Jason Staples
@DocStaples
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Former Coach | Unconquered Pod | Football Analyst @InsideCarolina | Book: https://t.co/5xkepZaJTW | Opinions mine | Non-sports: @jasonstaples
Joined August 2013
Paul and the Resurrection of Israel is now available for preorder via Amazon (& elsewhere). I’ve been working toward this book since spring 2003—half my life. (It’s also a main reason podcast episodes have been less frequent for awhile.) *Affiliate link.
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Remember this: the SEC’s best nonconference win AS AN ENTIRE CONFERENCE is over Louisville. The same Louisville FSU held to 2.7 YPP and 6 points. Think about that for a second.
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So what was this all about? He definitely blew off Hubert Davis’ handshake. #UNCvsDuke #Sportsmanship
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Says the guy whose primary competitive advantage at Alabama was that he (allegedly) established an untouchable industrial grade under-the-table pay-for-play system. Once NIL evaporated that advantage, he retired.
NEW: Nick Saban calls for NIL competitive balance in College Football: . “The people out there need to know this model is unsustainable. One school can’t spend $30M for players while another school is spending $3M.”. (via @PatMcAfeeShow).
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WTF. This is outright propaganda. “Outclassed” the opponent who took them to OT. Only in the #SEC could anyone buy this sort of nonsense.
"They outclass teams when it matters and that's what happened tonight, they simply outclassed Arizona State when it mattered.". @BenjaminSWatson on @TexasFootball rising to the occasion in Atlanta 🤘
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Louisville has a better offense than Michigan. Don’t tell me this DL wouldn’t have had a chance in the Playoff.
On the way to improving to 13-0 and winning the ACC title, we broke the ACC Championship Game record with 1⃣4⃣ TFLs. #NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing
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Amazing that FSU got left out of the CFP (ostensibly) because their starting QB went down with an injury, but Bama is out here playing without a QB and nobody says anything about that.
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BREAKING: CFP Committee has determined that due to Michigan’s special teams difficulties in the Rose Bowl (two muffed punts, failed PAT, missed FG), they aren’t the same team that earned their way to the CFP, so #Bama will advance to the national championship game.
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This Ole Miss team *did* compete for a National Championship … and lost 3x, so they didn’t *win* the national championship. They couldn’t even make it to their *conference* championship game. Simple as that. Don’t lose games and you’ll be in position to win a title.
Good thing they had us ranked behind Bama, Miami, and Clemson. This Ole Miss team would have competed for a National Championship. Shame on you @CFBPlayoff
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This is absolute nonsense. The difference is that UGA lost its last game and didn’t want to finish with that bad taste in their mouth. They wanted to “redeem themselves.”. FSU battled & won every game & then was told it meant nothing. No more left to prove.
@CurtMWeiler @DocStaples It is called a portal culture (Norvel) vs a loyalty culture (Kirby). FSU tried to buy a team in the portal. A team of quitters. Georgia instead came back to win a game. 45-3 at halftime.
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I deeply hate this sentiment that “rules are rules until late in games.”.
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@JimNagy_SB Non-conference opponents were irrelevant. They didn’t get in because they lost to bad teams IN THEIR OWN CONFERENCE.
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This is gold. Exactly the kind of petty that belongs in a rivalry game.
FSU band playing their war chant (which might be the only song they know how to play) during Tom Petty 🖕. @delatorre
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At least the #CFBPlayoff Committee couldn’t keep the unbeaten teams from having a chance to play for a title. @FSUSoccer fans definitely pretty salty out here.
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You could hear Jackson saying, “They don’t know how hard we worked” on the TV broadcast.
An emotional Jarrett Jackson cries in arms of strength coach Josh Storms after FSU’s dramatic win
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@stephenasmith TCU beat Michigan in the semifinal last year. If you don’t want a repeat of TCU, maybe leave Michigan out.
