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Missing Persons: Clearing up any confusion about Joe Tonga's brief career at FSU

One and done. That was Joe Tonga's career at FSU. The California JC product arrived in Tallahassee just in time for fall practice and played sparingly in '08.

Now you'll find Joe at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school not far from Pittsburgh.

A casualty of Trickett's school of hard knocks? Nope. To clear up any confusion, Tonga had only one year of eligibility when he came to FSU. But for D-II, the NCAA counts semesters instead of years (D-1 players have five years to play four seasons).

Mike Campolo, the O-Line Coach who recruited Joe for IUP, told us Tonga was actually headed to the Pennsylvania school last summer. But a few days before reporting, he got a call from Rick Trickett that changed his mind.

And for the record, Campolo tells us that Tonga "loved Rick Trickett." In fact, Trickett may have guided Tonga to IUP, as Campolo reminded us that Trickett coached there earlier in his career.

Campolo says Tonga "hopes for a pro career (IUP has had 11 players in NFL camps in the past decade), but he's also adamant about graduating. He got here in January and he's really an unbelievable person who's doing well in the classroom and is just a good kid."

Noles' luck runs out in Beantown

by Bill from Tampa

Florida State started off on fire offensively connecting on seven of its first nine shots. Unfortunately it was downhill from there as the Seminoles shot just 29% the rest of the way in losing to Boston College 72-67.

Leading 16-4 with 12:24 left in the first half, FSU was outscored 20-9.

The Seminoles did manage to hold a 25-24 halftime lead though when Toney Douglas (19 points) canned a three pointer from the right corner shortly before the half ended.

But the Eagles came out of the locker room with more intensity and built a 42-33 lead before four minutes had elapsed.

The ‘Noles were their own worst enemy. Able to avoid the turnover bug in the last few games, the Seminoles could not stop handing the ball over -- many of them self-inflicted miscues. The 18 total turnovers in the game by FSU led to 24 points by the Eagles.

Add to that the several shots around the basket that would not go down notably two point blank shots by Ryan Reid.

“We had the shots we wanted with point blank shots that would not go down,” Hamilton said. “We got good looks.”

Add to that again the defensive lapses by FSU that gave the Eagles several wide open shots, notably the 7 or 11 three pointers in the second half, after hitting just 1 of 10 in the first twenty minutes.

Early bird Jacksonville State preview with the voice of the Gamecocks

Between the season kickoff with the Canes and a rough road trip to BYU, FSU will try not to overlook Jacksonville State. How much of a fuss will the Gamecocks kick up? For an early look at JSU's '09 team, we spoke to Mike Parris, Jax State's play-by-play announcer and Assistant A.D.

"Well, we've got Ryan Perrilloux coming back. We went 8 - 3 last year and just missed the 1-AA playoffs. We lost a wide receiver; that'll hurt us. In fact we lost three of our top playmakers, counting another WR and a running back. We've got those holes to fill. Going into spring practice we've got to find a tailback. Defensively, though, we'll have more experience returning than last year.

We open up again with Georgia Tech and then you guys, so we'll be outmatched the first two games. Our number one guys will be okay, but FSU and Tech will obviously have more depth. Last year at Tech, physically we matched up. We just had some fumbles they took advantage of. But along the line of scrimmage, we played with 'em up front."

What sort of attack does Coach Crowe run?
"He likes to line up in an I and run it, although we're gonna throw it quite a bit, as well, especially with Perrilloux. Last year we didn't have a true fullback, so we tried to spread it a little bit, too, and ran from the shotgun using Perrilloux's scrambling talents."

How many of Perrilloux's runs are designed versus scrambling on a pass play?
"Honestly, we didn't have a lot of designed runs for him. What running he did the first part of the season was just scrambling. We ran some options the first half of the season, but not as much the second half."

We've seen a few internet posts questioning Perrilloux's grades and conduct. Any problems there?
"Everything is fine. I guess a guy who, when you go back to what happened at LSU -- and I don't know the whole story there -- enters your program, there's always going to be stories or rumors. But he's had no problems. Everything's been great."

After opening with Georgia Tech, will Jax State players be over the jitters of playing a D-1 team?
"Well, Georgia Tech's stadium doesn't hold that many people. So if Doak Campbell is full or close to full, it'll be the largest crowd we've played in front of."

So there's a buzz among Jax State fans about playing FSU and coming to Tallahassee?
"We had a large contingency go to the game at Tech last year, though that's only a two hour drive. But our fans will be excited, especially as we get into spring practice. And going to FSU will be the most hostile environment we've played in since moving to Div. 1-AA in 1995."

