FSU football opponent recap: Week Four

Week Four is in the books and featured generally positive performances from everyone FSU is set to play or has played this season. It was a week filled with sorcery, wildlife touchdowns, and all-name team submissions. We don’t have to talk about what happened in Tallahassee. In fact, I refuse to.

Alabama (4-0) - Won 59-0 at Vanderbilt. You might remember a Vanderbilt player saying the Commodores wanted ‘Bama last week. Well, they got ‘em, all right. The Tide blew the doors off of Vandy in Nashville to the tune of 496 rushing yards and held the ‘Dores to 78 total yards. I’d be surprised if this wasn’t the most dominant in-conference performance we’ll see all year. Really glad this got the national CBS 3:30 game.

Miami (2-0) - Won 52-30 vs. Toledo. This one was dicey for a while in the ‘Canes return to action, as the Rockets led 16-10 in Miami at half. But the Hurricanes opened up the offense in the second half and reeled off four straight touchdowns to pull away. Malik Rosier had 289 yards passing in that second half and Mark Walton rushed for a career-high 204 yards on only 11 carries. Miami travels to Duke next week for a night game, which is looking like a less and less friendly tune-up for FSU.

NC State (3-1) - Won 27-21 vs. FSU. I’m guessing you were aware of this.

Wake Forest (4-0) - Won 20-19 at Appalachian State. The Demon Deacons travelled to Boone and held on by blocking a late App State field goal to reach 4-0. The fine folks at Blogger So Dear were unimpressed with Wake’s effort on Saturday, but that’s understandable going on the road to a non-Power 5 team a week before opening conference play against the Seminoles. John Wolford did not have his best outing. But you know what, complaining about a bad game after reaching 4-0 sounds pretty good right about now, doesn’t it?

Duke (4-0) - Won 27-17 at North Carolina. Those Devils, y’all. What a start to the season in Durham, where the Blue Devils sit at 4-0 and have already notched a road division win over rival Carolina. Duke went up 20-17 in the fourth quarter and Bryon Fields took an interception back to the end zone on Carolina’s ensuing possession to give the Devils the final margin. Daniel Jones went 18-32 for 202 yards, Brittain Brown added 90 yards rushing, and the Blue Devils didn’t turn the ball over once. A big Coastal battle is coming on Saturday night at Wallace Wade.

Louisville (3-1) - Won 42-3 vs. Kent State. The Cardinals righted the ship somewhat and took down the Golden Flashes at home. Lamar had a ho-hum 18-22, 299 yards passing performance and the Cardinals were up 21-0 before anybody really knew what happened. However, the most important part of the game, by far, was SQUIRREL TOUCHDOWN.

Boston College (1-3) - Lost 34-7 at Clemson. For three and a half quarters in Death Valley, it looked like the sleepy defending champs could be in real danger. The Eagles trailed only 7-0 at half and tied the game at 7 in the third, but the Tigers woke up and put things away with four touchdowns in the fourth. The Eagles return home to Chestnut Hill to take on Central Michigan before hosting Virginia Tech the following week.

Syracuse (2-2) - Lost 35-26 at LSU. The Orange gave the Tigers all they wanted in the SEC’s Death Valley, but LSU’s talented depth proved too much in the end. The Orange held Derrius Guice to 14 yards on 8 carries and held the LSU running game as a whole to 4 yards per attempt. It was just those pesky 87 and 43-yard passing TDs that were the problem. Eric Dungey survived the evening and threw for 265 yards, while Steve Ishmael caught 11 balls for 123 yards. The Orange open ACC play next week against NC State in that coveted 12:20 slot on ACC Network.

Clemson - Won 34-7 vs. BC. The Clemson view of this contest acknowledges that the Tigers didn’t do much on offense for most of the day, but eventually wore the Eagles down. Clemson’s defense continues to dominate everything it sees. The Tigers will play in yet another road primetime match-up, complete with College GameDay coverage, next Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.

Delaware State (0-4) - Lost 17-7 vs. Norfolk State. The Hornets came away frustrated in their home opener, dropping a MEAC game to the Spartans. Apparently this one was filled with turnovers and penalties, with which one sympathizes. DSU’s freshman quarterback went 16-30 for 156 yards. The lone Hornets TD was scored by a freshman named Nyfease West, who also led the team in rushing, and DSU is catapulting up the all-name team rankings. Yes, Wisdom Nzidee made the extra point. Delaware State is off next week.

Florida (2-1) - Won 28-27 at Kentucky. I have no idea what the University of Kentucky did to that Alachua County sorceress in the late 1980’s, but it must’ve been pretty heinous. In what can only be explained by a curse, the Wildcats again fell to the Gators despite having every opportunity to put the game away. Luke of the River came in for an ineffective Feilepe Franks and immediately threw an interception. Yet the Gators leaned on the running game and somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Lexington. Kentucky just decided not to cover Florida receivers sometimes, including on a critical touchdown that came out of a timeout. Do we really miss Mark Stoops? Florida hosts Vandy next week before hosting the LSU Tigers.