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Back to back weeks where the @ACCFootball office has protected #Miami with a booth review going the #Canes’ way in a key spot. Amazing to see them get this treatment when #FSU and #Clemson haven’t gotten it over the past 10 years.
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One little thing I really like about Norvell: He requires that his players wear suits to every game. They get a new one each year. By the end of career, they have 4-5 suits for interviews if they go pro in something other than sports. It’s all about a professional approach.
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Overheard at #FSU practice today:."Man, y'all gotta work and get yourselves paid.". James Blackman: "I ain't trying to get paid, I'm trying to win a championship.".Cam Akers: "Amen.".
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Keep hearing the guys in the booth talking about how Michigan and Washington “just keep finding a way” & how they always seem to make the key play at the right time. Amazing how that works, isn’t it? It’s hard to go unbeaten, glad these teams are getting the credit they deserve.
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I’m fascinated by all the people saying the CFB Playoff committee needs to avoid putting “another TCU” in the Playoff. You mean the TCU team that *won* their semifinal game last year?. They won their semifinal game but somehow didn’t belong? Interesting.
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This is why all the “they’d have been in without @jordantrav13’s injury” stuff is a sham. @KirkHerbstreit said it all here before Travis got hurt: “No way the SEC champ’s left out.” Travis’ injury just gave convenient pretext to do just that. All about the money.
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@On3sports Hard disagree, @joelklatt. Army-Navy is supposed to be a culminating game played in cold weather. The way God intended.
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Would’ve been awesome to watch these guys against Michigan’s OL, which struggled to pass protect. Shame.
FSU’s D-Line Duo DESTROYED the Combine.IDL Braden Fiske.4.78 40 (1st).9’9” Broad (1st).33.5” Vertical (1st).10 Yard Split (3rd).First DT to lead 40, Broad, and Vertical since 2004. EDGE Jared Verse.4.58 40 (3rd).10’7” Broad (T-3rd).1.60 10 Yard Split (T-3rd).35” Vertical (T-9th)
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Good thing the @CFBPlayoff committee went out of their way to ensure the most competitive championship game. Wouldn’t want yet another blowout title game, would we? Sure is a good thing we didn’t get to see FSU’s defense against these teams. Imagine!.
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One thing I went to bed thinking about last night: @Coach_Norvell is building a team that doesn’t just win, it’s a bully. Teams eventually take on the persona of their HC, & there’s a relentlessness about the culture Mike has built at #FSU. Just have to keep building depth.
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Terrific way to end a rough year for Ryan Fitzgerald. He’s shown great resilience and deserves it.
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I’ve been amazed at how many closet Florida State fans are out there including many national media, graduates & former players from other programs, coaches from other schools (and sports!), etc. Somehow all those people just don’t like facts, unlike the minority defending this.
Kirk Herbstreit addresses the hate from the Florida State fanbase 😳. “When they b---h and complain. They don’t like facts. They don’t like information. They like conspiracy theories.”
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UMass is a bad football team. But regardless of that, #FSU hasn’t come out and handled an opponent like this in a long time, including multiple FCS opponents over that stretch. Norvell has steadily been remaking this team in his image. More physical football in Tallahassee.
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You can’t convince me the timing of this finally leaking today of all days wasn’t carefully coordinated.
NEWS: NCAA Is expected to levy unprecedented penalties for NIL-related violations committed by Florida State, sources tell @YahooSports, including 3-game suspension for an assistant coach & disassociation from its booster collective and a booster
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The right clap back would be “And your coach would rather be at FSU. Better ask yo coach.”.
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Marvin Wilson talking trash after the hit that he’s then disqualified for. Down 28. Same drive, Durden makes a tackle, gets up, bows up, and talks trash. Still down 28. These dudes just don’t get it.
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Good thing the @CFBPlayoff committee chose teams with great QB play. Wouldn’t want a defensive battle (or, as Chris Fowler just called it, “a punting dual”) in the national title game, would we? Certainly wouldn’t want an All American punter in that kind of game.