Noles escape Blacksburg thanks to Toney's touch shot with 6 seconds left

By Bill from Tampa

Try telling Florida State fans that Toney Douglas is not the ACC Player of the Year.

And if those who have a vote leave him off their ballot, well then they just aren’t paying attention.

Especially after Douglas hit a pull up runner in the lane with six seconds left to give FSU a 67-65 win on the road against Virginia Tech.

Leading by as much as 14 points, 25-11, after shooting 50% in the first half, the ‘Noles could not hardly buy a basket. Shots that fell in the first twenty minutes (8 of 19 three pointers) weren’t dropping in the second twenty. With 11:12 remaining in the game the Seminoles were just 2 of 15 from the floor.

Meanwhile the Hokies overcame a 10 point halftime deficit with an 18-4 run in that span to hold a 51-47 edge over the Seminoles prompting Leonard Hamilton to call timeout to stop the onslaught.

FSU responded with back to back baskets by Solomon Alibi tying the game at 51.

For the next five minutes it was toe to toe with three ties and four lead changes. It became a case of which team would make the crucial defensive stop.

It looked like that team was Florida State.

After Uche Echefu’s two free throws gave the Seminoles a 63-62 lead, Hamilton’s defense stymied Tech forcing a shot clock violation with 2:38 left to play.

Jeff Allen’s missed on a three ball attempt and seconds Douglas increased FSU’s lead with two from the stripe.

A.D. Vassallo could not tie the game with his three point attempt. Thirty seconds later though Vassallo saved the ball from going out of bounds on the missed second free throw attempt by Cheick Diakite. That led to another missed three attempt by Mike Delaney that was put back by Allen tying the game at 65.

With twenty seconds left, Hamilton called timeout to set the play. Was there any doubt that Douglas would be the player to take the last shot?

Jimbo Looks Forward to a Spring Shootout

Heather Dinich speaking Friday on ESPN's "College Football Live" show: "I got a chance to catch up with Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher today. He told me there's definitely going to be competition between returning starter Christian Ponder and E.J. Manuel, who was a redshirt last season. He told me that E.J.'s about 228 - 229 pounds now, 6-foot 5, able to run and move very well, and had a productive winter conditioning. Jimbo said, quote: 'I love our situation with those two guys.'"

Noles whip Canes, notch win number 20

by Bill from Tampa

Stop me if you’ve heard this scenario before.

Florida State used its defense and rode the second half offense of Toney Douglas to defeat another opponent, this time the Miami Hurricanes 80-67.

Assistant coach Stan Jones, who was responsible for developing the game plan against Miami, said before the game that it would take a team effort to guard Jack McClinton. It was as Douglas, Derwin Kitchen, Jordan DeMercy, and Devidas Dulkys all took their turns in guarding the Miami guard who had scored 101 total points in his previous three games.

The quartet of guards combined to hold McClinton to just 13 points that included just one three point basket. FSU frustrated McClinton all game long that saw the guard with just 5 points at the half and not another point until 6:24 remained in the game.

And by that time the Seminoles had a working margin of 61-48 punctuated with a steal by DeMercy off a McClinton pass to Dwayne Collins and the coast-to-coast slam dunk in, out-racing Collins to the hole.

After allowing Miami to shoot 44% in the first half the ‘Noles defense clamped down a little better holding the ‘Canes to 39% in the second. Had they been able to stop James Dews (19 points on 7-11 shooting) a little more, the percentage would have been even better.

And then there was the offense.

Shooting only 36% in the first half, FSU came out of the intermission connecting on eight of its first nine possessions on its way to a sizzling 58% second half performance.

All Hail the King: an FSU and ACC Legend

You're either a card-carrying AARP member or an FSU basketball historian if you remember Ron King. Now King will be officially remembered for his great career. He's one of the 12 ACC Basketball Tournament Legends who'll be honored during halftime of the first semifinal game of the tourney on March 14.

In 1972, King's hot shooting sparked the Noles best-ever team to the NCAA championship game against UCLA. He averaged 19.6 points per game during his college career and is still tied for the 4th-highest career scoring average in FSU history. King also owns the FSU single-game scoring record: 46 points set against Georgia Southern in 1971 (a good sports trivia fact to stump your friends).

Those stats from nearly 40 years ago made King a slam dunk for the FSU Hall of Fame in 1988.

Was the Wake game a speed bump or a brick wall for the upwardly mobile Noles?

