At just 2-5, there isn’t much left for Florida State to salvage of the 2017 campaign. Barring a miracle or a rescheduled contest with Louisiana-Monroe, FSU’s season will end in Gainesville on Nov. 25 and without a bowl appearance for the first time since 1981.
With all the goals — save a victory over rival Florida — down the drain, there is nothing left for FSU to play for. But actually there is…next year.
The 2017 season for Florida State has been a disaster. There’s no lighter way to put it. There are plenty of harsher ways to put it. With that said, it’s time to let the younger players become more acclimated to game action.
That has happened in the FSU backfield through no real choice of its own. Injuries to quarterback Deondre Francois and running back Jacques Patrick have forced James Blackman, a true freshman, to take over the reigns at quarterback and running back Cam Akers, also a freshman, to carry the load in the backfield.
It shouldn’t stop there however.
At wide receiver, the Seminoles are incredibly thin. Auden Tate and Nyqwan Murray were the two most proven receivers coming into the year and with others like Da’Vante Phillips, George Campbell and Keith Gavin are either suspended or injured, that hasn’t changed. Rather than playing senior walk-on Jared Jackson, the Seminoles should look to get freshmen D.J. Matthews and Tamorrion Terry more involved.
Matthews is the shiftiest of FSU wideouts and could be used in a number of ways while Terry, at 6-foot-4, would provide some of the size that the Seminoles lost with the injuries to Campbell and Gavin. While Jackson has certainly been a very good special teams player for the Seminoles over the years, he provides no real value beyond this season.
Matthews could also be an option in the return game, particularly on punts. Matthews looked smooth on a return called back in Friday’s 35-3 loss to Boston College after replacing an ineffective Tarvarus McFadden. McFadden is last among qualifying ACC players in punt return average and has been criticized for letting too many punts bounce. He’s also fielded others while back-peddling inside the 10-yard-line that probably should have been fair caught or let go for touchbacks.
Terry has yet to play this season, making him in line for a redshirt. Even if that is the case, Tre’ McKitty, a freshman tight end and early enrollee during the spring, was lauded for his versatility. A big body at 6-5 and 235 pounds, McKitty could be an option out wide. He’s already played in five games this season. Naseir Upshur, a highly-touted sophomore from Philadelphia, has yet to get significant playing time on offense.
Instead, the Seminoles have moved Ermon Lane back to wide receiver from safety. Lane should be commended for his willingness to adapt for the needs of the team, but he is hardly a game-changer and like Jackson, provides no long-term benefit from being on the field.
On defense, freshmen like defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, cornerback Stanford Samuels, safety Hamsah Nasirildeen and recently, Leonard Warner, have been given opportunities. Perhaps now is the time to up the rep count. FSU has forced just five turnovers all year and two of those were caused by true freshmen.
The need for additional reps isn’t limited to the freshmen however. Sure, upperclassmen like Derrick Nnadi, Matthew Thomas and Derwin James need to be on the football field, but so do players who are expected to be part of the team’s long-term plans. Guys like redshirt freshman defensive end Janarius Robinson and defensive back Carlos Becker, who came on strong late last season, have played very little on defense. Others like cornerback Levonta Taylor and defensive end Brian Burns — both sophomores —
have played well.
Obviously, there are other unknown intricacies that go into playing time including work ethic and knowing the playbook. At this point in the season however, there seems to be little to lose by finding opportunities for younger players to grow with the exception of meaningful experience for the future and a year of wasted eligibility.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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