TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Florida State’s secondary hasn’t featured anything resembling a shutdown corner or even an opportunistic safety in a quite a while.
And it is a problem for the Seminoles again this year.
After two games – one against lower division Samford – the Seminoles rank 110th nationally in pass defense. And the defensive backs didn’t tackle well either in a 47-17 thumping from Oklahoma last Saturday.
“I still think we have some very talented guys back there, they’re young,” coach Jimbo Fisher said Wednesday. “I think it’s a matter of just getting confidence. Things snowballed on them a little bit” at Oklahoma.
That they did.
Fisher, who does not allow his assistant coaches to talk to the media, estimated the Seminoles missed about 15 tackles against the Sooners. Several came in the open field where defenders simply didn’t wrap up.
“It was so glaring because some of them were in space so much,” Fisher said. “They end up being big plays.
“We’ve got to to do a better job tackling in space,” Fisher said.
Poor tackling resulting in big plays has been a problem for the Seminoles (1-1) in recent years.
And it’s embarrasing to not make the play, especially on national television.
“Everybody knows the weakness,” said Greg Reid, a 20-year-old sophomore. “It (Oklahoma) was the fastest offense I’ve ever played. I’ve been playing football for 15 years, I should know how to tackle.”
It’s been even longer since the school’s two most notable ballhawks, Deion Sanders and Terrell Buckley, patrolled the secondary.
Sanders arrived a quarter century ago while Buckley took his career-best 21 interceptions to the NFL nearly two decades ago. Former safety Pat Watkins was the only Seminole who managed to reach double figures in career interceptions in the last decade and he just made it with 10 picks.
Florida State teams have managed 22 or more interceptions 10 times, the most recent in its 1999 national title season. They had just 14 last season.
Fisher’s hoping to find some gems for the secondary among some of his youngest players, and one of his favorite pupils, Reid.
The 5-foot-8 punt return specialist is ahead of junior college transfer Michael Harris at one corner while fellow sophomore Xavier Rhodes is running ahead of highly recruited freshman Lamarcus Joyner on the other. Two more sophomores, Nick Moody and Jajuan Harley, are battling upper classmen Terrance Parks and Ochuko Jenije for playing time at safety.
“Whether they’re going to be a Deion Sanders or a Buckley,” Fisher mused briefly, “those two are two of the greatest that ever played at any school.”
While the names on the back of Florida State’s game jerseys this season are mostly new from a year ago, the lack of results are so far pretty much the same – only one interception after two games and Seminole opponents are completing almost three-fourths of their passes for 308.5 yards a game.
“There are going to be weeks in your life that are bad, but you’ve got to push through,” Fisher said.
The pass defense may not be as big a concern this week since it would appear BYU is changing its offense.
The normally pass-happy Cougars (1-1) have seemingly shunned an aerial attack for a ground game and two quarterbacks. They passed for fewer than 100 yards in Saturday’s 35-14 loss at Air Force.
But then again, Florida State’s unsettled pass defense might just tempt them to air it out.
“We’ve got to be prepared for both,” Fisher said.
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