TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Almost everything went right in the first 5 ¾ games of the season. The final 15 minutes of Game 6 were the complete opposite.
Florida State ran the ball at will, passed with efficiency and blocked effectively. The defense was stout.
And then it all fell apart in the fourth quarter in Raleigh, N.C.
The first half of the season began a build-up to what appeared to be something special. FSU opened 5-0 for the first time since 2005. That was the last time that the Seminoles won an Atlantic Coast Conference title, and it looked like the same could be true in 2012. The hopes of fans had been elevated and thoughts quickly turned to a national title.
Those thoughts were dashed with an N.C. State comeback – from a 16-3 deficit going into the fourth quarter – that sent FSU home with a 17-16 loss.
At the midpoint of the season, FSU is 5-1. The Seminoles dominated Murray State and Savannah State, shut down Wake Forest, rallied to defeat Clemson, fought off South Florida and then were humbled by N.C. State.
The goals of winning the division and playing for a conference title are still there, but now the Seminoles likely need to win their five remaining ACC games. And they must hope that N.C. State, which now holds the tiebreaker edge over FSU, will lose one of its remaining conference games.
“I’m very encouraged about our team, very excited about our team and I look forward to see the next six games and how the team responds,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said.
As FSU prepares for its home game against Boston College on Saturday, let’s take a position-by-position look back at the first six games of the Seminoles’ season:
EJ Manuel has been very accurate, completing 70.5 percent of his passes. He has thrown 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions, one of which was bobbled by a receiver.
Manuel threw for 380 yards and ran for 102 yards against Clemson, becoming the first FSU quarterback in 20 seasons (since Charlie Ward in 1992) to have a 300-100 game.
N.C. State blitzed nearly every down in the second half, and it was one of Manuel’s worst 30 minutes – he missed Kelvin Benjamin on a deep pass that could have gone for a touchdown. And, under pressure, he overshot Chris Thompson on a simple screen when he could have lobbed the ball over the oncoming rushers and let Thompson run for a large gain.
Thompson broke two vertebrae in his back in 2011, but returned strong this season and has 100-yard games against Wake Forest, Clemson and N.C. State. He has 572 yards in six games, putting him on pace to become FSU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Warrick Dunn in 1996. Thompson is also second on the team with 15 receptions.
James Wilder Jr. has had his moments, too. He ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns against Murray, and added 65 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Clemson. But he has had little impact the past two games and is still learning to pass block effectively.
Manuel has spread the wealth, as seven receivers have at least 11 catches. Rashad Greene leads the team in receptions (19), and he also has a touchdown on an end-around.
Kelvin Benjamin, a 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman, leads the team with 259 receiving yards and has shown big-play ability. While he has struggled as a route runner, the potential is there for more if he learns to read the defenses better.
Rodney Smith, a 6-6 senior, leads the team with three touchdowns and has a reception in 31 straight games.
Sophomore tight end Nick O’Leary has 11 catches for 136 yards, nearly surpassing his 2011 totals.
One surprise has been Christian Green, who caught 26 passes in 2011 but has just three receptions this season.
Going into the season, Cameron Erving was moving from defensive tackle to left tackle, while Menelik Watson would make the jump from junior-college football to start at right tackle. Either move could have backfired, but despite a few mistakes both have graded well.
Watson and center Bryan Stork have both earned ACC offensive linemen of the week honors.
Every mistake that a lineman makes is magnified, and the pass protection often broke down in the second half against N.C. State. But FSU has allowed just 10 sacks in 2012 (after giving up 41 a year ago).
The Seminoles have run for 1,431 yards in 2012 – just 27 yards short of their rushing total in 13 games in 2011. FSU’s running game has been an unexpected bright spot, and the line deserves plenty of credit.
After losing an All-American defensive end in Brandon Jenkins to a foot injury in the season opener, FSU moved Tank Carradine into Jenkins’ spot. Carradine hasn’t missed a beat, leading the team in tackles (36) and sacks (seven).
Bjoern Werner has fought through hand and elbow injuries to record 6.5 sacks from his end position.
FSU also has a strong four-man rotation at defensive tackle, led by Timmy Jernigan (16 tackles).
The Seminoles are fifth in the nation against the run, holding opponents to just 71.3 yards per game.
But FSU has also fallen short in getting to the quarterback lately. The Seminoles had just two sacks apiece against Clemson and USF. And against N.C. State, which had three starters out on the offensive line, FSU sacked Mike Glennon just one time.
Christian Jones (31 tackles) and Telvin Smith (23 tackles) are second and third on the team in tackles. After a Carradine sack against USF, Jones scooped up the ball and ran in from 12 yards out for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.
The group has been strong against the run, but has also struggled to defend the pass. N.C. State’s Glennon picked apart FSU in the middle of the field, finding openings on short and intermediate routes against the Seminoles linebackers.
Senior Nick Moody also moved up from safety to strongside linebacker, but while starting six games he has played sparingly and has just six tackles.
FSU was already replacing three key players in the secondary after Terrance Parks and Mike Harris graduated and Greg Reid was dismissed on Aug. 1.
The Seminoles knew what they had in safety Lamarcus Joyner and corner Xavier Rhodes, and they have anchored a defense that is fifth in the nation against the pass (allowing just 150 yards through the air per game).
Nick Waisome has done a good job filling Reid’s shoes, and true freshman Ronald Darby has also seen significant playing time. And Terrence Brooks is fourth on the team in tackles with 23, and he added an interception against N.C. State.
FSU had 16 interceptions in 2011. This year, FSU has just four – including two by Rhodes.
Senior Dustin Hopkins has made 9 of 12 field-goal attempts, including his last five kicks. Freshman Cason Beatty is averaging just 38.7 yards per punt, but 13 of his 21 punts have landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Rashad Greene has two punt returns for a touchdown and is averaging 16.5 yards per return. Lamarcus Joyner and Karlos Williams have combined to average 32.8 yards per kickoff return. Joyner’s 90-yard kickoff return against Clemson sparked FSU’s comeback victory.
FSU’s biggest concern, however, is the punts that were blocked on consecutive weeks against South Florida and N.C. State. Fisher said he and the coaching staff would be making some personnel moves to prevent a third block.
