FanHouse DrewWeatherford

FSU lost 30-0 at home Saturday night to Wake Forest. That's right, 30-zero. As in not one single frickin point. I don't even want to talk about the actual game itself. The score says it all: We are terrible. Things need to be done. QB changes are not the answer. We have the players most coaches would give their first born for (insert Bobby-Jeff joke here). Both QBs were less than unproductive in this game, but I've seen enough FSU football to know why that is. They both have the goods to be great college QBs. They were both top QB recruits coming out of high school. The problem lies in that no QB here since Mark Richt and Chuck Amato left have improved even one little bit from the time they step on campus to when they leave. Chris Rix? He looked pretty good his freshman year. . . never improved. Fabian Walker? Never improved. Wyatt Sexton? Well I'm not even going to go there. Drew Weatherford looked good for a freshman last year. While his numbers haven't been all that poor, his play seems more disappointing than that of a year ago. Like with Rix, he may actually be getting WORSE with FSU coaching. I wish I was joking. Lee seems like he has only learned one thing since he arrived on campus as well. That he made a mistake. These players and their families have trusted their futures with the coaches. It is their job to develop their outstanding talent and get them to be the best football players they can be. That just is not happening. Hasn't been since 2000.

We know that changes need to be made. Everybody in the country can see that. However, Bobby Bowden has insisted that he will not fire Jeff. When asked this week about the situation, he responded that he does not believe in firing people. This is honest to God the first thing that came to my head: What he just said was the most stupid statement I have ever heard in my life. Well what the hell do you do when someone can't do something right? If they can't perform the job that they get paid to do then what do you do Bobby? We just got shut out at home while compiling a total of 139 yards with a bunch of 5 and 4 star recruits. If you get paid to do something and don't do it, well that's as good as stealing. And it's not just Jeff. He doesn't deserve all the blame. Daryl Dickey has not done his job as QBs coach. He simply can't develop talent. Billy Sexton (RBs) hasn't seemed to have done too great of a job either. Some of that is probably due to other factors on offense, but we have to clean house and only a select few should stay in my book. But of course this all falls from the top. Bobby, if you don't believe in firing people, you will get fired. Here's why. If changes are not made VERY soon, boosters will stop giving their money (they've already said so), obviously we will not be getting the $14 million each year for making a BCS bowl game, and oh yeah, the top recruits will no longer come here. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if we had good coaching (see Wake Forest), but then again that's why I'm writing this. And if we have only mediocre talent with this horrible coaching staff then 1-11 and 2-10 seasons would not be out of the question. Our stadium will only be half full each home game. The money FSU football generates for the university each year would take an incredible hit from a number of areas. And we all know that money is power so if you are holding the school back from receiving tens of millions of dollars each year while you are making over $2 mil a year yourself. . . well, I think you know what happens then.

Saturday's 51-24 thumping of Duke was not anything shocking. FSU's offense will rarely be confused for potent but Duke is, well, Duke and even Mom knows, that's not very good. Even with the handicap, here are some thoughts on what took place on Tobacco Road this past weekend.

Drew Weatherford was money. Simple as that. He only played in the 1st and 3rd quarters and threw for 231 yards with 4 TDs and 0 INTs. Those numbers could have been even more gaudy had it not been for a case of the dropsies by his receivers. . . again.

On the other side of the spectrum, Xavier Lee struggled mightily. Trying to state a case for more playing time, Lee led 4 drives in the 2nd quarter. These drives resulted in 3 INTs and a 3-and-out. His first INT was returned for 6. Considering this lack of production was coming against such inferior competition, this was not a very promising performance. He did have one bright moment in the game, throwing a 14-yard TD to Damon McDaniel in the 4th quarter.

Antone Smith showed the type of explosion we all know he possesses, but rarely is able to display. He only carried the ball 4 times, but his 80-yard TD run to open the 2nd half was the offensive play of the game.

Greg Carr once again showed up big against the Dookies. After a 6 catch, 95 yard, 3 TD day last year, the 6'6" sophomore grabbed 4 passes for 100 yards and 3 more TDs on Saturday. Now who thinks he'll even get 50 yards with 1 score this upcoming weekend against BC? As much as I hope I'm wrong, my money is with no.

FSU bounced back from their loss last week to NC State by taking out their frustration on lowly Duke 51-24 in Durham on Saturday.

The Noles didn't take long to establish their dominance. A 37-yard fumble return by freakish LB Lawrence Timmons put FSU on the board just over 2 minutes into the game. A couple Drew Weatherford TD tosses to De'Cody Fagg and Greg Carr gave the Tribe a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.

Then things got interesting. Xavier Lee came in at QB in the second quarter to get some experience and hopefully learned a lot. In his 4 second quarter series, Lee threw 3 interceptions and had a 3-and-out. His first interception was returned 46 yards by John Talley for a TD, Duke's only points of the 1st half. The extra point was blocked by Timmons and returned by CB Patrick Robinson for 2 points. That put the score at 23-6 going into halftime.

Once again, it didn't take long for FSU to make their mark in the 2nd half as Antone Smith took the first play 80 yards for a TD. I believe the coaches are trying to keep him secret, as he carried the ball a total of 4 times this game. Anyway, Duke answered back with a safety and a FG to get them to double digits on the scoreboard.

