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Welcome back to our weekly film review sessions of Florida State’s 2017 season. Every play broken down, with video and analysis.
As always, this content is best viewed on a computer or tablet, not on a phone.
As the second quarter began, both Florida State and Alabama were still fighting for the advantage in the ball game.
The Seminoles opened the quarter with a touchdown strike from Deondre Francois to Auden Tate. The two connected on a fade route in the end zone, capping off a nice drive that began all the way back on the FSU 10-yard line.
This touchdown to Tate highlighted what we thought FSU’s game plan against Alabama would be. Although he was blanketed by All-American defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, Tate was still able to use his superior size at 6-5 to leap up and grab the football.
Unfortunately, this quarter is where we see Florida State’s first defensive bust of the game.
With true freshman Stanford Samuels III matched up against Calvin Ridley, Ermon Lane and Derwin James are unable to communicate who has the coverage responsibilities for the middle of the field and Ridley streaks by Samuels for the score. Luckily, this was the only major bust to happen during the game.
The end of the second quarter would also be the start of FSU’s special teams errors that would ultimately doom their chances at victory. Despite Francois’ valiant efforts to lead the offense down the field for a score, Fitzpatrick gets his hand on the ball and blocks a potential game-tying field goal from the ’Noles to end the half.
FSU vs Alabama - 2nd Quarter
| D-D | At | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-D | At | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| Start of 2nd quarter, clock 15:00 | ||||
| 3-6 | UA19 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass complete to Murray, N for 15 yards to the UA4, 1ST DOWN FS (Ronnie Harrison;Anthony Averett). | Pro Twins with Noonie and Tate stacked as the twins to the field. Tate and Noonie actually both run the same route (slant) and are both open. Bama rushes 4 with a twist and FSU picks it up well as Francois delivers a strike to over the middle to Noonie. |
| 1-G | UA04 | 12 Gun | Patrick, J rush for 1 yard to the UA3 (Terrell Lewis;Rashaan Evans). | Zone Read to the nub of the formation with Francois reading the EMOL. He makes the correct read and gives to Patrick. Saunders scoops up to the backer but misses the block on Lewis who is able to make the tackle. |
| 2-G | UA3 | 21 I | Francois, D pass complete to Tate, A for 3 yards to the UA0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 13:41. | I formation. Jump ball to Tate in the endzone. Tate gets a clean outside release, is able to see the ball early and time the jump perfectly as he makes a contested catch vs. tight coverage. |
| Aguayo, R kick attempt good. | FSU's best drive of the game. Despite not having success run the ball, Francois is 7/7 on the drive and FSU marches 90 yards to get the score. | |||
| FLORIDA STATE 7, ALABAMA 3 | ||||
| Drive: 11 plays, 90 yards, TOP 05:45 | ||||
| Tyler, L kickoff 65 yards to the UA0, Henry Ruggs III return 15 yards to the UA15 (Rice, E). | ||||
| Alabama drive start at 13:36 | ||||
| 1-10 | UA15 | 4-2-5 | Najee Harris rush for 3 yards to the UA18 (Jones, F). | Outside Zone weak. Burns and Aime both beat the reach block and force the cutback. Fred Jones does a great job beating the cut block on the backside in pursuit to make the tackle. |
| 2-7 | UA18 | 4-2-5 | Jalen Hurts rush for 5 yards to the UA23 (McFadden, T). | Bama motions to 2 back and runs QB counter to the nub off a jet fake to Ridley. Burns effectively squeezes and spills the ball but McFadden is late to fill as the primary force defender, allowing Hurts to make a decent gain. |
| 3-2 | UA23 | 4-2-5 | Jalen Hurts pass complete to Calvin Ridley for 6 yards to the UA29, 1ST DOWN UA. | Cover 1 from FSU with Thomas blitzing off the edge. Ridley easily beats McFadden on hitch route to pick up the first down. McFadden needs to be more aware of down and distance here and tighten down his covwerage at the sticks. |
| 1-10 | UA29 | 4-2-5 | Jalen Hurts rush for 18 yards to the UA47, 1ST DOWN UA (Lane, E). | QB counter to the boundary. FSU is in good position to defend this play but McFadden inexcusably gives up the edge. He has contain responsibility here and Hurts beats him with speed to the outside. |
| 1-10 | UA47 | 4-2-5 | Jalen Hurts pass complete to Calvin Ridley for 53 yards to the FS0, 1ST DOWN UA, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:28. | Bama is in a Pistol Pro Twins looks with the passing strength to the boundary. They jet motion to the field and Lane and James are unable to communicate the coverage adjustment correctly, leaving the middle of the field wide open. Samuels is playing a bail man technique which means he is expecting help to the inside. Hurts throw on the post is right on the money. |
| A. Pappanastos kick attempt good. | ||||
| FLORIDA STATE 7, ALABAMA 10 | ||||
| Drive: 5 plays, 85 yards, TOP 02:08 | ||||
| JK Scott kickoff 65 yards to the FS0, touchback. | ||||
| FSU drive start at 11:28 | ||||
| 1-10 | FSU25 | 11 Pistol | Francois, D pass incomplete (Joshua Frazier). | Play Action off of Power. Francois is looking to hit Tate on a dig over the middle but the Bama DT gets some push into the pocket and tips the ball at the line. |
| 2-10 | FSU 25 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass incomplete (Joshua Frazier). | Pro Twins formation. FSU has Gavin open on an in route to the boundary but Frazier is able to get his hand on another pass. |
| 3-10 | FSU25 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass complete to Patrick, J for 7 yards to the FS32 (Tony Brown;Keith Holcombe). | Chess match here. Bama shows blitz pre-snap, Francois checks to another play but Bama calls off their blitz before the snap. Expecting the blitz, FSU runs a HB angle route over the middle but the Bama backes are there to make the play. |
| 4-10 | FSU25 | Tyler, L punt 35 yards to the UA33, fair catch by Trevon Diggs. | Some bad luck for FSU and good defense from Bama on this drive. | |
| Drive: 3 plays, 7 yards, TOP 01:07 | ||||
| Alabama drive start at 10:21 | ||||
| 1-10 | UA33 | 3-4 | Jalen Hurts pass incomplete to Henry Ruggs III. | Bama goes 12 personnel and tries to play action. They have a TE running open down the sideline but Christmas completely blows this play up with penetration. Hurts does a good job avoiding the sack and throwing it away. |
| 2-10 | UA33 | 3-4 | Bo Scarbrough rush for 2 yards to the UA35 (Hoskins, R;Westbrook, A). | Outside Zone to the field. Sweat blows up the reach block from Jonah Williams,forces the TE to have to double team him and causes the back to come off his track. Scarbough bounces all the way outside but Taylor has leverage on the block of the WR, forcing the ball carrier to cutback while the FSU defense runs inside out to minimize the gain. |
| 3-8 | UA35 | 4-0-7 | Jalen Hurts pass incomplete to Jerry Jeudy. | FSU sends James off the edge and drops Nnadi into coverage. James is inches away from a sack and forces an inaccurate throw. |
| 4-8 | UA35 | JK Scott punt 40 yards to the FS25, out-of-bounds. | ||
| Drive: 3 plays, 2 yards, TOP 01:06 | ||||
| FSU drive start at 09:15. | ||||
| 1-10 | FSU25 | 21 Gun | Akers, C rush for 9 yards to the FS34 (Ronnie Harrison). | Tight Bunch to the field, FSU runs Outside Zone. Good blocking from the left side of the OL here. Eberle reaches the nose, Dickerson works up to second level to cut the backer and Kelly is able to maintain his block on Hand. Vickers reads the block of Kelly and cuts inside to lead Akers through the crease. |
