Why we lost, big plays and decision making (long)

Oct 21, 2013, 11:40 AM

Our game was hyped beyond belief, and going into the game everyone knew what we were getting. We were going for a sound record, to be tried on the first defensive possession of the game, tickets were at an all time high, and hell Bill Murray even body slammed Lee Corso (who didn't want to see that?).

Now, what goes wrong? First possession, first play, fumble, FSU gets the ball on our 35. Here's the issue, we were going for a sound record, everyone in the stadium (including myself) was thinking we could score first, or at worst maybe FSU would have it on their own 35, not ours. That first play was a shock to everyone's system, and the quick turn around to offense never gave us the chance to get super loud on that first drive, and Winston quickly made us pay.

7-0, very manageable, but the stadium is still shocked, and then with another turnover and touchdown, along with a field goal, we're staring 17-0 right in the face, and none of it could really be blamed on the defense at that point. We proceed to move the ball down field and get a good score, but FSU begins to move the ball downfield until... interception, huge game changer (or should have been.)

Couple that with a horsecollar and we're sitting pretty in FSU territory. Tajh runs, Hot Rod runs, first down. Wide pass to Sammy, which he almost broke, still gets 3 yards.

Here's where we lose the game, Mcdowell proceeds to take the hand off (which I liked to see as we were running well at that point), and dances around the backfield leaving us an extremely long 3rd down which we did not convert. Unfortuneatly, I have to put that squarely on Mcdowell, as when he got to the sideline he recieved an earful from Dabo and Co. Now, we're sitting on the 40, so a long field goal (57 yards?), but I almost feel like it would have been worth trying, but I don't think it was a game changer punting here.

Now the crowd is into it, and it shows. FSU has a false start and delay of game, and we get the ball back on the 50, another great spot to start from. But now Tajh begins to look rattled, 2 bad throws, but a fortunate spot for a first down, followed by a sack and more errant throws, and we punt yet again.

A blown coverage, missed tackle, and 72 yard score later, the game begins to look out of reach with momentum clearly on FSU's side, and we throw an interception to seal the deal.

In huge games like this momentum is key, and we never, ever had momentum in this game. The two drives that started in FSU territory when it was 17-7 were opportunities handed to us on a golden platter, and we could not take advantage of them. The defense didn't play stellar, but at least 21 of FSU's points have to be blamed clearly on the offense, and our inability to sustain drives killed us in this game just as it did in the USC game last year.

My main issue is that it's great to have big plays through the air, but we need to setup with a fullback every now and then and just pound the ball on the ground, just as FSU did over and over, which ultimately helped them keep us away from any comeback.

Where do we go from here? Keep winning, I still believe in the team (hell we're still #9) and want to see us develop our running game and get to a BCS bowl, go tigers!

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Why we lost, big plays and decision making (long)

I thought we were on the 35

on the replay we were on the 40, I still would have liked

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