Mark Fletcher Jr. walked into the postgame interview on his birthday and spent the whole time praising everyone else on the team before pointing all of their attention to Javian Mallory.
That sums up both the game and the state this program is in. The guys you expected to carry did so, but also had the guys you didn't expect supporting every play.
However, not everything was pretty, which we broke down on the CanesInSight daily podcast earlier today.
Mario Cristobal said on Joe Rose's show Monday morning that Fletcher and Bryce Fitzgerald are both fine and good to go. Part of the reason Fletcher stayed on the sideline was simple: Mallory was cooking.
Roughly 100 yards in two quarters at about seven a carry. Running through people, juking guys out of their shoes. Who knows how this one ends without him.
The cutback is what makes him different, when duo didn't hit inside Mallory bounced it out for 10.
"Even when the O-line is wrong, he makes them right," Ahmmon said.
We've been saying since Greentree he'd remind people of Frank Gore and now there are memes of his touchdown run next to an old Gore run.
Ahmmon adds Nick Chubb: a bigger back, sneaky elusive, holds the ball the same way.
The Greentree All-American jokes are over. Ahmmon thinks it's time to talk about Mallory co-starting.
The fade came against Ja'Bril Rawls, the corner who spent the offseason saying he hates Miami. On an island with Toney, he got taken through the gutter and lost.
Mid third quarter, it clicked. He played faster, got on his reads, and locked in. Then he threw the touchdown to Toney and went straight at Rawls to chirp.
Ten incompletions, three touchdowns, one pick. If that's his "bad" game, I'll take it.
Daylyn Upshaw broke a scramble-drill play when we needed a splash. Cooper Barkate's sideline catch before halftime kept a drive alive. Dre Jacobs and Vance Spafford both moved the chains on money downs.
On defense, the fourth-and-short stops in the red zone took points off the board, and those points decided the game. Then Bryce Fitzgerald ended it with another walk-off interception.
When you blitz as much as we do, the screen is the counter that always works. Two touchdowns on screens tells you we were too aggressive, and they knew it.
The blitzes weren't landing anyway. JJ Dunnigan off the boundary was five yards too far away every time. Omar Thornton off the strong side, same story. Against Ashton Daniels, who can escape and extend, we kept sending five into five protection. No free rusher.
Ahmmon's take: that's when you go to a different bag.
We never did.
Add some bluffs. Don't bring the boundary safety every single time.
Zechariah Poyser, the communicator and heartbeat back there, was ejected for targeting on the second or third play. Fitzgerald was banged up, Dylan Day had barely started a game at Miami, Dunnigan is a true freshman, and Xavier Lucas just came back. Thornton wasn't even on the field for the first drive.
We kept blitzing like it was a full-strength unit, and Mike Norvell went after it.
Florida State motioned and Daniels knew he had Duce Robinson one-on-one. Lucas was in press without ever getting hands on him.
"As a receiver, if you're lining up in front of me and you don't put hands on me, you might as well not even be in front of me," Ahmmon said.
Then Lucas went to make the tackle and Thornton ran into him. Walk-in touchdown, one play drive. You can't blitz there, and you can't give up the easy one.
It also explains some of the late conservatism people are blaming on Dawson. His offense had just finished a long drive and got sent right back out.
Watch the full reaction below:
That sums up both the game and the state this program is in. The guys you expected to carry did so, but also had the guys you didn't expect supporting every play.
However, not everything was pretty, which we broke down on the CanesInSight daily podcast earlier today.
Mallory changed the game
Fletcher left with an upper-extremity injury and didn't come back.Mario Cristobal said on Joe Rose's show Monday morning that Fletcher and Bryce Fitzgerald are both fine and good to go. Part of the reason Fletcher stayed on the sideline was simple: Mallory was cooking.
Roughly 100 yards in two quarters at about seven a carry. Running through people, juking guys out of their shoes. Who knows how this one ends without him.
The cutback is what makes him different, when duo didn't hit inside Mallory bounced it out for 10.
"Even when the O-line is wrong, he makes them right," Ahmmon said.
We've been saying since Greentree he'd remind people of Frank Gore and now there are memes of his touchdown run next to an old Gore run.
Ahmmon adds Nick Chubb: a bigger back, sneaky elusive, holds the ball the same way.
The Greentree All-American jokes are over. Ahmmon thinks it's time to talk about Mallory co-starting.
Malachi Toney is our Dalvin Cook
Eleven catches, 154 yards, two touchdowns, and he threw a two-point conversion. Toney is becoming to Florida State what Dalvin Cook was to us. That's back-to-back 100-yard games against them.The fade came against Ja'Bril Rawls, the corner who spent the offseason saying he hates Miami. On an island with Toney, he got taken through the gutter and lost.
Darian Mensah figured out what this game is
It was Mensah's first FSU game, and Ahmmon wondered if he understood coming out of the tunnel what kind of war it would be.Mid third quarter, it clicked. He played faster, got on his reads, and locked in. Then he threw the touchdown to Toney and went straight at Rawls to chirp.
Ten incompletions, three touchdowns, one pick. If that's his "bad" game, I'll take it.
The supporting cast and the stops
We ran for 257, SJ Alofaituli had a pancake that made the rounds, and Elija Lofton blocked all night.Daylyn Upshaw broke a scramble-drill play when we needed a splash. Cooper Barkate's sideline catch before halftime kept a drive alive. Dre Jacobs and Vance Spafford both moved the chains on money downs.
On defense, the fourth-and-short stops in the red zone took points off the board, and those points decided the game. Then Bryce Fitzgerald ended it with another walk-off interception.
Screen University
"Florida State essentially became Screen University against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday night," Ahmmon said.When you blitz as much as we do, the screen is the counter that always works. Two touchdowns on screens tells you we were too aggressive, and they knew it.
The blitzes weren't landing anyway. JJ Dunnigan off the boundary was five yards too far away every time. Omar Thornton off the strong side, same story. Against Ashton Daniels, who can escape and extend, we kept sending five into five protection. No free rusher.
Ahmmon's take: that's when you go to a different bag.
We never did.
We're telling them what's coming
Ahmmon said this exact thing after Louisville last year. Florida State motioned constantly to get an identifier, and we weren't disguising anything. 3x1 meant a backside blitz. 2x2 meant nickel pressure.Add some bluffs. Don't bring the boundary safety every single time.
Blitzing like the starters were back there
Look at who was in the secondary.Zechariah Poyser, the communicator and heartbeat back there, was ejected for targeting on the second or third play. Fitzgerald was banged up, Dylan Day had barely started a game at Miami, Dunnigan is a true freshman, and Xavier Lucas just came back. Thornton wasn't even on the field for the first drive.
We kept blitzing like it was a full-strength unit, and Mike Norvell went after it.
The 75-yard walk-in
We had just driven the field and grabbed the momentum back. One snap later, FSU was in the end zone.Florida State motioned and Daniels knew he had Duce Robinson one-on-one. Lucas was in press without ever getting hands on him.
"As a receiver, if you're lining up in front of me and you don't put hands on me, you might as well not even be in front of me," Ahmmon said.
Then Lucas went to make the tackle and Thornton ran into him. Walk-in touchdown, one play drive. You can't blitz there, and you can't give up the easy one.
It also explains some of the late conservatism people are blaming on Dawson. His offense had just finished a long drive and got sent right back out.
The Hail Mary debate
Not a catch. Simple as that.Watch the full reaction below:
