Florida State quit on Friday night.
I pulled up the box score just to read it out loud, because it's a treat:
Louisville ran for 397 yards, 9.2 a carry and six rushing touchdowns. They threw it 15 times, completed 11, and only threw when they felt like it.
If you're Mark Fletcher Jr., Javian Mallory, Jordan Lyle or Girard Pringle Jr., your eyes are huge watching that tape.
I'm of two minds about it.
I'm never going to be sad when FSU loses. But I'd have liked them to walk into our place with some momentum, for the sake of the game. It's a night game, I want the ratings and I want the win to mean something for us in the ACC. I also want Mike Norvell in Tallahassee for a long time, and if we beat them badly this week, we might be the ones who get him fired. All of that goes in the negative column.
What's coming to the Rock is a demoralized team, but it may not look that way for two drives. Night game, loud building, they'll be fired up early. But if we punch them in the mouth on those first couple of possessions, this team will quit.
I watched them do it against Louisville which reminded me of us against North Carolina in 2020, and you remember how that felt.
The one guy we have to deal with is Ousmane Kromah. He breaks tackles, he's tall and upright, which makes him a big target, and he goes side to side.
Fletcher is a big target too, but he's always coming downhill at you.
With Kromah, you swarm. The numbers always look bad for us, even last year, because so many bodies fly to the ball that the misses stack up. On the eye test, though, we're a step behind last year. This is the week to get it right.
Then there's Florida, who lost 38-19 to South Carolina. The Gators' problem is simple, they don't have a quarterback.
At one point people were ranking Aaron Philo in the middle of the SEC, ahead of guys who are going to play in the NFL. Look around that conference: Trinidad Chambliss, Kamario Taylor, Austin Simmons are at the top of it and below them are inconsistent guys who can at least show you why they're there.
LaNorris Sellers is all over the place and in a terrible situation, and he looked miles ahead of Philo in that game with worse players around him. Arch Manning flashes. Sam Leavitt flashes. Philo is a game manager who knows the offense. Take Vernell Brown III away from him, stop the run, and what do you have?
One of our chat regulars called the Gators a fad, that's exactly it.
All the motion, all the coordinator stuff, and everybody forgot the quarterback was a backup.
We went into the portal and got the best quarterback in the ACC, the guy who won the conference. Florida got a backup from the ACC. FSU got a backup off the worst passing attack in Auburn history. You get what you pay for.
The rest of Florida's roster isn't scaring anybody right now either. The physicality UF showed in the first couple of games is gone. Jayden Woods and Emmanuel Oyebadejo are talented ends who could be first-round picks down the road, but they're raw and they're hit or miss.
The secondary is rough. Cormani McClain is back there, and I thought Ben Hanks was going to be a great player, so I'm surprised by how much he's struggled. We were stressed when we lost Hanks and Hylton Stubbs in recruiting. Our defensive backs turned out quite a bit better.
So who from those two rosters would start for us?
Dallas Wilson or Duce Robinson, because we'd take a big X receiver. Jadan Baugh would split the backfield with Fletcher, though he's had 75 yards over the last two games and Fletcher isn't coming off the field. Brown is Florida's best player and he isn't starting over Malachi Toney. Maybe he returns punts.
The full hate session is on the CanesInsight YouTube channel, and the chat was flowing. Watch it, subscribe, and leave your own hate in the comments.
We're the best team in the state by far. Now we get a Florida State team that already quit, at night, in our building. Hit them early.
I pulled up the box score just to read it out loud, because it's a treat:
Louisville ran for 397 yards, 9.2 a carry and six rushing touchdowns. They threw it 15 times, completed 11, and only threw when they felt like it.
If you're Mark Fletcher Jr., Javian Mallory, Jordan Lyle or Girard Pringle Jr., your eyes are huge watching that tape.
I'm of two minds about it.
I'm never going to be sad when FSU loses. But I'd have liked them to walk into our place with some momentum, for the sake of the game. It's a night game, I want the ratings and I want the win to mean something for us in the ACC. I also want Mike Norvell in Tallahassee for a long time, and if we beat them badly this week, we might be the ones who get him fired. All of that goes in the negative column.
What's coming to the Rock is a demoralized team, but it may not look that way for two drives. Night game, loud building, they'll be fired up early. But if we punch them in the mouth on those first couple of possessions, this team will quit.
I watched them do it against Louisville which reminded me of us against North Carolina in 2020, and you remember how that felt.
The one guy we have to deal with is Ousmane Kromah. He breaks tackles, he's tall and upright, which makes him a big target, and he goes side to side.
Fletcher is a big target too, but he's always coming downhill at you.
With Kromah, you swarm. The numbers always look bad for us, even last year, because so many bodies fly to the ball that the misses stack up. On the eye test, though, we're a step behind last year. This is the week to get it right.
Then there's Florida, who lost 38-19 to South Carolina. The Gators' problem is simple, they don't have a quarterback.
At one point people were ranking Aaron Philo in the middle of the SEC, ahead of guys who are going to play in the NFL. Look around that conference: Trinidad Chambliss, Kamario Taylor, Austin Simmons are at the top of it and below them are inconsistent guys who can at least show you why they're there.
LaNorris Sellers is all over the place and in a terrible situation, and he looked miles ahead of Philo in that game with worse players around him. Arch Manning flashes. Sam Leavitt flashes. Philo is a game manager who knows the offense. Take Vernell Brown III away from him, stop the run, and what do you have?
One of our chat regulars called the Gators a fad, that's exactly it.
All the motion, all the coordinator stuff, and everybody forgot the quarterback was a backup.
We went into the portal and got the best quarterback in the ACC, the guy who won the conference. Florida got a backup from the ACC. FSU got a backup off the worst passing attack in Auburn history. You get what you pay for.
The rest of Florida's roster isn't scaring anybody right now either. The physicality UF showed in the first couple of games is gone. Jayden Woods and Emmanuel Oyebadejo are talented ends who could be first-round picks down the road, but they're raw and they're hit or miss.
The secondary is rough. Cormani McClain is back there, and I thought Ben Hanks was going to be a great player, so I'm surprised by how much he's struggled. We were stressed when we lost Hanks and Hylton Stubbs in recruiting. Our defensive backs turned out quite a bit better.
So who from those two rosters would start for us?
Dallas Wilson or Duce Robinson, because we'd take a big X receiver. Jadan Baugh would split the backfield with Fletcher, though he's had 75 yards over the last two games and Fletcher isn't coming off the field. Brown is Florida's best player and he isn't starting over Malachi Toney. Maybe he returns punts.
The full hate session is on the CanesInsight YouTube channel, and the chat was flowing. Watch it, subscribe, and leave your own hate in the comments.
We're the best team in the state by far. Now we get a Florida State team that already quit, at night, in our building. Hit them early.
