Keys To Game : Fsu vs Miami Tonight
After getting off to a rather slow start, the eighth ranked Ole Miss football team regrouped in the second half to beatMemphis 45-14 Sunday afternoon.
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Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead had a rough first half as well but came back to play pretty well in the second half. That was especiall true in the fourth quarter when he tossed two touchdown passes. Overall Snead was 12 of 22 for 175 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Nationally ranked Florida State opens its season tonight with a game against rival Miami; the Noles won 41-39 last year in Miami. We’ll see if the Florida State offense is better than a year ago and it may have to be as its defense will be very young.
Miami has a young football team as well and it will rely heavily on quarterback Jacory Harris to ignite some offensive firepower. The Hurricanes also have a brutal schedule early and getting an upset win in Tallahassee would be a big boost for the program.
Jimbo Fisher’s offense improved drastically in 2008, behind a rapidly improving offensive line and a quarterback in Christian Ponder who could make plays with his feet as well as his arm. Though the Seminoles lost their two leading receivers from a season ago (Greg Carr and Preston Parker) and their leading rusher (Antone Smith), the FSU coaching staff is plenty excited about the skill positions. Senior wideouts Richard Goodman and Rod Owens had terrific camps and sophomore Jermaine Thomas has some special skills at the running back position. Miami’s defense is a year older and should be much better than the one that gave up over 300 yards rushing to the Seminoles a season ago. Sean Spence is an all-world talent at linebacker, where the Hurricanes also welcome back veteran Colin McCarthy, who missed all of last season with an injury.
When Miami has the ball
Nobody’s quite sure what will happen. The Hurricanes have a new offensive coordinator this season in Mark Whipple, who joined the program after a stint as the UMass head coach and five seasons as an assistant in the NFL. What the FSU coaches are familiar with is the personnel on the Miami roster. Graig Cooper and Javarris James are talented running backs and the Hurricanes have a stable of athletic receivers (what else is new?) to go along with quarterback Jacory Harris. The Miami offensive line features three seniors and two juniors. The Seminoles will look to force Harris into some mistakes by getting pressure on him as much as possible — from every angle possible. Everette Brown is in the NFL now, so Mickey Andrews will need another defensive end to step up and give him constant pressure on Harris. Andrews has already said that this unit might be the fastest defense he’s ever coached.
Specialists
Lots of question marks for the Seminoles. They have to replace Lou Groza Award winner Graham Gano, who was the team’s placekicker and punter. Sophomore Shawn Powell has some experience and will take over that role, but the kicking job — at least for the time being — is on the right foot of true freshman Dustin Hopkins. Taiwan Easterling and Patrick Robinson are slated to return kicks and Bert Reed and Greg Reid will return punts. Much to the dismay of FSU fans, Travis Benjamin is back for the Hurricanes and he torched the Seminole special teams a season ago.
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