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Starting to think maybe Mitchell Trubisky wasn’t the problem in Chicago….
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I think it’s important to say this: .Without @TheBattlesEnd, Mike Norvell would almost certainly not be the head coach at #FSU today.
As excited as I have been about the future of FSU Football and @TheBattlesEnd in a long time. Come join the climb!!!.
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I hope when KZ Milton’s eligibility is up that he stays at #FSU as a GA or analyst. His influence on this team has been significant in helping change the culture. Has a bright future in coaching if he wants it, & Norvell has a great track record of grooming assistants.
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Best OT at #FSU in at least 8 years. At least.
Ole Miss OT transfer Micah Pettus, who stands at 6-foot-7, 360-pounds, commits to Florida State
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Consider this: the #Iowa offense has been a punchline all season. #FSU just gave up fewer YPP (2.7) to a very good #Louisville offense than #Michigan did to Iowa (2.8). Whoa.
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That is a completely clean hit on the QB. Nothing there warrants roughing. Ridiculous.
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Say what you want about Jimbo Fisher, but the man doesn’t lose to Florida. Straight up Gator killer.
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Now all that’s left is for Brock Glenn to tweet, “I didn’t come here to play school,” and it’s game on.
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And that scramble for a 4th down conversion is *precisely* why #FSU fans have been begging for him to play over DJU. That’s a sack & turnover on downs with DJU at QB.
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Drake Maye should be the favorite for the @HeismanTrophy at this point. Yeah, I said it. It’s true. If he had put up these numbers for any other one-loss team, he’d be the favorite, and he should be all the more credited for having this #UNC team at 7-1.
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So I guess this means Tennessee shouldn’t have been in the #CFBPlayoff and that their schedule wasn’t good enough? Am I doing this right?.
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ESPN employees still shell-shocked that the CFP title game won’t include an SEC team for the first time even after they awarded the SEC a semifinal matchup with Michigan, who had been humiliated in consecutive semifinals. Pulled all the levers & still couldn’t get them there.
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Asante Samuel, Jr. is exempt from all criticisms I levy against the #FSU defense. That guy is a dog.
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Aaaahhahahahahahahaha! Best team in two decades. Still no ACC Championship. #ItsACaneThang #Miami (Fla) #Canes
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Very deserved, @Coach_Norvell . But I know he’d trade this in a microsecond for having the year end without getting cheated. The way he has handled that has only increased my respect for him as a coach and a human being.
Hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but it absolutely puts you in the best position to be able to achieve it. @Coach_Norvell has added another National Coach of the Year honor tonight, winning the 2023 Bryant Award!. Congratulations, Coach!. #NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing
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@adamgorney Those people can also see that Ole Miss is better than Kentucky and Alabama is better than Vandy and Oklahoma, too. Oops. Maybe the game should matter. We’re not simming an EA Sports season here.
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This is inexcusable. Not even close to a late hit out of bounds. even if he had just stepped on line, it’s not a penalty. But he hadn’t even stepped out yet. Numerous examples of this so far on the year from @ACCFootball officials. Gotta stop calling penalties on inbounds hits.
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Norvell & staff are *killing* the transfer portal. Any concerns this #Noles staff can’t recruit should be put to rest at this point. Not only bringing in talent, they’re bringing in guys who’ve been productive at prior stops. *Proven* talent, not guys who couldn’t crack lineups.
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I have no words suitable for this. Just sad. Prayers for Jordan Travis.
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Too bad Braden Fiske was impacted so much by Jordan Travis’ injury that he was unable to compete at a @CFBPlayoff level. Amazing how the Committee determined that Travis was such a great defender that FSU’s defense just wasn’t the same without him.
