Recap of what other bloggers are saying after the big win this weekend. Look for our analysis later this week.
We'll start of this week at ChantRant! where they have a nice piece on the ugly win. They take it lightly on the ugly aspects of the game by only mentioning the penalties, special teams, and Jabaris Little's drop. They could have mentioned some of the others, like the interceptions and blown coverage on Miami's gimmick plays, but its tough to play perfect and we still picked up the win.
More links after the jump.
Andrew Carter did his weekly unit report card again on the Chopping Block. Only major disagreements here are the QB's (Christian Ponder), the RB's, and the OL receiving a B+, A and A, respectively. They all played well but not great. Ponder still threw more picks than TD's and completed less than 50% of his passes, but he did make up for it with his legs and made plays when we needed it most. I think he was more deserving of a B- or B. As for the RB's, Antone only averaged 3.4 yards per carry. He did have 4 TD's, one of which was the huge 20 yarder to seal the game, but the consistency wasn't there for an A. A grade of B+ would be more just. Also, Jermaine Thomas was very impressive in his limited time and I look forward to seeing much more from him in the future. As for the OL, again Antone only averaged 3.4 YPC which means he was not consistently getting the holes he needed. They also did not give up any sacks but some of that credit has to go to Ponder and his scrambling ability, which is also why we had over 200 rushing yards. I liked the improvement but they still only get a B+ in my eyes. Andrew also gave the LB's a C, and based on FSU's standards it wasn't their best game. But both Dekoda Watson and Derek Nicholson made enough plays to warrant a B-. As for the post-game Q&A, there are a couple interesting questions. The first was in regards to Tony Carter's INT on the goalline. I think the way that play developed, TC couldn't do anything but catch the ball once he broke up the pass as it fell right into his arms while he was on his back. The second question was about the bubble screens. I was also glad to see those back, and the only time thing close to one that we ran against Wake was when D'vo pumped to the bubble screen and tucked the ball on a designed QB draw. I know Jimbo said he thought Wake was trying to take the bubble screen away, but we had some good plays from it this week. I think it's safe to say we'll continue to see it in the future.
Over at ScalpEM.com there's an article about being thankful for the Noles victory. Bill Kristoph said he's thankful for Ponder's legs but not quite ready to crown him as "something special." And at this point, I agree. He also touched on how nice it was to play the Canes in Dolphin Stadium instead of that other piece of garbage they used to have down there.
With all the pre-game talk of head to head matchups in this game (particularly the QB's), FSU It's Time threw together the post-game head to haed stats. Anybody can see that FSU won all of those battles. They also list some other interesting stats. The third down conversion percentages (FSU - 65%, Miami - 13%) are not always a great indicator of who had the better game, but in this case they tell they story of one offense who put together some drives and another who couldn't stay on the field.
Finally, we'll end with Heather Dinich's ESPN ACC blog. In her wrap up of the game she says we still don't know much about either team. I agree with this overall but have a big problem with this statement. "The two programs are in such similar situations right now that they need to play everyone else in the ACC to find out where they truly stand." Yes, we will need to see the whole season play out before we know where either team is at, but that's true of pretty much every team in the country. I also do not think we are in "such similar situations", Miami could be in big danger of not making a bowl game for the scond year in a row, while we look like we may be headed back into contention to win the Atlantic Division. In the what we learned this week segment, she lists "Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder can run" as number 4. This is an understatement and should not come as a shock to any FSU fans. And due to the success of the running game this week, she gives the entire FSU offensive line a helmet sticker. Finally, in her thoughts about this week's rankings, she had this to say about the Noles. "Florida State leads the ACC in total offense, scoring offense, rushing defense, total defense, and net punting." When's the last time you could say that about the first 2 and not be lying?
That's the end of the links for now. Look for our analysis to come later in the week and leave any questions or comments below.