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Riding high after their week 1 win against Air Force, FSU and its fans were getting ready to host OU this week and were not in need of any distractions. However, after TCU let go of their head coach, Zikry, following a shutout loss to Clemson, Coach Bob was given the opportunity to lead TCU. Given the chance to head back home to Texas proved to be too much for Bob to turn down and all of a sudden FSU had lost their head coach. Acting quickly, FSU were able to reach out to the recently let-go Zikry and ask if he would be interested in the job. Wanting to prove his doubters wrong and show that TCU was just a bad fit for him Zikry accepted a deal and will now be FSU's head coach until season's end where the results will dictate whether or not Zikry is to stay on as coach....This is not the type of news that was needed before a huge matchup against OU, and hopefully this will not affect the team's performance this week...

With all the turmoil surrounding the Florida State Seminoles this week with the departure of their head coach, you could be forgiven if you forgot that there was a game to be played this week as the Seminoles hosted the Sooners of Oklahoma. Coming into this game Coach Zikry really needed his team to get off to a fast start, but even he could not have imagined what would unfold tonight!!

The Seminoles won the toss and elected to kick the ball off to the Sooners. As the defense got ready to get on the field the OU return man tried to find a hole, but was hit hard, fumbling the ball which was picked up by CB Justin Bright who took it in from 19 yards out for the score and just like that, with 4 seconds off the clock, FSU had a 7-0 lead (highlight available on hub). Both teams would exchange 3 and outs and on the Sooners' next possession, QB Drew Allen ran the option play on 2nd and 10, and instead of keeping the ball and getting tackled, Allen decided to pitch the ball to his RB, which was sniffed out by the FSU defense as CB Greg Reid got between the ball and the man and took it back the other way for a 16 yard return to put the Seminoles up 14-0 (highlight available on hub). The Sooners would respond on their next drive, as Drew Allen found WR Dejuan Miller for an 11 yard TD with 2:23 left in the 1st quarter to make the score 14-7 FSU. That would be all the scoring in the 1st.

The 2nd quarter started off with the Seminoles capping off their drive with a 19 yard pass from Ponder to HB Jermaine Thomas. On the play, Ponder read a heavy blitz and audibled out into a play where his tailback would act as if he was going towards the flat, before cutting upfield. The play worked perfectly as Thomas was left 1-on-1 with a linebacker and Ponder released the ball just as he was about to get leveled by the defense, and right into the hands of Thomas to give FSU a 21-7 lead with 6:04 left in the half. The remainder of the half was controlled by OU, who were able to rattle off 10 straight points thanks to a 1 yard run by DeMarco Murray and a 50 yard FG by Patrick OHara to give FSU a 21-17 lead at the break.

The 3rd quarter was dominated by OU as their defense came out fired up and really stopped FSU cold in their tracks. With 4:39 left in the 3rd DeMarco Murray took a hand off, and was met by a gang of tacklers after a 5 yard gain, but Murray kept his feet moving and he was able to break through, and 80 yards later he was in the endzone celebrating OU's first lead of the game. Another OHara FG was added near the end of the quarter to give the Sooners a 27-21 lead heading into the 4th.

With about 6 minutes left in the game, Ponder was intercepted, giving OU great field position. The FSU defense knew that they had to make a stand right here if they were to have any chance of winning this game. With 4:28 left in the game OHara was successful on his 3rd FG of the day and stretched the OU lead to 9, 30-21. Coming out onto the field Ponder knew they had to score quickly, and that was the plan as he told Reed to go deep. Given enough time by his offensive line Ponder stepped back and heaved one deep for Reed, who had a step on the CB. The ball found him in stride and he was able to do the rest, racing past the CB and making a safety miss as this 81 yard connection put FSU right back into the game, down 2, 30-28, with 4:15 left. After the FSU defense forced OU to punt, Ponder came onto the field knowing that a FG would give his team the lead, so he led his team to within FG range, thanks in large part to the running of HB Jermaine Thomas, who really showed up in this drive. With 1:42 left in the game, Kicker Dustin Hopkins was able to make a 36 yard FG to give FSU back the lead at 31-30. OU were unable to get within FG range, and with 5 seconds left in the game were unsuccessful on a 4th down hail mary attempt, giving FSU the victory and sending the home fans into delirium.