| 2-10 | FSU34 | 21 I | Akers, C rush for 7 yards to the FS41, 1ST DOWN FS (Da'Ron Payne;C. Miller). | I formation, Inside Zone. This is a cutback read and Vickers incorrectly goes outside. Akers cuts back through the hole and has some room. With Vickers missing the whole, Hamilton is unblocked and scrapes back to make the tackle. |
| 1-10 | FSU41 | 21 Gun | Akers, C rush for 1 yard to the FS42 (M. Fitzpatrick). | Same play as first down (Outside Zone) but to the right side. Izzo and Leonard both make great reach blocks but Bama is very athletic on the edge. Wallace does a great job getting inside and avoiding the cut from Tate to spill Akers and allow Fitzpatrick to make the tackle. |
| 2-9 | FSU42 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass complete to Murray, N for 4 yards to the FS46 (M. Fitzpatrick). | Pro Twins. FSU motions Gavin to get into trips closed and runs a stick conecpt to the field. Bama rushes 5, Francois gets it out quick and delivers a ball that's a little behind Noonie but gets them into a more manageable third down. Fitzpatrick in tight coverage. |
| 3-5 | FSU46 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass incomplete to Murray, N. | Pro Twins with the twins stacked. Bama in the "Point" Cover 1 coverage and sends 6 as Patrick stays in to block. Minshew is late to see the field pressure and get over to help and Francois is forced to throw before Noonie can finish his route. |
| 4-5 | FSU46 | Tyler, L punt 40 yards to the UA14, fair catch by Trevon Diggs. | Promising start to the drive stalls quick with some good plays by the Bama defense and a mistake vs the blitz on third down. | |
| Drive: 5 plays, 21 yards, TOP 02:37 | ||||
| Alabama drive start at 06:38. | ||||
| 1-10 | UA14 | 4-2-5 | Damien Harris rush for 4 yards to the UA18 (Wilkerson, J;Jones, F). | Power to the boundary. Bama has a numbers advantage here but Hoskins makes a great play to scrape, fill and take on the block of the right tackle as Wilkerson beats the block of the TE to corral the ball carrier. |
| 2-6 | UA18 | 4-2-5 | Jalen Hurts sacked for loss of 1 yard to the UA17 (Jones, F;James, D). | Cover 1 with Thomas off the edge. Thomas and Burns get the inital pressure, causing Hurts to step up. Derwin has man on the back, who stays in to protect, allowing James to get after the QB. He whips the block of the RB and makes the sack. |
| 3-7 | UA17 | 4-0-7 | Jalen Hurts pass complete to Calvin Ridley for 5 yards to the UA22 (Nasirildeen, H). | FSU rolls Cover 3 with 4 underneaths zone defenders, keeping everything in front. Hurts has time but is forced to throw short and Hamsah makes a good tackle in the open field. |
| 4-2 | UA22 | JK Scott punt 9 yards to the UA31, out-of-bounds. | ||
| Drive: 3 plays, 8 yards, TOP 01:53 | ||||
| FSU drive start at 04:45 | ||||
| 1-10 | UA31 | 12 Gun | Campbell, G rush for loss of 4 yards to the UA35 (Terrell Lewis). | Tight trips bunch to the boundary, FSU runs a reverse. Fisher thought he had set this up after running outside zone to the bunch twice with Akers on the previous drive. Bama is not fooled as Lewis stays home and blows up the play. |
| 2-14 | UA35 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass incomplete (Rashaan Evans). | Pro Twins. Option route to Izzo. Francois and Izzo not as on the same page as Izzo sits and Francois throws to the outside. Based on the LB leverage, it looks like Izzo shouild have broke outside here. |
| 3-14 | UA35 | Empty | Francois, D pass complete to Gavin, K for loss of 1 yard to the UA36 (Rashaan Evans;Levi Wallace). | FSU goes back to the boundary screen. Bama has adjusted and put the corner in press. Noonie takes a bad angle to block the conrer and misses the block. No excuse for that from Noonie, he has to do better there. |
