FSU searches for winning plays against Syracuse
Tyler Waldrep
twaldrep@pcnh.com
It's been less than a month since Florida State coach Willie Taggart commented on the renewed sense of optimism surrounding Tallahassee after his team's 31-13 victory over North Carolina State.
Taggart said even the dogs barked differently back then. It's safe to say those days are gone after the Seminoles (3-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) dropped the last two games to Clemson and Wake Forest.
"I thought our guys have handled it well," Taggart said of the losses on Monday. "I thought they came back yesterday with a good attitude. … "We've won three ballgames, lost four, and three of them we were a play away from winning them. We've got to make the winning plays when they're there to be made."
No. 4 Clemson (7-0, 5-0 ACC) is easily the toast of the conference and No. 25 Wake Forest (6-1, 2-1 ACC) is one of the few other ACC teams that might finish the season ranked, so dropping those games might not look that bad in December.
Florida State's other two losses to No. 22 Boise State and Virginia (currently just two spots outside the rankings) aren't bad either.
Dropping Saturday afternoon's contest to a Syracuse (3-4, 0-3 ACC) team that isn't close to living up to its preseason No. 22 ranking would be the Seminoles' worst loss of the season by far.
It would also force Florida State to either win each of the next three games (hosting Miami, at Boston College, hosting Alabama State) or beat No. 7 Florida on the road to secure bowl eligibility.
"We're not even thinking about next stretch, we're thinking about Syracuse," Taggart said. "We can't think about all those things. We've got to win a ballgame, and Syracuse is right in front of us, and it would be disrespectful to look ahead of those guys, and we've got to find a way to win now or those things that we're talking about won't happen."
Taggart referenced the final play against Virginia and the fumble that his team couldn't recover against Boise State as two of those winning plays the Seminoles will need to make going forward.
"It's frustrating for us all because it's right there, and if we take care of business things will be better," Taggart said. "We've just got to keep plowing away and keep putting our guys in those positions and knowing our guys are going to come through for us."
Making field goals is another example of those winning plays Taggart needs to see. Florida State kicker Ricky Aguayo missed on a 50-yard attempt with 2:13 remaining in Saturday's 22-20 loss to Wake Forest.
It's impossible to know if the result would have changed on that one play, but it's hardly Aguayo's only mistake lately. He's missed five of his last six attempts. His lone make over that stretch was a 37-yarder against North Carolina State.
All five of his misses have been from at least 40 yards away, but none of those cost the Seminoles a victory before Saturday.
"Well, we'll see this week," Taggart said when asked about sticking with Aguayo. "We're going to see how practice goes this week, and we'll make a decision on Saturday."