FSU seeks to continue dominance of Louisville

Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino may still be having flashbacks about what happened to his team last season against Florida State.

Who could blame him?

The Cardinals had, perhaps, the best chance of any team in the regular season to knock off the then-No. 2 Seminoles from their unbeaten perch and derail their back-to-back national title bid. Ahead 21-0 early in the second quarter — at home and playing in Thursday night prime time — Louisville had the Seminoles right where it wanted them.

And the FSU squirmed off the hook.

“It’s a tough loss,” Petrino said of that game. “We got ahead of them and had opportunities. That hurts a lot.”

Florida State didn’t just rally to beat the Cardinals for its largest comeback win in school history, they whooped them. Final: 42-31.

Of course, the Seminoles had reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston under center and a bevy of future NFL stars in that game. And while Florida State is still loaded with a lot of NFL talent, the offense has not been the same since Winston left.

But don’t tell that to the 5-0 Seminoles, who are once again atop the ACC’s Atlantic Division at 3-0 and moved up one spot to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 Poll this past week following a narrow home win against Miami.

“We’re taking steps in the right direction. We’re evolving, like I talked about. I like which way we’re going. Are we there? No, we’re not perfect. We’ve got a long ways to go,” Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said.

“That’s the exciting thing. That’s the thing, to me, that intrigues me and keeps you going every day, that there’s a lot left out there.”

There’s no wondering, of course, about the Seminoles’ biggest star, Dalvin Cook.

The speedy sophomore running back — and one of the top five Heisman favorites, according to oddsmakers — returned from a hamstring injury and torched the Hurricanes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with another 47 yards receiving and a third score. The victory was extra special considering Miami is Cook’s hometown.

“It’s all about starting fast,” Cook said. “Every time I touch the ball, I’ve just got to go.”

Speaking of starting fast, the Miami game also represented arguably quarterback Everett Golson’s best outing of the season. He finished 25 of 33 for 291 yards and a touchdown and showed a ton of poise under pressure when the Seminoles fell behind for the first time all season late in the game Saturday, 24-23.

And while Golson — a graduate transfer from Notre Dame who spent only about a month practicing with Florida State before being named the starter — seems to be growing more and more comfortable with every game, it’s hard to really know what he’s thinking as a leader of one of the best teams in the country. Because he’s not talking.

All year, including this week, Golson has been totally off limits to the media — a rule Fisher usually enacts only for freshman. On Monday, Fisher finally explained his reasoning.

“He’s a new guy, evolving, let him get used to ?? eliminate the clutter,” Fisher said.

“He’s here. Let him do his job. Everybody’s expectations, things like that. I know you all want to talk to him. It’s not about that. It’s what I think is best for our football team and what’s best for him. It’s not an indictment on him. It’s not an indictment on y’all. It’s not an indictment on anything.

“My interest has to go with what’s best for the kids and the football team. That’s what’s best for them. That’s why. And there may be a time he does (get to talk to the media), but not right now.”

Right now, Florida State needs to worry about a ticked-off Louisville, which — while 2-3 overall — is a team that’s coming off a bye, has won two in a row and is not far from off from being 5-0. The Cardinals lost to Houston, Clemson and Auburn by a total of 13 points, and they’ve finally decided on a quarterback — dynamic freshman Lamar Jackson — after using a committee of signal callers early in the year.

“I’ve seen him on film enough. I didn’t sleep much the night before. He gave me a headache,” Fisher said when asked about defending Jackson, who has rushed for 313 yards in his last two games.

“That guy can throw, he can run. We recruited him. I liked him out of high school. I thought the guy was a very dynamic player, really, really good player.”

History, however, is not in the Cardinals’ favor: They haven’t beaten Florida State in Tallahassee since 1952 — and are just 2-13 against the Seminoles all-time.

NOTES, QUOTES

PLAYERS TO WATCH

–DE Demarcus Walker, a junior, was named the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Week, continuing Florida State’s streak of having at least one player from its team named a league POW this season. Walker had two sacks, a forced fumble and batted down a pass. He’s really come on as of late, drawing serious praise from coach Jimbo Fisher this week. “Worked hard every week. That guy comes, he loves everything about football,” Fisher said of Walker. “Team leader, team guy, not afraid to speak up to folks. Works his tail off. Has really developed himself into a really, really good football and versatile in what we could do.”

–DB Tyler Hunter came up huge against the Hurricanes to lead the Seminoles in tackles in a reserve role once starter Trey Marshall was ejected in the first quarter for targeting. Marshall will be back this week, but don’t be surprised if Hunter, one of the best pure athletes on the team, sees more time in the rotation. He has one of the secondary’s three interceptions and is sixth overall in tackles.

–RB Dalvin Cook, who ranks second in the FBS in rushing behind top Heisman favorite Leonard Fournette at LSU, was named the ACC’s Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Cook had one of the best performances in FSU-Miami rivalry history, rushing for 222 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. He also had a receiving TD. His first carry of the game — an option pitch — went 72 yards for a touchdown. Cook’s big day is the best ever against the Hurricanes and was his second 200-yard game of the season, which ties the school record set Greg Allen in 1981.