WOW.  I never was much of a fan of kool-aid anyways but for some reason I always had a packet or two laying around the house and would occasionally make a glass after an impressive offensive output or a Greg Reid kick return.  I can now say with 100% certainty that there will no longer be any fruity drinks lingering in my shelves.

Yesterday’s beat down was a sobering experience for me and anyone who thinks we are close to being back to elite.  We are more than 1 play, 1 recruiting class and 1 coordinator from being back to where we once were.  I expected the outcome but for some reason it wasn’t until last night that it became clear that the separation of UF’s talent and coaching to FSU and the rest of the ACC as evident by the losses of Clemson and Georgia Tech.  I think everyone gets caught up in the current coaching situation and defensive woes but the truth of the matter is that FSU is years away from being in the National Championship hunt again.  I am not in the same camp of FSUn in saying that a NC will not happen in my lifetime but the setbacks we have had the last decade has seriously put us behind the 8-ball.

Our offense is impressive when playing against similar competition and the numbers that they put up with 3 and 4 star players make people take notice but they can not play to the same level of UF, Texas and Alabama’s 4 and 5 stars on the other side of the ball.  This was never so evident as last night’s total domination on both sides of the ball.  Would things of been better with Ponder and Hudson? Yes, but the outcome would have been the same.

Next season will be an improvement, I expect a top 20 offense, a defense ranked between 50-60 and that will probably only be good enough for 8 maybe 9 wins.  Jimbo Fisher has almost an impossible task of bringing FSU back to glory and it is unfortunate that we were so spoiled in the 90’s.  I am curious to see what other’s opinions are on this matter but I think back to back 10 win seasons is years down the road.