Deacons hold back 'Pack, smoke UNC-G
By Lisa Ferguson
Old Gold and Black Reporter

There are three things that stereotypically define state schools: good-looking cheerleaders, less than challenging academics, and large, athletic football players. (By the way, numbers one and two have nothing to do with attracting number three.) Florida State, from all appearances, is a stereotypical state school. And, unfortunately for the Deacons, they were a rather disgruntled state school Sept. 29, whipping on the Deacs 48-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.. The Seminoles had been handed their worst regular season loss since 1983 the previous Sept. 22 in Chapel Hill.

“Against Florida State, you just have to say Florida State, and you don’t have to go much further, you’ve got great athletes on their football team,” Head Coach Jim Grobe said. “Not only did we play a Florida State team that has great talent, as good of talent as anybody in the country, but we played a real motivated Florida State team.”

It was an impressive performance by the Deacon offense, though, as it ran up 432 yards of total offense and still lost rather handily, thanks to problems moving the ball inside the Florida State 15-yard line and a defense that had trouble tackling the Seminole players inside either sideline.

The FSU offense resembled a criminal running from the cops (no doubt a familiar position for some of them) as they sprinted to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter, racking up 226 yards in the frame, including 76 and 80 yards on the two scoring drives. Things might have been even worse for the Deacons had sophomore linebacker Kellen Brantley not picked off FSU quarterback Chris Rix in the Seminoles’ first offensive series, the first interception of Brantley’s career, and had sophomore quarterback Anthony Young not broken loose for a 71-yard touchdown run, the longest play from scrimmage for the Deacs this year.

The Seminoles’ knockout punch (again, something I would guess these guys are familiar with) came in the second quarter, as they busted through the Deacon defense like that big red punch bowl guy does in the commercial (KOOOOLAAAID!!!!), scoring four consecutive touchdowns, two of which were set up by FSU interceptions. The Deacons finally managed to get a drink with an eight-yard touchdown run by junior receiver Fabian Davis with 22 seconds left in the half.

So, one week after giving up over 500 yards of offense to Maryland, the Deacons entered halftime down 42-14, with Rix having toyed with the Deacon secondary the way a cat plays with a mouse when it knows it can kill it, throwing for 262 yards and three touchdowns before the break.

The Deacons did salvage some dignity in the second half. While Florida State did take out a good deal of their starters in the fourth quarter, the Deacons held the ‘Noles to six points and 96 yards passing in the second half, while also causing two safeties in the fourth quarter. The first safety came when FSU backup quarterback Adrian McPherson was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, while the second occurred when junior linebacker Jamie Scott blocked a punt. Those two safeties and a nine-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Fred Staton, all in the fourth quarter, made the final score a semi-respectable 48-24.

There were some positives in the game, chief among them the 432 yards the Deacons were able to gain against the Seminole defense. Most of the damage was done on the ground, where the Deacons gained 265 yards, led by senior receiver John Stone, with 70 yards on 11 carries. Three other Deacons gained 45 yards or more on the ground.

But many questions also remain after this game. The biggest, looming larger than a 6-foot-4, 300-pound Florida State tackle in a dark alley, is this: will a defense that has given up half a ton of yards (literally) over the last two games be able to keep N.C. State within striking distance?

“Certainly we’ve got a lot to work on defensively, we’ve challenged our kids that we can’t make some of the mental mistakes we’ve been making,” Grobe said. “But above and beyond that, we’ve got to understand that we’ve played two pretty good offensive football teams, and that may not change.

“I think we play pretty good offensive football teams the rest of the year. So, we’ve got to play better defensively, there’s no question.”

After starting the year 2-0, the Deacons have now lost two games, both of them in the conference, putting them in an early hole as far as the ACC race goes. Grobe sees the upcoming game against the Wolfpack as a key one.

“I think this is a huge game for us,” he said. “I’d hate to tell you that it’s not, but I don’t look at any team on our schedule from here on out and think, ‘that’s a W.’ We don’t have anybody that’s going to be a gimme, we’re going to have to play our tails off to have a chance to beat anybody.”