FSU vs. BC Preview

Today's game against Boston College should be quite interesting. If FSU wins, they stay alive for a conference title. Should they lose, their season will be all but over, except of course for the last game of the regular season against the Crocs. Criticism after another loss at home would reach an all-time high. Big-time recruits would really think twice about coming here. Basically, it is pretty freaking important to pull out a W today. Here are some keys that will go a long way to helping this cause.

First, there has to be pressure put on BC's quarterback. It looks like the ACC's leading passer, Matt Ryan, is going to have to sit this one out for the Eagles. This is really good news for the Noles. Honestly, he probably would've picked us apart for most of the day. Instead, sophomore Chris Crane will make his first career start in Doak Campbell Stadium. Do you smell something Rabbit? Fear. We must consistently make Crane feel uncomfortable. FSU is 9th in the conference with only 10 sacks this year. BC has only allowed 6 sacks all season. I don't like the odds of us doing it, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

Next, don't be stupid. We had 10 penalties for 130-something yards last week -- in the first half! Against Duke! If that happens today, the game won't be close. Taking care of the football falls into this category as well. Dropped passes, people missing assignments, and wasting all of our timeouts early in halves have also plagued this team all season long. All the symptoms of a poorly coached team are glaring. Let's cut down on these mistakes and watch our productivity increase. They go hand-in-hand. Trust me.

And lastly, please, PLEASE use some creativity in the gameplan. Have someone other than the QB throw a pass once (maybe Chris Davis off a reverse, he used to be a HS QB), fake a punt, go for it on 4th and 1, do SOMETHING. Watching how many games we've played with as few wrinkles in the play-calling just boggles my mind. When are we going to attempt to make a defense think a little bit? We are nothing like the FSU of old. And those teams probably didn't even need trick plays to win, but they did them anyway. Now here we are, when they would seem even more important since we can't get the job done too well conventionally and we never try anything. I think those guys in the Guinness beer commercials that yell "Brilliant!" the whole time would come up with better gameplans than our coaches.

Anyway, FSU will be busting out the new all-black uniforms for this game so that should be pretty sweet. You can't pull out something like that and then just roll over on your home field. I expect to see our guys come out with more fire than usual and take it to them early. But the key will be sustaining that level of play. We can't let them hang in there until the 4th quarter and give their new QB any reason to feel confident that he can win.