Disappointed that FSU lost against Alabama. Alabama played a good game, and FSU obviously struggled mightily on special teams – shades of the nightmares of the 80s there.
I hope Deondre Francois is okay – and I also hope ALL of the injured players are okay. (Alabama had four players injured, none of them as severe as Francois’ injury as far as I can tell, but I hate seeing people get hurt.)
I keep seeing reports that FSU got “worn down,” and I think to some degree that’s true, but less than the reporting makes it sound – FSU killed itself more than Alabama did. Alabama played well, as expected, but it really took advantage of terrible plays by FSU more than creating errors; poor blocking on a punt, unforced turnovers on a kickoff…
Those interceptions were bad, yes, but those interceptions came after special teams problems dug a deep hole in the second half. To beat Alabama you have to play well, and those special teams errors created a situation where FSU had to take chances and make something magic happen.
Taking those chances didn’t work out in FSU’s favor; they made it worse. And so it goes.
In the end, FSU’s defense acquitted itself well; it’s hard to blame them for having 24 points hung on them when a lot of those points were from drives started deep in FSU territory through turnovers or special teams breakdowns.
And FSU’s offense actually showed some teeth and restraint; the key to beating Alabama is grinding well against them, and FSU actually did that, for the most part. FSU easily could have been tied with Alabama at the end of the first half. It’s when they were forced into breaking away from their game plan that things went downhill.
In the end, Alabama played a good game, and they deserved the win. Now FSU just has to hope that Deondre Francois is all right (for his own sake as well as the sake of the team, because right now he’s the guy) and recover.