FSU's roundball season has six game to go -- all tough ACC match-ups, starting with the Canes tomorrow night (followed by Va. Tech twice, BC, Clemson, and Duke). Will the Noles shake off the shell shock from the loss at Wake? Bill from Tampa checks in with answers and insights.

What did Wake do to shutdown FSU?
Wake plays a defensive system made famous by Dick Bennett at Wisconsin and Washington. Basically they pack it in around the lane, making entry passes difficult and cause you to settle for low percentage perimeter shots. And if they do get inside, the defense collapses on the ball, which does not give much room for a shot and thus either forces a bad shot, the ball returned back outside, or a turnover. FSU fell into the last category right off the bat, when you saw Solomon Alabi have three turnovers in the first three possessions.

Once we adjusted to it a little you saw us tie the game. But then Uche Echefu picked up his second foul and there went a senior to the bench. It's no coincidence that we began to struggle offensively when he sat down. And then it just snowballed from there, especially after Alabi was ejected. All the rotations and offensive game plan went down the tubes.

With six games to go, will other teams follow Wake's strategy?
No, because other teams don't have the same personnel to pull that system off. Wake is second behind FSU in height. They have long, lanky, athletic players that make that a viable system for them.

Will a bad game affect FSU's confidence in the stretch run (and can Hamilton do anything about it)?
I'm not concerned at all about the team's confidence. Hamilton is usually pretty good at getting his teams to focus on each game and forget about past debacles like Saturday night. It helps to have a senior leader like Toney Douglas. And every ACC team has had at least one of these games happen to them, including North Carolina and Duke. So right now I regard this blowout as an exception as opposed to the start of a trend.

Valentine's Day Massacre #2: Wake rolls over Noles 86 - 63

by Bill from Tampa

It’s a pretty good guess that at the basketball banquet in April those in attendance will not be seeing clips of Saturday’s game with Wake Forest in the DVD of the season’s highlights.

Leonard Hamilton has been known to watch a game recording shortly after the game is over four and five times. It’s quite possible he didn’t watch it even once.

After being pummeled 86-63 and trailing by as much as thirty points, probably most Florida State fans wished they had not watched it once either.

Playing their worst game of the season, the Seminoles never got on track, never led once, and were tied just once in the game at 10-10.

“I guess we kind of ran into a buzzsaw,” Hamilton said.

That was readily apparent as FSU found themselves down 8-0 within minutes after the game started against the far more aggressive Deacons. The ‘Noles did not score on their first seven possessions committing three turnovers, all by Solomon Alabi, to open the game. By the time 7:03 had elapsed the Seminoles had racked up seven miscues.

After the seventh turnover FSU seemed to settle down with Uche Echefu scoring six straight points to tie the game at 10.

Echefu’s contributions were short-lived as moments later he found a seat on the bench with his second foul.

Where it all seemed to unravel is when the ‘Noles were trying to cut the margin to five. Ryan Reid attempted a bounce pass to Alabi that was picked off. Jeff Teague promptly laid the ball in at the other end to give Wake a 29-20 lead.

That lead, helped by numerous trips to the free throw line, grew to sixteen with just over a minute left in the half.

FSU managed to cut it to twelve at 42-30 at intermission.

On Sept. 12, the Noles will attempt to even their record against Jacksonville State

Open up the Seminole record book to the very beginning and you'll find a 7 - 0 setback against Jacksonville State in 1947. It was the final game of the Noles inaugural season and their fifth loss, sealing a forgettable 0 - 5 record. It also put the JSU Gamecocks on the short list of opponents that FSU has never beaten

Here's part of the old school write-up of that 1947 game (thanks to the archives of Nole Fans) from The Sunday News-Democrat:

The Jacksonville State Teachers College Gamecocks maintained their place among the nation's unbeaten and untied elevens last night with a first period scoring march that gave them a slim 7-0 win over a battling band of Florida State University Seminoles.

Some 3,700 spirited fans watched the Seminoles shake off the effects of the scoring drive and outfight the highly vaunted Gamecocks throughout the remainder of the contest.

The Alabama eleven, protecting their perfect grid mark, moved 29 yards the first time they gained possession of the ball to take the game, but the Seminoles took the glory.

Rising up in the final tilt of a dismal season that saw them lose their fifth straight game, the Seminoles continually checked the lightning-fast Teacher attack and fought back bitterly in an effort to get a scoring drive of their own underway.

FSU students gave their garnet and gold squad a good hand as it left the field for intermission.