Florida State vs. Miami

When I turned my television set to ESPN on Thursday at 7:00pm, I was actually giddy with excitement. It had everything to do with the college football season getting under way. Fall is my favorite season probably because that is when football is played. I love everything about it. The opening night of college football is one of my favorite nights of the entire year. Tonight, I get to watch Florida State and Miami play the first big national game of the year, so I thought what better way to watch it than to write a running diary about the game:

First Half

7:05pm

Brent Musberger tells us that we are looking live at Doak Walker Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. Musberger and Gary Danielson will be joined by Jack Arute for this game. I’ll take Miami by 4.

7:11pm
15:00 first quarter

Musberger just called Devin Hester the most dangerous kick return man in college football, I wonder if Tedd Ginn Jr. is listening. Florida State doesn’t kick anywhere near Hester and Kyle Wright will start his first game at Miami from his own 35. I bet they don’t pass until the 3rd of 4th play.

7:14pm
13:35 first quarter

The next great back at Miami is Tyrone Moss, and Kyle Wright’s first pass attempt on the 4th play of the game was tipped and almost intercepted. I wonder what his stomach feels like right now.

7:17pm
11:55 first quarter

Kyle Wright may learn very quickly he needs to get down before getting pummeled by the Florida State linebackers. If he keeps trying to get extra yards, he won’t make it through the end of this game. Also, this is the second time he has been pressured on only 3 pass plays. I thought Miami was supposed to have one of the best lines in the country. Well, a missed field goal by Miami and the Seminoles will have good field position for red shirt freshman Drew Weatherford’s first start.

7:21pm
10:37 first quarter

Three straight blitzes for Miami, and Drew Weatherford’s first pass was incomplete because of the pressure. After going three and out, Hester makes a dumb mistake by trying to pick up the ball as 3 Seminole players were surrounding him, missed it and Florida State recovered the ball, however the play is under review.
While we have this time; the win by Wisconsin on Saturday was pretty big. Many people, including me, were picking Bowling Green to win that game. A huge win for a relatively young team and if Brian Calhoun keeps running like this all year, they could surprise some people.

7:27pm
10:15 first quarter

Miami is given the ball back as the Seminole who recovered the ball was apparently out of bounds. Wright’s third pass is picked off as he was again under a lot of pressure. Florida State takes over on Miami’s 28.

7:34pm
8:38 first quarter

Florida State draws first blood on an inside hand off to the fullback from the two yard line. Early on it seems as though both of these teams should stick to the ground because both quarterbacks look jittery.
Florida State 7 Miami 0

(Brewers update: Milwaukee 1 Cincinnati 1 in the bottom of the sixth. Darren and Bill are discussing the eating habits of one of the fans in the stands right now, excellent broadcasting guys.)

7:40pm
7:04 first quarter

Wright has thrown every pass high and Miami goes 3 and out after the Florida State score. The ‘Noles will take over on the 35 and a score here will put even more pressure on a noticeably nervous Kyle Wright.

7:48pm
3:50 first quarter

Florida State kicks a field goal, to make it 10-0. Miami needs a score for two reasons: to obviously keep the game close and most importantly to give Wright some confidence. They don’t even have to throw a lot; just get in the end zone so Wright knows he can lead his team downfield.
Florida State 10 Miami 0

7:57pm
:26 first quarter

Peattie has missed his second field goal of the night, he is 0 for 2 right now. The good thing about that drive, Wright looked good and the offense moved with both the run and pass. Unfortunately, a dropped pass on third down cost the ‘Canes a series and led to the missed field goal. If you are getting the feeling this is slanted towards Miami, that’s because it is, I really don’t like Florida State at all, and I like Miami. I just wish Chris Rix was still at State, because I really didn’t like him at all, so it made it really easy to cheer against the Seminoles.

8:10pm
11:59 second quarter

Just as I was about to start giving Kyle Wright some good words, he throws his second interception of the game on 3rd and 8. Miami seems like they are getting more comfortable with Wright throwing and may go that route for the rest of the game. Florida State looks like they are going to start throwing the ball downfield a little bit more now as well. I don’t think this is a good idea as Weatherford hasn’t looked very good on any of his passes.

8:16pm
10:50 second quarter

Miami gets the ball back after Florida State goes 3 and out. Brian Calhoun was named the player of the week for his 258 yard- 5 touchdown effort.

8:20pm
9:36 second quarter

After Miami goes 3 and out, well, they got a first down on a penalty on the first play, but didn’t gain any yardage by themselves, two 15 yard penalties will give Florida State great field position. We have had our first ejection of the game and it doesn’t appear to be for fighting, shocking. This game so far has been about as entertaining as the first quarter of Super Bowl 38.