FSU went on the road this week to face Syracuse looking to cotinue its strong play to start the season. The Cuse won the toss and elected to receive the ball, and were able to march down the field at will thanks to a great passing attack, culminating in a 12 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Nassib to Alec Lemon. Not to be outdone, Cristian Ponder stepped out and sliced open the Cuse defense with quick efficient passes, and with 2:22 left in the 1st quarter FSU were able to draw level, as Ponder found WR Rodney Smith from 16 yards out for the score.

Syracuse's 2nd possession of the game was as successful as their first, as the FSU defense had no answer to Nassib who was not only finding his targets, but gaining huge yards in doing so. And right at the start of the 2nd quarter the Cuse were back out in front as HB Delonte Carter was able to take it in from 1 yard out. FSU's second possession of the game brought the first punt by either team, as FSU were unable to get anything going and the Cuse took full advantage as their red hot offense scored their third touchdown in as many possessions, this time on a 72 yard catch and run by WR Van Chew to put the Cuse up 21-7 with 3:51 left in the game. Knowing they needed a touchdown before the end of the half, Ponder came out and was on fire, hitting his targets left and right and keeping the Cuse defense on their toes. With 1:31 left in the half, FSU were able to slice into the deficit as HB Jermaine Thomas took it in from 2 yards out. With time left on the clock, Ryan Nassib came out confident that he would be able to add a score for his team, and why shouldn't he have been? To this point he was 10-10 passing and really was able to have his way with FSU's defense. After completing his 11th pass in a row, Nassib dropped back and tried to find his favorite target on the day, Chew (5 catches, 197 yards, 1 TD) but instead found CB Justin Bright, who was finally able to break Nassib's incredible start to the game with this key interception. The FSU offense was able to take full advantage of the turnover and with 28 seconds left in the half Ponder found Rodney Smith yet again for a 21 yard pass as FSU drew level at the half 21-21. Said Ponder after the game:

"That Bright interception was the game changer tonight. We knew that we could score on these guys, but our defense had to step up and show that they could stop them, and that interception followed by our score right before the half really was a momentum changer. You could see our defense start to regain some of its swagger after we were level at halftime and in the second half they stepped up big and shut those guys out."

FSU started with the ball in the 2nd half and were able to take its first lead of the game as Dustin Hopkins kicked a 29 yard FG to make it 24-21 FSU, a lead they would never give up. With 39 seconds left in the quarter Ponder dropped back and found WR Willie Haulstead on a beautiful 21 yard pass (highlight available on the hub). Willie looked to be well covered on the play but Ponder still threw it up there nonetheless as his WR was able to come down with the great catch. That closed out the 3rd quarter with the Seminoles in the lead, 31-21.

Just like the 3rd quarter, the 4th was all about the Seminoles. Justin Bright was able to come up with his second key contribution to this game as the FSU defense laid a BIG hit on HB Delonte Carter, causing him to cough up the ball which was picked up by Bright who took it 67 yards the other way to stretch the FSU lead to 17. After another unsuccessful drive by Syracuse FSU came out and ran the ball, trying to burn the clock, but with about 4 minutes left faced a 3rd and 8 situation. Ponder came out in the I-formation, hoping to catch the Cuse defense off guard. WR Bert Reed was left in one-on-one coverage and Ponder was able to find him perfectly on the slant route and after making 2 defenders miss, Reed took it in from 31 yards out to officially end this one as a competition as with 3:58 left in the game FSU now had a 24 point lead at 45-21. FSU would add an interception on their next drive, by CB Ochuko Jenije and would tack on a 39 yard FG with 1:52 left as the final score read FSU 48 SYRACUSE 21.


