Charleston Southern Buccaneers

FSU Football vs. Charleston Southern In-Depth Recap: What We Learned

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Here’s the most in depth recap of FSU football and their latest game and what we learned from their win over Charleston Southern.

The 2016 home portion of the FSU football schedule has begun – and what better way to kick things off at the renovated Doak Campbell Stadium than a battle against a FCS team who was planning on having at least a dozen players suspended for a stupid NCAA rule!

Sarcasm aside, the showdown with Charleston Southern had all the makings of a no win situation for the Seminoles – coming off a short week and emotional win over Ole Miss and looking ahead to what has become a monster game against Louisville next weekend.

Fortunately for the Seminoles and head coach Jimbo Fisher, FSU football kept their focus and extended the longest current home winning streak in the nation while dispatching the Bucs with ease.

Here’s a look at what we learned from FSU football’s latest game against the Buccaneers.

Sep 10, 2016, in Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) warms up prior to the game against Charleston Southern at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

No. 1 – The level of competition was certainly worse than last week against Ole Miss, but Deondre Francois continues to show growth at quarterback that confirms he will be in the starting spot for a while. Early on, D12 got into a nice rhythm with Travis Rudolph for several scores and was able to get out of some situations with his legs. At the same point, he is still sailing the ball on the intermediate passes, something Fisher and other coaches will surely work on before the Louisville game.

No. 2 – When you look at the yardage numbers through the first two games of the season, people are going to freak out that Dalvin Cook has only run for 174 yards combined. In reality, Cook is going to be keyed on for much of the season after his record setting year in 2015. Of course we would all love for him to go for 200 yards rushing, 100 yards receiving and four touchdowns combined each game, but it isn’t going to happen. It’s the times he only has 40 yards in a game that I will start to worry, but I don’t think that’s going to take place.

No. 3 – If there was one negative on the offensive side of the ball from Saturday’s win, it still has to be the play of the offensive line. Once again, there were too many penalties for both false start and holding – including three total on the first drive alone. It’s one thing to make those kinds of mistakes against teams from the FCS level, but that needs to be cleaned up with Louisville, North Carolina and Miami coming up in the next few games.

Sep 10, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive tackle Demarcus Christmas (90) celebrates a fumble recovery at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

No. 4 – The defensive line for the Seminoles was more than hungry in their home opener and played like men possessed. DeMarcus Walker, with yet another forced fumble, continued to up his NFL stock while men like Demarcus Christmas and Derrick Nnadi came to play as well. The blowout win also allowed freshman like five star recruit Brian Burns to get some much needed playing time heading into next week’s game.

No. 5 – Of course, the scariest moment came when Derwin James was carted off with what looks to be an apparent knee injury. Nothing has been reported yet about the severity, but the sophomore safety is a key to any chance FSU football has of winning not just the ACC, but also the national title. People will question why he was still in the game with a 42-6 score, but injuries like this can happen when it’s scoreless in the first quarter as well.

No. 6 – Special teams again did their part in keeping the Buccaneers from getting any serious field position all game, while Bobo Wilson reminded everyone he is still around as the senior from Miami went 89 yards for the first touchdown off a punt return since the 2012 season. FSU football has clicked so far on both offense and defense – if special teams can play the way they have in the first two games, the Seminoles will be just fine the rest of the way.

Sep 10, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminole cheerleaders celebrate a first half score against Charleston Southern at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Extra Point

For the first time, many FSU football fans got to see the new Champions Club section in the south end zone and the gigantic new scoreboard (also known as the Jimbotron by some) in the north end zone. Whether you are a graduate of the school, a diehard fan or someone who has been going to games at Doak Campbell Stadium for years, it’s hard not to be simply amazed by what the already beautiful stadium looks like now from even just 25 or 30 years ago.

Call me biased as a proud graduate, but there is no stadium in all of college football than the one off of Pensacola Street in the capital city.

Going For Two

Entering the game, rumors were swirling that as many as 30 players from the Buccaneers were not going to play in this game due to a NCAA rules violation. What was the violation? Using money for books on other items at the school’s bookstore – like such horrible things as pencils and notebooks.

Look, I get that there are rules and a violation of them should come with some form of punishment, but there are two things that you can pull out of this whole situation. First, how insane are the rules if a player is not allowed to use their academic money on whatever the need for class. If they need paper or pens, let them buy some damn paper and pens!

Second, CSU could have been in serious trouble if all the players were suspended for this week’s game. Without sounding cocky, Florida State is a much better team who was easily going to dominate their opponents even if CSU was fully manned. Take away a dozen or players and you put them in a situation where, due to lack of depth, player would be forced to spend more time in the game and thus put their physical health at risk.

Sometimes, the governing body of college athletics just ignores common sense.