8:27pm
8:46 second quarter

Hey, what do you know, another 3 and out and a punt. Florida State fakes the punt, doesn’t get the first down, but there is a penalty on Miami. It was a dead ball penalty after change of possession, so Miami keeps the ball on the 19 yard line after the penalty. Another personal foul penalty on Miami, I wonder how many of those they average per season.

(Brewers update: Milwaukee 5 Cincinnati 1 top 9)

8:36pm
7:05 second quarter

A great pump fake by Wright and then a 35 yard pass down field, just too high for the free safety, but right to Ryan Moore, who backed into the end zone. This is exactly what Miami needed. Drew Weatherford is definitely being outplayed by Wright at this moment and he needs a good drive to get his confidence back up. Pressure is now squarely on his shoulders and needs to prove he can run his offense.
Florida State 10 Miami 7

8:43pm
5:37 second quarter

Another bad series by Florida State and Drew Weatherford really isn’t looking comfortable in the pocket. He is throwing poorly and has some happy feet. A punt to Hester, who fumbles, but recovers it, and he is looking as nervous as Weatherford right now.

8:45pm
4:01 second quarter

On third and long, Kyle Wright has a perfect pass on a square in dropped by one of Miami’s fastest players, so a 3 and out leads to another punt. The announcers keep calling Miami’s running back Tyrone Moss a workhorse, but I think the punters are doing the most work tonight.

8:47pm
3:44 second quarter

Drew Weatherford continues to look bad as he throws an interception, and on the first play after the pick, Tyrone Moss rushes for 23 yards to the Florida State 41. I should say that the running of Moss has taken some pressure off of Wright and has made it a little easier for him, but Wright is still playing better than Weatherford right now.

8:50pm
1:42 second quarter

A very important 3rd down for Miami, they need to pick it up to get into scoring range; Wright gets pressured and goes down for a loss. The way the defense is playing, they may get the ball back quickly and in great field position, we’ll see. Florida State needs to make sure they don’t give the ball back to Miami so they can go into the locker room with a lead after watching a sputtering offense struggle for yardage.

8:56pm
Halftime

Miami has played better than Florida State in every aspect of this game, except for the scoreboard and kicking. I think Miami is going to get it together in the second half and score more points. One of the most important possessions of the game may be the first one of the second half. With a little coaching at the half, Florida State has to hope that Drew Weatherford will turn the corner and improve on his 3-12 passing for 13 yards, or they are in trouble. Look for them to throw more right away to let the kid know they have confidence in him. See you after the game.

9:09
Halftime

John Saunders just introduced a piece on a Texas player who is also a Marine who has served in Iraq, but is back now and has a new born son. Saunders ended the piece by saying “Let’s all pray that he doesn’t have to go back to Iraq”. I’m not for sending anyone into harms way, but why should we just pray for this guy not to go back to Iraq, because of what he does on Saturdays? I’m sure there are thousands of more stories just like his around the country, but we won’t hear about those because these people don’t play college football. If I was a family member of someone in Iraq, I would be extremely upset at Saunders’ comments. Yeah, let’s not send one guy back because he plays college football, obviously other lives are less important and can be risked so he can play football. Next time John, how about just saying that you hope for the safe return of all the men and women serving there and that no one else will need to be sent. I hate when athletes are made out to be more important than other people. Just like, who cares where the Saints are going to play? The sad part is if Super Bowl 40 would have been scheduled to be played in New Orleans this year, that would be a leading story on every news cast about the hurricane aftermath, and don’t think for a second it wouldn’t be.

9:25pm
14:21 third quarter

Weatherford and Florida State make a third down conversion because of a screen pass to their running back. He has 3 of the 4 catches in the game for Florida State. However, after the first down, they only gain 2 yards and have to punt. Devin Hester isn’t returning this punt, Ryan Moore is back to return. This is an interesting development, maybe the coaches are growing tired of Hester’s mental lapses (the fumble and a 15 yard penalty on punt coverage). A shot of Florida State’s co-eds and all I have to say is, I should’ve gone somewhere warm.

(Sorry, the Brewers won 6-1)

9:29pm
12:50 third quarter

Kyle Wright and Miami go 3 and out, so apparently Miami isn’t ready to take over this game. But Florida State might be, as they block the punt and will take over possession inside the Miami 2 yard line. They are poised to open up a 17-7 soon. If I’m Florida State, I throw a screen to get Weatherford a touchdown pass.

9:36pm
11:17 third quarter

The Seminoles run three straight plays, and lose yardage on all three plays. Now, they have to settle for a field goal attempt. Huge stand by the Hurricanes, which tilts momentum slightly in their favor, actually the momentum has just raced to the side of Miami as Cismesia misses the field goal. WOW! Now Miami has the ball on the 20, still down only 3. How sick must Florida State fans be of hearing, “he misses the kick, wide left!”? If Miami can actually put together a drive and tie the score or take the lead, the air will be sucked right out of the stadium.
Florida State 10 Miami 7

9:45pm
8:45 third quarter

Kyle Wright is looking more and more comfortable with every play, so Miami throws deep downfield on play action, and although the pass fell incomplete, Florida State was called for its third pass interference penalty. Other than the 35 yard touchdown pass, most of the long passes for Miami have ended in penalties on the Seminoles. After the penalty, with 8:45 left in the third quarter, Miami called its final timeout of the game. With the game being close, this could be huge at the end of the game.