GAME NOTES:

*Nassib was able to shread FSU's pass defense, ending the day 16-22 for 366 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTS.

*His favorite target on the day was without question Van Chew, who had 5 catches for 197 yards and a score. Chew was also targeted on the 2 interceptions.

*While the FSU pass defense struggled, the run D did not, limiting Cuse to 40 yards on 26 carries, roughly a 1.5 average on the ground (making Nassib's day even that more impressive).

*FSU did not come out of this one unscathed, as top CB Jenije as well as 5th WR Christian Green were injured in this one and will both miss some game time. The injury to Jenije hurts the team the most, as he was the #1 CB on the depth chart, look for rookie phenom Justin Bright to prove himself as he now moves into the starters role as the #2 CB behind Greg Reid.

FSU beat Wake Forest 27-21 but Coach Zikry furious over team's inability to close out game


Week 4 brought Wake Forest into town in a conference matchup between two 3-0 teams. FSU was looking to build off its solid all around performance last week against Syracuse, and came out in this one firing on all cylinders. After forcing a 3 and out FSU came out on their first possession and started passing at will, as Ponder completed pass after pass. However, this drive came to a screeching halt as HB Jermaine Thomas was stripped of the ball as FSU was deep in the Deacons' territory. The FSU defense came back on the field and forced Wake Forest into punting the ball for a 2nd time, and on their second possession FSU was able to get some points on the board courtesy of a Dustin Hopkins 25 yard FG to give the Seminoles the 3-0 lead after a quarter of play.

The 2nd quarter saw Wake Forest take the lead, as Ted Stachitas found his FB Tommy Bohanon on 4th and 2 from the 21 yard line for the easy score as the FSU defense stacked up against the run. Not to be outdone the FSU offense scored on their next 2 drives, first Christian Ponder was able to throw his first TD of the day as he found Bert Reed for a 15 yard score, then at the end of the quarter FSU added a 20 yard FG to take a 13-7 lead into the break.

The beginning of the 3rd quarter looked like a time where FSU were going to break this game wide open as they came out of the locker room and scored on their first possession of the half, a 14 yard pass from Ponder to HB Jermaine Thomas as the Forest defense brought on an all out blitz, leaving the HB wide open. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Wake Forest fumbled the ball which was recovered by FSU. Coming back on the field with great field position FSU went for the jugular as Ponder found Reed yet again, this time for a 22 yard score, giving FSU a seemingly insurmountable 27-7 lead. That lead looked even better when the FSU defense stopped Wake Forest cold yet again on their next drive, but Forest's punter was able to punt a ball that was downed at the 12. FSU came out and lost 3 yards on 2 running plays, so faced with 3rd and long, Ponder was forced into passing the ball for the first down, but heavy pressure rushed his throw which was picked off by DT Frank Souza, who took it in from 9 yards out to give Forest some hope as the 3rd quarter came to a close with the score at 27-14.

In the 4th quarter the FSU offense was stopped cold by Wake Forest, who seemed to be doing everything right, and seemed to know exactly what the FSU offensive plays were before the snap of the ball. Luckily for FSU, their defense was able to hold off Wake Forest early on in the quarter, but they did give up a touchdown with 31 seconds left in the game as Stachitas found his running back Josh Adams for a 7 yard touchdown throw. Down 27-21 and with no timeouts left, Wake Forest tried the onside kick but were unsuccessful on the recovery, as FSU were able to squeak by in their first conference game and improve their season record to 4-0. Asked about what happen in the game Coach Zikry had this to say:

