By Danny Aller, The Sports Xchange
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After Georgia Tech’s remarkable 2014 campaign that ended just short of an ACC title (thanks to Florida State), most Seminole fans figured the rematch during the 2015 regular season might wind up being a battle of Top 25 unbeatens staking their claim on the conference crown.
Come Saturday, that scenario is still alive and well — but only for one.
No. 9 Florida State (6-0 overall, 4-0 in the ACC) still has a lot at stake Saturday when it faces the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, where the Seminoles will look to stay perfect and remain on a crash course for a date in the ACC Championship game in December.
As for Georgia Tech? Well, at 2-5 overall — and 0-4 in ACC play — the Yellow Jackets will simply be looking for a win in what’s been a woeful defense of the Coastal Division title.
And unfortunately for Florida State, a desperate team is often a dangerous team.
“I think all games are about toughness,” Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said Monday. “But this one especially is.”
Toughness would be a good way to describe what the Seminoles demonstrated in the face of adversity, both mentally and physically, last Saturday
After falling behind 7-6 at halftime to Louisville at Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State came out of the locker room a completely different team, scoring on all five of its second-half drives and capping each with a touchdown to turn what looked like an upset into a 41-21 blowout.
Former Florida State quarterback and Heisman winner Jameis Winston, the No. 1 overall pick of the Tampa Bay Bucs earlier this year, was even on hand to witness yet another Seminoles comeback against the Cardinals — albeit slightly less prolific than Winston’s.
It was Winston who last year led Florida State back from a 21-0 hole to topple Louisville in the program’s biggest comeback win in school history. And Fisher was glad to see him and several other former players come back for the weekend to support the team in what ended up being the program’s 28th straight ACC win.
“He ain’t changed a lick … that knucklehead,” Fisher said of Winston, who was also joined on the sidelines last Saturday by two other former Florida State stars: current Atlanta Falcons starting running back Devonta Freeman and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrance Brooks.
Florida State enters as only a five-point favorite, but that’s likely only due to the unpredictability of star running back’s Dalvin Cook’s hamstring, which he pulled two weeks ago in the first quarter against Wake Forest and has become tight — causing him to head to the sideline for treatment — during both games since. Cook, a Heisman Trophy contender, has amassed 955 yards and 11 total touchdowns so far this season.
The Seminoles will have a chance to tie the ACC record for consecutive wins — a record it set from 1992-95 — Saturday at Georgia Tech, which is on a five-game skid and hasn’t won a game since beating Tulane on Sept. 12. That’s pretty stunning considering the Yellow Jackets — who rose to No. 14 in the AP Top 25 poll after season-opening blowout wins — were the near-consensus pick to win the ACC title this season during ACC Media Days over the summer.
“I wish the outcomes had been different, but they haven’t,” said Yellow Jackets head coach Paul Johnson, whose program will be guaranteed a losing ACC season for the first time in 20 years if it can’t find a way to pull the upset Saturday. “We’re sitting here, I think the last five teams we’ve played are 27-4 and we got another one coming in (in Florida State) that’s Top 10 and 6-0, so that makes (the opponents’ record) in the last six games 33-4. We’re playing good teams, the games are close … but we just have to find a way to break through and win one.
“So maybe it’s this week.”
Or maybe Florida State — just like it did in 1995 when it won its record 29th straight against, coincidentally, Georgia Tech — will make the Yellow Jackets a footnote to history once again.
“I feel like we’re the best defense in the country and nobody can stop what we do or what we bring,” said Florida State linebacker Jacob Pugh, who has been one of the shining stars on a unit that ranks ninth in the nation in scoring allowed at 15.2 points per game and is coming off a five-sack outing against Louisville. “We’re going to keep on bringing it every week and every Saturday”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–WR Kermit Whitfield is one of the most explosive players in college football. Yup, that’s right, Whitfield, the ACC’s Receiver of the Week on Monday, is back and better than ever all the sudden for the Seminoles, who got a career-high 172 receiving yards and a touchdown from the junior wideout in last week’s win against Louisville. You have to use the word “back” when referring to Whitfield because, as a freshman, he became a hero to Florida State fans when his kickoff return for a TD late in the fourth quarter against Auburn in the BCS title game helped propel the Seminoles to the championship. But as a sophomore he fell off the map in terms of playing time and possibly in the doghouse with Fisher, only to return this season and become the team’s breakout star. He’s now emerged as Florida State’s top receiver with 29 catches for 379 yards and two TDs, as well its best kick returner, averaging 30 yards a return. What may be most impressive about Whitfield is how he’s able to get open and handle a lot of contact despite his diminutive stature: He’s just 5-foot-8 and 184 pounds. He’s arguably the fastest player on the team, and Fisher is now singing the Orlando native’s praises. “If you go back and watch Kermit, he’s been asked to play a position (receiver) he never really played in high school, or his whole life,” Fisher said. “The comfort level of doing it; now he’s done it enough, he’s had some success with it, his confidence is growing and he feels more comfortable. He’s getting much better and (I’m) very proud of the work and the time he’s put in.”
–LB Jacob Pugh, a former Tallahassee prep star from Godby High, is giving the hometown fans a heck of a season. Pugh was named the ACC’s Linebacker of the Week on Monday after he led the Seminoles in tackles against Louisville with seven to go along with two sacks — both career highs. He’s now second on the team in sacks and fifth in tackles, despite starting only three games — the fewest of any of Florida State’s Top 5 defensive leaders.
–DB Derwin James had been waiting for his chance to shine all season, and that time came last Saturday against Louisville. Getting his first career start, James made the most of it with six tackles (second-most on the team), including a sack and a forced fumble on Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson in the third quarter that permanently flipped the momentum in the Seminoles’ favor. He’s now seventh on the team in tackles and tied for third in sacks.