but they both look like 7-5 squads. The ACC in general had a solid day in their four games against the SEC/Big 12/Big East two weeks ago, but they must have exhausted all of their energy because they have stunk up the joint since.

Rest of Atlantic Division Politely Stinks

I will break it down a bit more for all you folks. There are currently only two teams in the Atlantic Division that have a winning record: Clemson (4-0) and Wake Forest (2-1).

The Deacon Demons will be no pushover since they host the Seminoles, but their two victories were over Gardner-Webb and NC State with a close loss in overtime against Syracuse.

In that game they led by 15 halfway through the fourth quarter before choking the lead and losing in overtime. (Note: Syracuse is not half as good as their record indicates, by the way). 

Boston College is 1-3 and has been putrid on offense, averaging 328 yards per game which ranks just 99th in the nation. NC State is 84th averaging only 364 yards per game. See where I am going with this?

The offenses in this division are flat-out putrid at the moment (save Clemson and FSU when fully healthy). Wake Forest is great by the numbers with a soft schedule so far, but time will tell if they can even win five games. 

Don't forget that Florida State avoids arguably the best two teams in the Coastal as well. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech could gash the Noles defense right now, but luckily, FSU gets Duke and Virginia instead. 

Any way you put it, the Seminoles have a favorable schedule and are much better off than Clemson despite the injuries and the momentum.

Offense Has Way Too Much Talent

Though the offense has struggled miserably for years, this team has one of the more productive receiving units early on in this season than I have seen in several years. Plus, normally when he throws in a backup quarterback he gets taken to the woodshed. 

Clint Trickett almost opened a can of some sort on the Clemson Tigers defense had he been able to drive the desperate Noles down the field in the closing moments of their loss.

Throwing for over 300 yards in "Death Valley Junior" is no small task. Missing several receivers and having many playing with injuries did not help. Chris Thompson and the running game has gone so far south it has come to the point where we may have to run the wildcat every single time.

The point of that was to keep Trickett alive for the second half, but Thompson is supposedly playing with severe back pain and nobody else has stepped up, which is a bit of a concern.

Devonta Freeman looks like the prime suspect since Jermaine Thomas has been in the doghouse before and James Wilder Jr. has been slowly brought into the position with zero experience at the collegiate level.

The biggest concern has been the offensive line, since most "experts" thought they would be able to run the ball almost as well as last season. Boy, were we wrong.

Regardless, quarterback EJ Manuel is expected to return in time for the games against Wake Forest and Duke with a bye week right now. He has all the talent in the world and showed what he could do against Oklahoma as he dazzled us with a few runs and throws that were right on the money.

Nobody on this schedule outside of perhaps Florida at the end of the year has the goods to even come remotely close to limiting the big plays.

It won't be a cakewalk since it never has been the past 10 years. However, the offense will go even more bonkers if EJ can stay healthy with all of the options he has at wideout.

The Seminoles have struggled, make no mistake about it, but they rank 11th in the nation averaging 328 yards passing per game. Those numbers will only go up with the schedule coming up.

History on Their Side

The Clemson Tigers played in the 2009 ACC Championship Game and lost to Georgia Tech 39-34. That was their only ACC Title appearance and in fact, they have never ever gone to a BCS Bowl. Maybe this year will be their first, but I doubt it.

Clemson's defense isn't deep or talented enough to withstand the pressure of running the table (or fewer than two losses), which would be good enough to reach the ACC Championship Game on the first Saturday in December. 

Their offense is as explosive as any team in the country, but special teams and defense still is cream of the crop at the end of the day. Auburn did not win just because of Cam Newton, or else Oregon would have hung 60! 

There are a ton of teams that can knock off Clemson, but the biggest issue for Florida State is Florida State. They no longer control their destiny, but they sure control the way they play. Committing dumb penalties and being unable to convert on third downs defensively was downright disgusting last weekend. 

I am not sure Clemson would go 9-for-17 on third downs had they played my high school team, but the past is the past, and Florida State will only survive if they can become one as a team sooner than later.

The defense is also too talented to go from suffocating and relentless to getting gashed and torched. With FSU having still gone to respectable bowl games in the past, history is clearly still on their side in the experience factor.

Lastly, this pool full of youth Clemson Tigers team will truly find out this weekend and down the road if they know what they are getting themselves into.

Florida State just needs to forget what is done and be able to accomplish what so many previous Seminole teams have accomplished in the past: Win.