Fisher on FSU: Sky is not falling

TALLAHASSEE — No. 1 Florida State, following a much closer-than-expected win against unranked Oklahoma State, isn’t who everyone thought they were, right?

Well, at least not yet.

The top-ranked Seminoles started out steamrolling, became sluggish and eventually sputtered to the finish line in their season opener last Saturday, but nonetheless, they came away with a 37-31 win against the Cowboys. More importantly, a 1-0 start their national championship defense.

But there weren’t a ton of smiles after this one in the FSU locker room.

“We’ve got to be better … go higher,” said Seminoles QB Jameis Winston, who actually apologized to his team at halftime for some early mistakes that allowed Oklahoma State to roar back from a 17-0 deficit. Winston challenged his team to rise up.

And while they rose somewhat — enough to survive anyway — the general consensus following the game was that the reigning champs had more rough spots than originally expected. Especially among those on the team.

FSU safety Jalen Ramsey called the close game an “eye opener.” Wideout Rashad Greene said at times the team was “quiet” in the huddles and on the sidelines. And sportswriters gave FSU 11 fewer first-place votes this week in the AP Top 25 Poll than they received in the preseason.

But Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher — and his now-famous “Don’t-eat-the-cheese” mantra he’s attached to this season — had a message during Tuesday’s first media availability since the game: A close win — on a big stage — against an underrated opponent does not parallel Chicken Little.

“The sky is not falling,” he said with a smile. “They’ll play better. We’ll get better.”

With tiny FCS program The Citadel (0-1) coming to town Saturday for FSU’s home opener, there seems to be little doubt that marked improvement will be seen right away.

For starters, FSU will get back the services of junior WR Jesus “Bobo” Wilson, who was suspended for the opener after his involvement in a scooter theft during the offseason. That will be a welcome addition to a young WR corps that — other than two guys — didn’t make much noise in Cowboy Stadium.

“Extremely fast. He can run, judge a ball, (he’s) strong. He has great body quickness, can stick his foot in the ground and change direction,” said Fisher of Wilson, who should take some of the pressure off Game 1’s only contributors — seniors Rashad Greene (11 catches, 203 yards, 1 TD) and Christian Green (2 catches, 73 yards). “Jesus is becoming a very polished route runner.”

The game against The Citadel, which could amount to a glorified scrimmage for the Seminoles, should also be FSU’s chance to see many of the young stars in action whose numbers weren’t called in a tight contest against Oklahoma State. Namely, top prospects Dalvin Cook (RB), and receivers Travis Rudolph and Ermon Lane. Backup QBs Sean Maguire and John Franklin will undoubtedly see their first action, as well.

After all, the average score the last eight times that FSU has played an FCS opponent is 54-5. And with a bye week coming after Saturday, this will be the Seminoles’ final chance to fine-tune anything at game speed before a Sept. 20date against No. 23 Clemson.

“There’s always room for improvement,” said FSU sophomore running back Mario Pender, who saw the field for the first time in his Seminoles career after redshirting and then missing last year due to academics. “And that’s what we’ve worked on this week. Just cleaning things up.”

Pender, who rushed three times for 31 yards in the win — the first of those carries being an 11-yard TD scamper — is expected to also see an increased role this week after senior starter Karlos Williams struggled against a fairly young and inexperienced Cowboys defense. Williams rushed 23 times for just 66 yards, and he had trouble breaking tackles.
On defense, FSU’s grade was about a B-minus in coordinator Charles Kelly’s debut: Good, but not great.

They gave up 376 yards and 31 points to a speedy offense that ran one less play (70 compared to 71) than FSU’s more-seasoned attack. And the Cowboys pulled to within 27-24 in the fourth quarter after Florida State’s ‘D’ was gashed up the middle for a 24-yard touchdown by OSU’s quarterback J.W. Walsh, who made the Seminoles’ defense look confused and vulnerable during his momentum-changing run.

Still, the Seminoles picked off a pass and forced a big fumble late by Walsh, so Fisher said don’t expect too many changes to the lineup against The Citadel. That is, expect for the likely return of linebacker Chris Casher, who was held out of the opener at the last minute because of what the school called an academic issue. Casher practiced Tuesday and Fisher said “We’ll see,” when asked about Casher’s availability this weekend.

But just remember, even if Casher, or any key player for that matter, can’t go Saturday vs. The Citadel, the sky if not falling.

And, despite a Week 1 scare, the sun will continue to rise in Tallahassee.

“We all preached it, but I do think they felt the pressure of being No. 1. I do,” Fisher said of the opener. “Now I think we can relax and go play football.”