Florida State Football: Grading the Seminoles vs. Miami

It was a day of mixed bags for the Seminoles.

On this one day, Florida State fans can kiss any hotel reservations for the ACC Championship Game goodbye, as Clemson escaped Wake Forest, 31-28.

But on a positive note, Jimbo Fisher is set to accomplish a feat that Bobby Bowden rarely accomplished: winning the unofficial "State Title" for the second year in a row.

The Seminoles defeated in-state rival Miami 23-19 in a mistake ridden slugfest. With the Florida Gators struggling, Jimbo Fisher has winning odds of going 4-0 versus the 'Noles historical nemeses.

Nevertheless, the Seminoles new found consistency at defeating the Hurricanes (if one can call a two-game win streak in this rivalry such a thing) only shows that the Seminoles have "taken Doak back."

Want to see how?

Florida State Quarterbacks

If one should take note on anything from EJ Manuel's performance from Saturday, it's this stat: 11-of-12.

That's the number of completions the Noles star quarterback had in the third quarter. Toss in a touchdown, and that's not too shabby for 15 minutes of football.

His impressive tone, though not completely evident from the statistics, was set in the first half. Manuel converted a 3rd-and-14 to a 4th-and-1 after having an interception.

Field goal kicker Dustin Hopkins naturally capitalized on the opportunity. He proved clutch early in the second quarter when he got rid of the football before getting sacked. After a lengthy review session, the officials agreed that the quarterback had not intentionally grounded the ball.

But the aforementioned star quarterback was one-dimensional, continuing a trend from the past three games, as Devonta Freeman has become FSU's rushing workhorse. That's not a criticism at all, but a sign of the team's coherent and melding as a force. E.J.'s doing his job, and that's passing the football well.

The other three quarters didn't present any gaudy stats for Manuel, but the quarterback continues to be a game manager and excelled at his position in a rivalry game.

His evolution would make Charles Darwin proud.

Grade: A 

Florida State Running Backs

Some people had James Wilder, Jr. tabbed as the next great running backs to grace the FSU annals.

For some reason, I suspected that Devonta Freeman would fill that role.

And for once, I'm actually right!

Let's move on from the self-aggrandizing, though. Freeman only gained 76 yards against the Hurricanes, but given the road kill performance from the rushing unit, it was comforting to know FSU had a pulse.

The Noles had two rushing yards at the half. Two!

Maybe it is time for fire the conditioning coach and Rick Trickett, because FSU's running game keeps getting trampled by its porous offensive line. Is it lack of experience? An empty pale of motivation? Or is it sloppy coaching?

Any of these ways, kudos to Freeman working with the dilemmas at hand.

Grade: B+ (A for Freeman)

Florida State Wide Receivers

Live by the pass, die by the pass.

FSU's lack of an elite rushing game will trip up Osceola's crew sometime.

But today, we lived.

E.J. Manuel's 196 yards spread the football, allowing multiple players to shine.

Freshman Christian Green and senior Bert Reed made breakaway plays. Both averaged well over 10 yards per reception. The game ball has to go to either of these two gentlemen. Their strong hands permitted E.J. to confuse the Miami defense. In addition, the side passes caught by the receivers allowed Manuel to avoid many sacks.

Congrats, guys. Tallahassee salutes you both.

Grade: A+

Florida State Offensive Line

The offensive line "only" yielded three sacks to the Hurricanes on Saturday.

Sure, it was a rivalry game, and Miami still has an army's load of talent. Nevertheless, E.J. has now been sacked 20 times. Upper echelon teams like Stanford (yes, they did lose, but they have a better record than Florida State) typically never allow their quarterbacks to be touched.

Rick Trickett needs to be demoted. The only reason Jimbo hasn't done so is because the 'Noles would jeopardize backup quarterback Clint Trickett's commitment to the program.

The players are young. It's early in your tenure, Jimbo. Fire Trickett.

"But we won't have a quarterback," the loyalists cry out.

Yes, that's why Jimbo should be wise and wait until the end of the season. Pro-style quarterback Sean Maguire has already committed, and would serve well as a backup to E.J.

If not, there's always Jameis Winston. As of now, the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school only has given a soft verbal, but with the Seminoles' winning streak continuing, it won't be a surprise if he says yes in the spring.

Just sayin'.

Grade: C-

Florida State Defensive Line

The defense played sloppily.

It's a rivalry game, though. Anything can happen there. Coming into Tallahassee on Saturday, the visiting team had won five straight in the series. Whether the players knew about that is questionable (they were too busy practicing and going to class to look at Bleacher Report), but the coaching staff was well aware of that fact.

Perhaps that made the 'Noles a bit more on edge?

FSU will be fine. The defensive line had a rough day. Nevertheless, the 'Noles still held Miami below their season rushing average (140 yards compared to nearly 160).

Grade: B

Florida State Linebackers

Talk about man coverage. One of FSU's linebacker corps did so well, he had to be ejected.

Senior Nigel Bradham was the victim of a questionable officiating call when he was told to get off the field. Bradham had 10 tackles, and while he knocked out a Miami player, there was nothing dirty about it. It was just a tough hit. It wasn't helmet to helmet. He knocked the guy in the shoulder.

Simply put, this wasn't a hit that an Arkansas player made.

Whether he deserved to be ejected is your call.

Grade: B

Florida State Secondary

Miami's forte was the pass. Jacory Harris had a legitimate day against a team that shouldn't have given them a legit chance. The 'Canes had 283 yards in the air! On average, Al Golden's team had averaged only a hair above 228 yards. 55 yards can go a long way.

Thank goodness it didn't tonight. LaMarcus Joyner stopped a pass that could've gone all the way with 10:56 in the second quarter when there was missed coverage on a Hurricane defender. Out of four guys in the immediate vicinity, only Joyner made the stop. Kudos, dude.

Grade: C

Florida State Special Teams

Dustin Hopkins missed a 37-yard field goal right before halftime that could have blown the game wide open. A margin of 23-7 (on the road, no less) would have been difficult to overcome.

Nevertheless, Hopkins had an awesome day—especially on kickoffs to Miami. More than one of his kickoffs landed within the Miami 20-yard line. His quintessential kick on the night was a touchback.

But no one will deny Greg Reid had a Deion Sanders performance tonight. He had one return go for six points, among other impressive stretches in Doak Campbell Stadium.

Grade: A+

Florida State Coaching

Jimbo Fisher made a couple of unorthodox calls in the game. One was calling a timeout after Greg Reid’s return for touchdown. The crowd was raucous and should have broken all the Miami players’ spirits. Admirably, the Hurricanes did not let that straw break the camel’s back, as the underdog almost spoiled the parade 19-23.

Jimbo’s second call came with six seconds left in the second quarter. Fisher and Offensive Coordinator James Coley had Manuel throw a pass towards the end zone, effectively leaving only two ticks on the clock. Whether the field goal would be made or not, there would be no time for Miami to return the ball and maybe score a touchdown.

I would have called for a quarterback knee, personally; a pick-six would have destroyed all the momentum Florida State had gained in the duel’s first half. In addition, Dustin Hopkins makes the odds of missing so close a field goal nil.

A loss of five yards would have had almost no impact; Fisher could have called a timeout and then have Hopkins sent the football through the uprights.

Grade: A

Florida State Intangibles

The highlight of the night was Greg Reid’s returns and Manuel’s leadership passes. Overall, the tone for the team was rust. Devonta Freeman has continued to fill Chris Thompson’s role very well, and should be a Heisman candidate next year. With Freeman as a reliable force on turf, Manuel can polish his passing stats.

The defense (normally elite) needs to light a fire. A certain degree of mistakes are understandable in a rivalry game, but the sloppy play could have undermined all the Seminoles fought for in the fourth.

Hoping that Virginia doesn't capitalize, but this was still a performance worthy of applause.

Grade: B