The Jimbo Fisher Era: Flirting With Mediocrity

When you were growing up, your parents often told you not to gamble with dangerous things. "don't play with fire", "don't run with scissors!", "don't touch that cat, it's claws are out". When I was younger I apparently liked to tell my dad that he was not the boss of me. I quickly learned that he was, in fact, the boss of me. These lessons that we eventually learn make our life much easier and less painful.

It doesn't seem like Jimbo Fisher has quite learned this lesson. Outside of one of the greatest seasons college football has ever seen, coach Fisher has had a knack for testing FSU fans' limits. Since his arrival, we have been tested with dramatic game after dramatic game. It's understandable when it is against ranked teams, but teams like Georgia Tech that are the definition of mediocre leaves us scratching our heads. Luckily for us, a great majority of these 4th quarter battles have ended in our favor. Now I get that it's college football and anything can happen, but it begs the question, what is it about Jimbo's teams that keep us past the edge of our seat? Is it game-planning? Is it just not taking the opponent seriously?

Florida State Needed to Lose

Saturday night, I watched the game in downtown Atlanta and was in absolute shock as Lance Austin returned a block field goal all the way back for a touchdown to defeat Florida State and snap their 28 game ACC winning streak. It stung, no pun intended (Yellow Jackets). The only feeling I could equate this loss to was our last ACC loss, against NC State in Raleigh. There are many similarities between the two losses. For one in both games Florida State scored 16 points in the first half and followed it up with a big goose egg in the second half. In both games, Florida State squandered red zone opportunities in the first half that would've possibly put the game away. Lastly, Jimbo Fisher's over-conservative play calling took our offense out of rhythm and led to an offense with no flow throughout both games. Now here's where they the losses are not the exact same yet, the 2012 NC State loss was the best thing to happen to the eventual 2013 National Champion 'Noles. Only time will tell if this Georgia Tech loss will be the best thing to happen to the 2016 version.

Watch Guide: Week 8

Sean: 28-11   JK: 18-22

This week is a pretty lame slate of games with only one top 25 matchup, but it opens the door for a lot of upsets. Despite this, Chris Fowler presented an interesting stat that foreshadow a potentially crazy day of football:

Last week w/ just 1 ranked matchup this late in reg season: late Nov '09... when 6 RANKED teams lost to UNRANKED! How many lose Saturday?

— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) October 23, 2015

Of the 18 ranked teams playing unranked teams this weekend, 11 are either playing a team with a winning record or playing as the visiting team. (Upset Saturday?)

Timmy Jernigan's Twitter bio simply reads, "Grown man."

6 Emerging Players From Tribe '13

Before the season, I recognized the Seminoles' 2013 recruiting class as a group that needed to rise up and lead this team in 2015. Now that we are halfway through the season, let's take a look at how they have done (hint: they're doing well). Here are six players in order of how great of a 2015 season they've had through six games.

*Nate Andrews and Jalen Ramsey are excluded from this list.

1) #8 Kermit Whitfield (Junior, Wide Receiver)
In past two games Kermit has caught 18 passes. Last season he caught a total of 11. Against Louisville alone, Whitfield surpasses his 2014 yardage total by nearly 30 yards. After his performance against Louisville, he was named ACC receiver of the week. The 5'7" track star has been the most sensational player to emerge from this group and has become an extremely dangerous weapon for Everrett Golson and this offense. Whitfield has accounted for 29 passes for 397 yards and 2 touchdowns.

How We Convinced Travis Porter to Come to "Jam with Ham"

Travis Porter, if you didn't know, is a hip-hop trio of two step brothers and their friend. They officially joined together back in 2008 and have had hella-catchy, booty shaking hits since their time together. The three will be performing at Florida State's annual preseason event "Jam with Coach Ham" Friday night as a free concert in-between the basketball team's dunk contest, live scrimmage, and other events. This is about the story you didn't know, the behind the scenes look into our friendship with Ali, Quez and Strap. How we helped them along in their musical career and how we convinced them to put on a free concert at in the TLC Double C (Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center) instead of bathing in money and champagne with models all night.

Ali, Quez and Strap coolin'.

Watch Guide: Week 7

Another week, another 2 game addition to Sean's lead:

Sean: 22-10     JK: 15-17

This week has four top 25 matchups, three of which are between teams in the top 15. Stanford already put a whooping on UCLA last night and gave us what is the play of the year so far. FSU will be getting their win early on Saturday which will give you time to enjoy all of the top 15 matchups. Enjoy your Saturday!

Yes this is Buster Davis. Davis is currently coaching a high school team.

It's Time We Gave Golson Some Credit

Saturday night was in one word: electric. The boys welcomed in neck-tie-coached rival Miami and continued to dismantle the Hurricanes in front of a stadium full of drunken, rampaging Seminole fans. The game was exciting throughout, and Dalvin Cook put his name in the hat for the Heisman race with his second game of the season with 200+ yards. The unsung hero of this game, however, was 5th-year senior transfer quarterback Everett Golson.

Watch Guide: Week 6

Sean added two games to his early lead with the help of Baylor and Alabama last weekend. This week we have a series of toss-up games that will (hopefully) shake things up for us. As it stands:

Sean: 16-8   JK: 11-13

The Miami game is inconveniently the same time as UF and Mizzou. If you are going to the game you will still have a few matchups to keep an eye on and you can also catch the end of the fighting Goffs of Cal visiting Utah. Here's the eight we'll be paying the most attention to:

Here's Greg Jones running over Sean Taylor. Don't know how we lived without HD.

Florida Fans Need to Calm Down

Do you have a friend that's Gator fan? That one person who has avoided college football conversations for the past couple of years unless they were conference related? That friend who swears orange and blue "aren't that ugly"? I bet that friend has been acting a little differently this week. Their Florida Gators, the ones that are one game above .500 since 2013, absolutely embarrassed what was allegedly the third best team in the country. These Gators are now 4-0 and when you look at the rest of their schedule, there's a great opportunity to make it to the SEC Championship game.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here Gator fans, I'm here to help you come back down to earth. You're welcome. Don't mention it.

When you hear Gators say they're playoff contenders now...

First Quarter Observations

Eight observations from the first quarter of the regular season.

1. If Ohio State keeps winning they deserve to be #1.
I am a Florida State fan and any 'Nole fan has to relate to what is happening to Ohio State. It is hard to be the defending national champion with a team full of draft eligible juniors and taking every team's best shot. We know the struggle. Are we bitter that we lost our #1 ranking after sub par performances? Yes. But Ohio State keeps winning and that is all they have to do. Personally, I think the quarterback controversy will blow up in their face (URBAN MEYER's face) before this season is over. #TeamJTBarrett

Miami Week

It's Miami week. The biggest home game of the year. Prime time night game in Doak, national television. Sold out Doak Campbell Stadium. Cat 5 maintain. The 3-1 'Canes are currently 9 point underdogs, but we know that any time these two teams play, it is a toss up. To get you excited, well, to put you over the edge of excitement, here's a collection of pictures and videos for your enjoyment.

Watch Guide: Week 5

Sean has been lucky through two weeks of picking games, taking a 3 game lead in the race for root beer. As it stands:

Sean: 10-6         JK: 7-9

This week is packed with eye-opening matchups for you to view from your armchair-quarterback position including 5 games between undefeated teams. Let's take a look at what week 5 has to offer us:

If this picture brings back memories, here's a video to help relive them. You're welcome.