Senior Bowl Day 1: ☑️.Braden Fiske Stock: 📈.@bradenfiske55 @JimNagy_SB @seniorbowl @gradysports @FSUFootball
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Much respect to @HarlonBarnett, who handled a terrible situation as a gentleman and a professional. I wish you the best in your next stop, coach!.
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Might be the first time I’ll have gotten to Christmas without watching a single down of bowl games. Been busy, but honestly just haven’t been interested, either.
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Better words than I have right now. Jordan Travis is one of the best, most important, and guttiest football players in FSU history. Devastated for him.
@DocStaples I have more appreciation for him than any other FSU player. Sure there are better players who wore the jersey, but this guy meant so much to our turn around. I’m devastated for him.
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@mfarrellsports Why #FSU? Because they’re not protected by the SEC cartel. Instead, that cartel actively tries to harm them to make it harder for them to compete with cartel members. Simple.
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Yes, #FSU is targeting UCF OLs in the portal. No, that is not a problem. Of programs playing 8+ games vs P4 competition, yards per carry:. 1. Notre Dame (8 games): 5.99.2. Kansas St (10): 5.51.3. UCF (10): 5.28. 110. FSU (9): 2.70. Yeah, FSU’d take UCF’s whole 2024 OL.
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Too bad Lovett didn’t get the chance to dominate Michigan’s OL like this in the @CFBPlayoff. He and the other five primary FSU DTs would’ve eaten in that game against a team that tried to bully them.
Fabien Lovett @fabo_54 was a monster in Shrine Bowl practice today. Here’s a rep of him letting Michigan OL/Tiktok star Trente Jones know that not *everyone* is afraid of him
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Fair point. I gave Bama too much credit. A full-strength FSU with Rodemaker after a month of bowl prep is definitely doing better than *that*.
@DocStaples Bama has 265 yards of offense in regulation. There is no way FSU would have been this bad.
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Link Jarrett is a miracle worker. The @FSUBaseball program was in more disarray when he arrived than most realized. The program needed a full teardown and rebuild, and Link got it done in two years. Omaha bound.
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I hate the fact that Vandy has just beaten #1 Bama, and my immediate reaction is, “so what, doesn’t impact Bama’s season at all.” These games just don’t matter like they used to.
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Lots of muffed punts in the CFP today. You know who was really good at not muffing punts all season? Keon Coleman.
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In other words, it’s *really* hard to go unbeaten, and teams that actually pull it off should have that much more respect. One-loss teams had the chance to learn from failure. Unbeaten teams have to be super consistent the whole way.
Alabama HC Nick Saban explaining the importance of not allowing external factors to affect the mindset of the players/team.
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Every DJU throw is all arm. Zero core/lower body involved. Very poor throwing mechanics resulting in scattershot accuracy. Think his mechanics are worse now than last year, and they were worse last year than when he was a true freshman.
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The CFB committee already made it clear that the previous 13 games didn’t mean anything, so why should they think the Orange Bowl against a UGA team with its own opt-outs means something. Win & it’s “not the same UGA.” Lose and it doesn’t matter.
Seeing Florida State players opt out of the Orange Bowl is so disheartening. You have an opportunity to play in a historic NY6 bowl game in your home state, in the stadium of one of your biggest rivals, against back-to-back national champions. This could have meant something.
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@jerrysandersRTR Michigan got blown out by UGA in similar fashion the year before and lost to that TCU team in the semifinal. So you’re saying Michigan should’ve been left out?.
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Fiske has got to break the rock tonight. Then Bethune and then Toafili get swings. Elite defensive performance against a really good offense coached by one of the best offensive minds in all of football.
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The results weren’t what anyone wanted, but no one can question the class with which Taggart has handled himself personally since taking the job. Respect that a great deal.
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Three weeks ago: The @CFBPlayoff committee snubbed 13-0 #FSU, declaring to the world that the #Noles were second-class regardless of record. Think that didn’t have any impact? The damage was real and immediate.
