What FSU Learned in Durham

Saturday's 51-24 thumping of Duke was not anything shocking. FSU's offense will rarely be confused for potent but Duke is, well, Duke and even Mom knows, that's not very good. Even with the handicap, here are some thoughts on what took place on Tobacco Road this past weekend.

Drew Weatherford was money. Simple as that. He only played in the 1st and 3rd quarters and threw for 231 yards with 4 TDs and 0 INTs. Those numbers could have been even more gaudy had it not been for a case of the dropsies by his receivers. . . again.

On the other side of the spectrum, Xavier Lee struggled mightily. Trying to state a case for more playing time, Lee led 4 drives in the 2nd quarter. These drives resulted in 3 INTs and a 3-and-out. His first INT was returned for 6. Considering this lack of production was coming against such inferior competition, this was not a very promising performance. He did have one bright moment in the game, throwing a 14-yard TD to Damon McDaniel in the 4th quarter.

Antone Smith showed the type of explosion we all know he possesses, but rarely is able to display. He only carried the ball 4 times, but his 80-yard TD run to open the 2nd half was the offensive play of the game.

Greg Carr once again showed up big against the Dookies. After a 6 catch, 95 yard, 3 TD day last year, the 6'6" sophomore grabbed 4 passes for 100 yards and 3 more TDs on Saturday. Now who thinks he'll even get 50 yards with 1 score this upcoming weekend against BC? As much as I hope I'm wrong, my money is with no.

Lawrence Timmons played great. His fumble return for a TD on the opening drive was the defensive play of the game. Considering how many injuries there are throughout the depth chart on defense, we really didn't play that bad defensively. However, at the end of the day, Duke still put up more points and yards than they had on anybody all season. This is not the same defensive power that took the field Labor Day night against Miami. This is more like an episode of M*A*S*H.

So what can we take out of a game like this? For one, a W, we'll take those anywhere we can get them at this point. But really, only what we already knew - that we have a very, very talented team that is capable of playing well against a team that is now 0-6. This, and that it is no question that Drew should remain the starting QB for a while.