"We can't continue to allow teams to stay in games. Ponder made the mistake of trying to force a throw at a point in the game where we were in a commanding lead and our defense was playing lights out. He acknowledges his mistake and knows he should have taken the sack. Hopefully these mistakes don't happen again as Ponder has had a couple of crucial misreads early on in the season and his 7 interceptions through 4 games is something that we are really looking into trying to fix. We will not stay undefeated much longer with mistakes like these and thankfully our defense really carried us today and were able to come up with some big time fumbles and two interceptions. Our defense has really played better than some of the final scores have indicated and MLB Vince Williams was simply outstanding today. He was all over the field with 12 total tackles, (9 solo, 3 assisted) while also forcing a fumble and picking off a pass as well. As a team we were able to force an incredible 5 fumbles today but were only able to recover 2 of them. That is something that our defense needs to work on, following up on the play to make sure that our guys are always around the ball just in case it pops out. Other than that we will take a look at the game film and get ready to travel to Virginia next week. I will not be answering any questions about our game against Miami until after we have played Virginia so please don't even ask."

Willie Haulstead provides a spark on offense as FSU beats Virginia 28-10


Virginia

FSU (4-0) traveled to Virginia (3-0) in a battle between two unbeaten ACC teams. The 1st quarter was a hotly contested one between the two sides as the home crowd really got behind Virginia and seemed to rattle the Seminoles early. However, Ponder was able to lead the team on a nice drive which culminated with a Jermaine Thomas run near the goal-line. Virginia would answer on the ensuing possession with a score of their own, a field goal from 38 yards out as FSU held onto a 7-3 lead after 1.

The 2nd quarter was all about FSU taking control of this game. The defense started keying in on Virginia's QB, giving him no time to make decisions while the offense was as fine tuned as ever. Ponder was able to lead the team to 2 scoring drives in the quarter, first on a 49 yard pass to Willie Haulstead, and then, with 3:25 left in the half, Jermaine Thomas ran in his second TD of the day, this time from 2 yards out to give FSU the 21-3 lead heading into halftime.

The second half only saw the teams score a touchdown each. First the Seminoles were able to add to their lead, as Ponder found WR Cameron Erving for a 10 yard score with 51 seconds left in the 3rd. Virginia would finally score their only touchdown on the day with 54 seconds left in the game, as Marc Verica found WR Jared Green for a 35 yard score.


Final Score: FSU 28 Virginia 10

FSU came into this game looking to continue on its unbeaten start to the season while Miami wanted to give their fans something to cheer about after their disappointing loss to Clemson. Miami would start with the ball and marched all the way down the field, getting a 1st and goal on the 3 yard line. This is where the FSU defense would tighten up, stuffing Miami on 3 consecutive plays, forcing the 18 yard FG by Matt Bosher. On FSU's 1st drive of the game, the team was able to drive down the field themselves, but were able to punch it in from 1 yard out thanks to a Jermaine Thomas run to give the Seminoles the 7-3 lead after 1.

In the 2nd quarter Miami came out for their 2nd possession, and faced a 3rd and long. Harris dropped back and tried to hit his HB deep down the middle of the field, but he overthrew the ball, right into the hands of sophomore FS Nick Moody. The Seminoles would take advantage, as Christian Ponder was able to find Jermaine Thomas on a 8 yard pass in the endzone (on a play that for some reason the Miami defender never turned his head.) The rest of the half Miami was able to add 2 more field goals. The first on a 48 yarder with 2:07 left in the half. The second came with no time on the clock on a 31 yarder, giving FSU a slender 14-9 lead after the first half.

The second half was all about FSU, as both their offense and defense played lights out the rest of the way. The Seminoles scored 13 points in the 2nd half thanks to a couple of Dustin Hopkins' field goals from 36 and 46 yards out and a 57 yard scamper by Jermaine Thomas in the 4th quarter. The Miami offense looked lost in the 2nd half, as Harris was overthrowing his targets and the times that he did hit his receiver, they would inexplicably drop the ball. Final Score, 27-9 FSU.

GG GTG!

Players of the Game:

OFFENSE:



HB Jermaine Thomas: 19 carries, 91 yards, 2 TDs. 2 catches, 16 yards, 1 TD.


DEFENSE



DE Brandon Jenkins: 2 tackles, 2 sacks.