Mark Cannon, your thoughts on the FSU game?

[gatorman001]

I checked going back to 2021 and Georgia Tech never recruited better than the 40's, from a team ranking standpoint. That last FSU drive for the tying TD, Norvell went for it on 4th and long twice, both times I believe FSU was in FG range. You think Norvell didnt have confidence in his defense to stop Tech to get the ball back and is why he went for both times? I've said it before, I refer dominating at the line of scrimmage so I like the style of offense Tech was running. I mentioned to you the other day, Tech has stood out to me thus far with the way they've recruited so far for the 2025 cycle.

 

[MarkECannon]

I like the direction Tech’s program is going. Coach Key is a tough Oline coach with a down to earth personality that most players would love to play for. He wants his Oline to pound on their opponent to get them to eventually submit. Got to love that. QB Haynes was a big recruit coming out of high school and actually has another year of eligibility if I’m not correct.

As for Norvell’s decision to go for it on 4th down, it did not surprise me at all. He has always had the tendency to go for it on 4th down. I believe he may have cost the team, in years past, a victory or 2 with this tendency. He has a lot of faith in his team and players.

Tech’s defense played a lot like teams played FSU last year. Stop the run and dare you to throw deep. DJU’s deep ball is supposed to be his calling card. Not today. His deep balls were mostly uncatchable. Last year Jordan Travis’ knowledge of the offense allowed him to go through his progressions when he chose to. That was not happening enough today. I’m definitely not putting all the blame on DJU because there is plenty to go around.

You can make an argument that the loss of RB Tre Benson is almost is hurtful as any. Power backs with elite speed are hard to find. Benson was a threat to go all the way once he got pass the line of scrimmage with his yards after contact leading all of college football.

On defense I saw players without the sense of urgency necessary. You could call them soft. Nobody can be called a dawg today. A lot of poor angles taken by tacklers. Not just by the newcomers but by some veterans.

This FSU team has been described as a deeper team but without as many top level players. I pretty much agree with that. The program is not at the level where they can lose 10 NFL draft picks and expect to remain at that level. I believe they are becoming that kind of program but are a few years away. Hey, FSU had won 20 regular season games in a row until today. Most programs would be very happy to accomplish that. I believe Coach Norvell and his staff will figure it out. Unfortunately, this year the margin of error just decreased quite a bit.

 

[gatorman001]

Thanks for your input, I believe how you ended this " Unfortunately, this year the margin of error just decreased quite a bit", probably hit the nail on the head. Yeah I had to look up a bio on Brent Key after the game, he is my kind of coach for sure!

 

[gatorman001]

I see last night and still this morning FSU has earned itself some commentary of the good, the bad, and the ugly variety. I didn't pay attention during the game, but apparently former Gator "OL Lennord" either started or saw a considerable amount of playing time yesterday. On the Gator message board there were a number of clips that reminded the Gator faithful of his typically inconsistent play while he was a Gator.....but now being seen in Garnet and Gold. Wondering to myself how long he continues to see significant playing time with the kind of play I saw in the clips. Is depth a issue at FSU along the OL?

 

[MarkECannon]

The criticism of FSU’s Oline play was they rotated way too much. Probably should have rode the Oline combination that worked so well in the first drive that resulted in a TD. The Oline is supposed to be the strength of the offense this year. As I pointed out earlier Tech usually had 8-9 in the box. This left one receiver wide open on just about every passing play. Unfortunately, our QB failed to recognize this enough times. Remember, our Oline Coach Alex Atkins is suspended for 3 games for a NIL violation so he was not at the game. FSU decided not to contest the ruling. After what occurred with the overturning of other NIL violations by other schools this was probably a mistake by FSU.