9:49pm
8:45 third quarter

As we come back from commercial, Jack Arute tells us the Florida State sideline feels like the air has been taken out of its sails, this happened quicker than I thought it would. Also, we get a shot of a Miami cheerleader who cheers, “Yea, go Miami, defense, woo!” Um, your team is on offense, obviously she isn’t a cheerleader for her intelligence.
Miami ends up having to punt, and they pin Florida State at their own 3 yard line. Miami’s drive absolutely stalled and they are still down 10-7 right now, but the defense has been dominating, so they should get great field position after this Florida State possession.

9:55pm
4:58 third quarter

Great defense by Miami leads to yet another punt and just like they had hoped, the Hurricanes have great field position after a 24 yard punt to the 40. Musberger may have just set a world record for saying, “record setting crowd” twice in 5 seconds, Brent, we get it, there are a lot of people there, enough already. Miami goes 3 and out and punt back to Florida State to the 15. By the way, Miami is 0-10 on third down.

9:59pm
3:07 third quarter

After a dropped interception, which was thrown right to a Miami defensive back, Musberger and Danielson are openly calling for Florida State back-up Xavier Lee to be put into the game. On a side note, the Simpson’s 138th episode spectacular is the episode being shown right now in Milwaukee, excellent episode.

10:04pm
1:30 third quarter

The punters have to be getting tired at this point. As Miami takes over at the 33, Xavier Lee is beginning to warm up for Florida State. I am assuming he will be taking over on the next possession. With this development, Miami needs to score on this possession, but for the second straight play, Kyle Wright is sacked. This is about the 3rd time in the last 4 plays he has either been sacked or pressured heavily, and the quarter comes to a close.
Florida State 10 Miami 7, I can’t believe Florida State is still winning.

10:19pm
12:01 fourth quarter

Lee doesn’t march the Seminoles right down the field, but Florida State punted the ball inside the Miami 3 to give the Hurricanes their worst starting field position of the night. Miami is going to have to throw out of this position, so for them, hopefully Wright’s signs of improvement are no joke. As I typed that, Wright throws a strike downfield to Moss for a first down.

10:23pm
9:53 fourth quarter

For the first time in 12 tries, Miami converts a third down, with a 15 yard pass. If nothing else comes of this drive, they have moved the ball up field enough to pin State back a little should they be forced to punt. A sack on second down and Florida State has 7 sacks tonight, which is the most ever allowed by a Miami team. This Seminole defense has been tough all night. It has seemed since the second quarter that the Hurricanes would inevitably take the lead, but the State defense has stood strong the entire time. After yet another sack puts Miami at a 3rd and 19, Wright converts a 26 yards pass to his tight end Chris Olsen to keep the drive alive. Olsen has been on the receiving end of all three third down conversions on this drive. This is the first sustained drive of the game, and it is coming in the fourth quarter. Miami will score on this drive, you can just feel it.

10:31pm
5:14 fourth quarter

Again, the Hurricanes pick up a first down by throwing the ball to Chris Olsen who is on the field with a cramp. This is something we see a lot early in the season, but he will be out for at least one play and the young quarterback will be without his favorite target. Let’s see how he does without a comfortable option on the field.

10:36pm
2:35 fourth quarter

After a beautiful throw to Ryan Moore inside the 3, Miami gets sacked on second down (Wright had plenty of time to throw it away), and then they throw a pass behind the line of scrimmage on a wide receiver screen, which losses yardage. A bad snap leads to no attempt at a field goal and Florida State will take over on the 16, with Drew Weatherford taking back over, interesting. Miami doesn’t have a time out left, so Florida State with a first down could run out the clock. I really can’t believe Miami didn’t score, they just seemed like they were going to march right into the end zone.

10:43pm
End of game

The defense of Florida State won this game for them; 9 sacks, allowing on 90 rushing yards. Miami looked like they were going to take over the game a few times in the second half, but could never get it in the end zone. After watching this game, I know two things; neither of these teams are going to win the National Championship, and Kyle Wright is going to be a star.

Not a very clean game, a lot of mistakes, but Miami/ Florida State is always entertaining. Well, I hope everyone enjoys going back to work. This week look for words on Jerry Rice’s retirement, the Oklahoma loss, and more.

This Saturday is going to be a great day for college football with Michigan vs. Notre Dame at noon and Texas at Ohio State at 7:00 on ABC. The latter should be one of the best games of the season.

-Until next time…