DW threw a couple more touchdowns to Carr before calling it a day after the 3rd quarter. Lee was finally able to get something going, throwing a 14-yard TD to freshman Damon McDaniel in the 4th. Duke ran in a TD at the end of the 3rd and was able to hit on a 41-yard garbage TD pass with 7 seconds left in the game.

FSU's injury crisis continued, as starting LB Geno Hayes and starting TE Brandon Warren both left the game in the 1st half.

Oh, and I gotta say, watching games play-by-play online because the game is not being broadcast on TV ANYWHERE (including satellite and pay-per-view) in this state is not how I envisioned spending 3 hours of my life and hope I never have to go through that again or I may have to take a laptop up the ol' watering hole. Thank God the never-any-love-for-TV Duke game is out of the way until next year.

For the second consecutive year, NC State has beaten the once-dominant FSU Seminoles. This 24-20 home win marks the 4th time Chuck Amato has beat his old team since he left Tallahassee in 2000. This one is pretty easy to sum up. We got out-coached. We got out-played. NC State made plays when they had to make plays. We did not. They were more disciplined than us. They wanted it more.

Wolfpack quarterback Daniel Evans played a hell of a game. He was cool in the clutch. His receivers made plays. Evans finished the game with 3 TD passes and 0 interceptions. He brought his team back from a 20-10 2nd half deficit. I was really impressed with how he performed in such a spotlight.

The Seminoles were not horrible in any one area, but were not particularly good in any area either. Drew Weatherford had an up and down game. He looked very good at times, then had some plays that I'm sure he wishes he had back. His lone turnover came on FSU's final drive when a pass intended for freshman TE Brandon Warren was deflected and intercepted. The running game got off to a good start on the opening drive, then didn't do much after that.

The defense gave up 340 yards to an offense that has struggled this year. They also let the Wolfpack do whatever they wanted to with the ball over the final quarter and a half. The NC State running back tandem of Andre Brown and Toney Baker was able to gain first down after first down in the 2nd half. Brown finished with 113 yards on only 18 carries, his second straight game against FSU with over 100 yards. I've already mentioned what Evans was able to do through the air. Our defense was not able to create one single turnover the entire game. I hear those usually help.

NC State easily won in the intangibles department. They played with more passion. There was a different look in their eyes than in our players. I actually believed they were the team with something to prove and not FSU. The Seminoles were once again undisciplined, collecting 10 penalties (that were accepted). Oh yeah, we also again used up all of our timeouts with plenty of time left in the game. That predictably came back to bite us, as we could not stop the clock once NC State took the ball with just over 2:00 to play.

This may sound strange, but I don't want to complain about coaching. About how we continuously lose to supposedly less talented teams. I'm over it. I have accepted the fact that we are a mediocre team playing in a mediocre conference. And that is how I will (try to) look at things from now on. NC State deserved to win this game. The better team prevailed.

It was nice to see that offense is still possible for Florida State. Joe Surratt's TD run on the opening drive was the first time we have scored a touchdown in the first half all year. Even crazier is that this is the first time in the last 10 games that we have had a lead at halftime. No, that is not a typo. Things have been that bad lately.

The J-Train's 1 yard plunge was his 4th score in 4 games this year. What a weapon. The running game has piled up 150 yards. Booker looked good with 90 yards on 10 carries. He still had a couple runs that could have been nice gains had he not shown off what dance moves he'll be using in the club tonight.

Drew also had an effective first half. I believe they put points on the board on all of the drives he led. Xavier Lee got his first real playing time of the year. He did nothing to suggest he should be playing more than DW. I'm not saying he's not a productive player. He still has to play with what Baby Bowden deals him just like Drew, but I didn't see anything that should create a QB controversy.

We did our first non-conventional offensive pay of the year on a reverse to freshman WR Preston Parker.

The defense played well after a horrible start. Rice made it look easy on their first drive finishing it with a wide open TD pass. Marcus Ball looked great. Fellow true frosh Dekoda Watson looked pretty good as well.

The commentators are lousy. They definitely are not very familiar with FSU football. They were surprised after we passed the ball on 2 of our first 3 plays, stating "This is not very characteristic of Florida State, not trying to establish the run to start the game." Where have they been the last few years?

When Xavier Lee committed to FSU, most Seminole fans believed he would be the One to lead the Noles back to greatness. 3 years later, Lee has yet to start a game in garnet and gold. Fellow QB recruit from the 2004 class Drew Weatherford beat out Lee before last season and has been the starter ever since. Weatherford did a great job last season, considering the situation he was in. The worst offensive line play ever witnessed, combined with the worst play caller in all of football made his record setting freshman season all the more respectable.

This season, Weatherford has struggled to lead the team to the end zone. The lack of a running game and very poor WR play, as well as the always bad play calling is mostly to blame. Pass protection seems to be slightly better than last season, yet is still not very good. Unfortunately for Drew, he plays the position that always gets the blame when an offense is not living up to its potential.

Many Seminole fans are demanding for Bobby to put Lee into the games. The coaches have said they wanted to get him into each of the last 2 games, but were not able to due to how the games were going. The coaches have said this week that they would like to get Lee into the Rice game this weekend as well, but do not have a plan. Somehow, that does not surprise me one bit.