Ground game not running on all fours? Where did it go wrong and how did we miss the warning signs?

Denial. Does that fairly describe your attitude about FSU’s running offense after the first two games? How else do you explain the Kool-Aid-drinking topic avoidance after Louisiana Monroe and Charleston Southern? Blind faith the run game would kick into high gear just in time for Oklahoma and Clemson?

After all, Coach Trickett was trying to meld some veteran starters with new guys. Never mind that they had spring and fall practice to jell. These things take time, you said. So did we. So did most Nole fans who gave it a second thought.

Besides, FSU did produce 170 yards on the ground against the team from Charleston. Not bad, right?

Wrong. Not when you break it down and see there were only three runs over 10 yards. Not when a fresh Ty Jones was stopped for no gain on the second drive of the day -- worse yet, Chris Thompson is nailed for a three yard loss during the third drive.

And not when you consider that was all against THE WORST defense in Div. 1 college football. At the time, Chas. Southern was dead last in the FCS, the lower tier of D-1.

Hey, but at least true freshman James Wilder shined, ripping off 76 yards in the second half. Yep, though a closer look shows over half of it was on a 41-yard romp -- the final play of the game when out-of-gas CSU players had nothing left.

But wait, there’s more. Actually, there's less -- yardage, that is. The telltale signs were there for all to see after game one against ULM. Take away E.J.’s 28 yards of scrambling and draws, and the Noles netted only 71 yards. That includes just two runs over 10 yards (19 by Thompson and 11 by Freeman). Worse: Three running plays were stopped for no gain and another resulted in a one yard loss.

Shades of Mark McHale and Jimmy Heggins. We’ve seen that scary movie before and thought it was a distant memory. How could a pre-season top five team let its run game regress -- again -- to the bottom rung of NCAA stats? That’s the mystery hanging over the program, the acid test of the coaching staff, and the hard pill that fans can no longer deny.

Comments

[tom]

Many are blaming the zone blocking scheme now. It worked well in some games the last few years though. The team lost two big time senior offensive linemen, but shouldn't there be guys ready to step in and replace them? After all, fans faulted former coaches for such, so new coaches should not get a pass. Three more will be gone next year, then what?