KJ Bolden told the #UGA Rivals site after his ceremony that he knew 3 weeks ago that he was signing with Bulldogs. #FSU @Osceola_Rivals.
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This is the kind of stupidity that loses close games. #FSU has to get this crap under control. Had this been called, it goes from 4th & 3 to 1st & goal from the 3.
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@PatMcAfeeShow @KirkHerbstreit If they’d followed criteria, they’d have considered what the addition of FSU’s best defensive tackle (who hadn’t played in 2023) for the CFP would do to that defense. But no, it was all a sham. The CFP was introduced to ensure things were settled on the field. So much for that.
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Verse, Fiske, and Lovett played like they had mouths to feed, not like they were overfed. Hunger matters.
@DocStaples (And a competitor. He didn’t GAF about how much NIL he’d been paid. He was ready to whip ass in practice, in games, in a game of cards on the team bus…whatever).
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“What the F were we doing?!? What the F were we doing running it?”. We were all thinking the same thing, young man. #Canes #GeorgiaTech #Miami.
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“You won’t know how much it means to us [Dynasty-era coaches] to be able to come back like this.” .- Mickey Andrews 🐐 .@CoachTaggart.
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Just gonna put this right here for the #Canes fans who want to talk about how talent is the problem for that team right now…
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Regardless of outcome tonight, I am very pleased by the quality of coaching I’ve seen from #FSU staff tonight. Going to be an uphill battle on offense all year given personnel issues, but this is a good staff.
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Swofford’s on-the-record public comments that the ACC was only willing to consider a media deal that included Raycom (where his son was an executive) are a significant help in establishing 3 and 4. Strong foundation for arguing breach of fiduciary duty due to nepotism.
#FSU's complaint against the ACC could be filed as soon as today. 1. Violation of Florida Law - Antitrust.2. Unenforcable Penalty.3. Breach of Contract.4. Breach of Fiduciary Duty.5. Fundamental Failure of Contractual Purpose.6. Unconscionability and Violation of Public Policy.
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Tried explaining this to folks at the time. There was initial shock in that video at the injustice, then they were excited to play Bama. Guys on unbeaten teams like that aren’t afraid of playing Bama or any other team b/c they believe they’re the best.
Cam Goode: “We beat Alabama FAIR and square.”. Later adds, “We were more shocked Florida State didn’t make it. We weren’t worried about Bama …”
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#FSU just blew this one. Norvell & the coaching staff would say as much. On that last INT, they had 1v1 coverage against Johnny Wilson at the bottom. Incomprehensible to me that you get that in that situation and don’t go there if you’re going to the end zone.
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No. Georgia did not get snubbed. Georgia lost their conference championship game. They lost. Not a remotely comparable situation. Georgia failed on the football field. Florida State did not lose on the field and was snubbed from having the opportunity to settle it on the field.
@DocStaples So, Mike gets punched in the face and then stays down ??.Georgia got snubbed last year, too.
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Lundy’s return to #FSU is important for more than just his impact on the field (which isn’t likely to be small in 2024). The right decision for FSU to decide to fight to keep him for a lot of reasons. Bigger deal than most folks may appreciate.
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Most sane #FSU folks would’ve gladly taken 4-3 at the start of the season. The frustrating thing is that it was so close to much better. (I think if Lovett hadn’t gotten hurt, FSU’s probably 6-1 or 7-0 right now.). Get healthier over bye, then might be better team in remaining 5.
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I’m going on the record now: I think Jeremiah Smith winds up at #FSU. They’re showing what he needs to see to pull that trigger.
If Jeremiah Smith watched that Ohio State game (or any OSU game featuring Ryan Day’s offense) and this FSU game (or any FSU game featuring Mike Norvell’s offense)…I mean….
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So much respect.
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Byers is a big time get for #FSU. Immediate starter on the OL and an upgrade at his spot over last year. Going to be a very competitive OL room with some depth.
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