Incredible catch by George. Not a good pass by Williams, but great play nonetheless.
Misplayed by both FSU's defensive back and safety, especially the safety. Not sure what happened. DB just didn't turn his head or he had an INT or easy pass break-up. Safety looked like he read it right away and had a perfect b-line to have an INT or decapitate George if he wanted. Instead, he chose neither. Like he gave up on the play or maybe thought the DB would make the INT since the ball was slightly underthrown.
Until that pass, Williams was 1-9 in the 2nd half for -3 yards. Shades of Kirby Freeman bad.
My God. What a nightmare.
It has been a tad bit hilarious to watch some national pundits freak out over the fact that Emory transferred out as if we did wrong by him. I heard one call him ‘highly-rated,’ when speaking on how we abandoned the plan for him to takeover.
Somehow they’ve already forgotten that he and Jaden Rashada, Jarren Williams redux, were in the same class; and Williams was the lesser touted guy by far. Rashada himself was our third choice after Nico Iamleava and Dante Moore.
I knew Emory was bad, however, the possibility of him ever starting another game for us became near-zero after the 2nd half Iowa State fiasco.
It’s hard to describe how much fortified our program has become compared to where we were at in the Spring of 2024. We are light years away from that and have by no means peaked.
The internet just refreshed my memory.
We started the 2nd half off with a 3 & out; then ran the ball 9 times, Emory completed an 8 yard pass to ray-ray in between, on a ten play touchdown drive to make it 38-28. The play calls themselves spoke volumes about where he was at; however what followed was worse. He went 0-3 on a field goal drive where we got stopped at the 3 yard line; this drive included the fake punt that Lofton took for 28 yards. FG; 41-35 now.
Somehow, he was still getting balls batted down at 6’5. Back to back 3&out’s as by trying to figure out Williams’ preparedness to be a starter we just see his ineptitude. On the final drive, down 41-42 w/ 55 seconds to go, Emory went 3 for 8, w/ an INT. 5 for 14 w/ 26 yards on the day; one of the completions was a -2 yards play caught by Jordan Lyle on 3rd down.
Even with all this being said, I do believe he could succeed at ECU; by that I mean be a game manager and win 7-8 games. They brought in a kid from Wake Forest to compete with him so he is by no means secure as a starter. Ray-Ray will likely have a 25-40 receptions, 300-500 yards type season no matter what. Their HC seems high on him despite his redzone fumble in their scrimmage.