When Deondre Francois got hurt in their opener last year against the Alabama Crimson Tide, everything just went downhill from there for the Florida State Seminoles. They lost many close games and in a majority of those, they were in the game and fell apart late when it mattered the most. There have been some changes in Tallahassee. Jimbo Fisher left and took the job in College Station, Texas as the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies and the guy they had their eye on and hired Willie Taggart as their new head coach. Would he be the guy to bring this program back to the elite conversation? Right now, it doesn’t look good for them and after three games, they are sitting at 1-2 which many didn’t see. So, what’s the issue?
Their offensive line has been horrible and they haven’t given Francois any type of time to throw the football at all. Every time I see him step back in the pocket, he looks scared for his life and speaking of Francois, he’s shown spurts here and there but has struggled to really get into a rhythm under center. The offense as a whole has really been stale and the running game has been absent because the offensive line is struggling to open holes to allow the runner to break through and get his yards. Another thing I’m noticing is how it seems the players haven’t necessarily bought into Willie Taggart and the new scheme he’s implemented. I understand that it’s still early in the season, but I’m just taking away that the players don’t want to play for him because when you want to play for a coach, you go all out and leave everything on the field. I remember watching their opener against the Virginia Tech Hokies and they just couldn’t get anything going that night. They had plenty of opportunities to punch the football into the end-zone for six and each time a drive looked to be going smoothly, it’d end in a penalty and they would be pushed back. They also turned the ball over five times in that game and it’s a basic football rule that the team who turns the ball over and commits the most penalties will lose the game. In their embarrassing loss against Syracuse on Saturday, the Seminoles mustered only four first downs and nine penalties in the first half against one of the worst defenses in college football.
Willie’s dream job has got off to a rough start. Even with everyone healthy, they still are struggling and I felt as did many that this was a team that could challenge Clemson for the ACC crown. Yes, it’s early, but it’s definitely time to be panicking down in Tallahassee