| 4-15 | UA36 | Tyler, L punt 12 yards to the UA24, out-of-bounds. | Negative play on first down really hurts and then FSU is sloppy the next two plays as they go three and out. After the 90 yard drive, FSU has now went three and out on two of their last three posessions. | |
| Drive: 3 plays, -5 yards, TOP 01:39 | ||||
| Alabama drive start at 03:06. | ||||
| 1-10 | UA24 | 3-4 | Najee Harris rush for 2 yards to the UA26 (Nnadi, D;Hoskins, R). | Bama goes back to 12 personnel and runs Zone Read off of jet action. FSU has numbers here whether Huhrts pulls or gives. He gives and Hoskins forces the ball inside as Nnadi tosses the center out of the way to help make the tackle. |
| 2-8 | UA26 | 4-2-5 | Jalen Hurts pass incomplete. | Bama goes empty as FSU sends Thomas from the boundary. Bama lets him run free, forcing Hurst out of the pocket. Good job by Kaindoh to keep contain and make Hurts throw it away. |
| 3-8 | UA26 | 4-0-7 | Jalen Hurts pass complete to Jerry Jeudy for 15 yards to the UA41, out-of-bounds, PENALTY UA holding (Lester Cotton) 10 yards to the UA16, NO PLAY. | FSU blitzes James from the field and McFadden from the boundary. Hurts extends the play again but Bama's RG tackles Christmas. |
| 3-18 | UA16 | 4-0-7 | Jalen Hurts rush for 1 yard to the UA17 (James, D). | FSU again drops to their Cover 3 look on third down. Bama is looking to hit a QB draw but FSU runs a twist that puts Burns in position to blow it up, forcing Hurts to bounce where James is in hot pursuit. |
| 4-17 | UA17 | JK Scott punt 53 yards to the FS30, fair catch by McFadden, T. | Excellent series by the FSU defense mixing looks and getting pressure on Hurts. | |
| Drive: 3 plays, -7 yards, TOP 02:05 | ||||
| FSU drive start at 01:01. | ||||
| 1-10 | FSU30 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass complete to Izzo, R for 11 yards to the FS41, 1ST DOWN FS (S. Hamilton;Rashaan Evans). | FSU motions to Y Trips to the field. Bama rushes four and the FSU OL gives Francois plenty of time. Excellent route by Izzo working against Evans in coverage. Gets seperation at the top of his route by using his body. |
| 1-10 | FSU41 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass complete to Izzo, R for 24 yards to the UA35, 1ST DOWN FS (Hootie Jones;Anthony Averett). | Y Trips to the field. Bama blitzes 6 defenders and busts the coverage behind as Izzo is wide open. Good recognition by 12 to get the ball to him. |
| 1-10 | UA35 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass incomplete to Tate, A, PENALTY UA pass interference (Anthony Averett) 15 yards to the UA20, 1ST DOWN FS, NO PLAY. | Back shoulder fade to Tate vs man coverage. Averett with the clear pass interference. |
| 1-10 | UA20 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass incomplete (Keith Holcombe). | Francois is trying to hit Gavin on a "bang" post vs bail man coverage. This is a great call vs the coverage but Francois locks on from the snap and his eyes allow the LB underneath to read it and get his hands on the ball. FSU catches a break that it's not intercepted. |
| 2-10 | UA20 | 11 Gun | Francois, D rush for no gain to the UA20 (Q. Williams). | Dickerson gets beat at the snap by Payne, forcing Francois to leave the pocket. What a play here by Williams to run down 12. |
| 3-10 | UA20 | Timeout FSU, clock 00:16. | ||
| 3-10 | UA20 | 11 Gun | Francois, D pass incomplete to Murray, N (Tony Brown). | Bama sends 6 and FSU picks it up beautifully. Noonie gets big time seperation on Brown down the middle of the field. Pass Interference should have been called but this is a really poor throw from Francois. |
| 4-10 | UA20 | Aguayo, R field goal attempt from 37 BLOCKED, recovered by UA Rashaan Evans at UA17 spot at UA17, clock 00:00 (blocked by M. Fitzpatrick), Rashaan Evans for 29 yards to the UA46 (Leonard, R). | ||
| Drive: 6 plays, 50 yards, TOP 01:01 | ||||
| END OF 2ND: FLORIDA STATE 7, ALABAMA 10 |