With little or no coachspeak, BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall talked candidly after the game about how the Noles dominated his Cougars. His words should be used to fire up FSU throughout the season -- infusing them with confidence and serving as a standard to shoot for in every game.
His comments should also be music to the ears of all FSU fandom. Mendenhall opened up about how his team was less prepared, out-schemed, outplayed -- and, yes, even outcoached. Not always in those words, but read between the lines.
The takeaway is that things are going in the right direction (even though last week it seemed the opposite might be true). Now it's up to the team to stay focused and hungry. At least they learned this: given a full week of practice, and dedicating themselves to making a statement, pays big dividends.
Now, those comments from Mendenhall.
"I congratulate coach Bowden and their football program. They were very well prepared, both technically and schematically, [and] also emotionally. I thought they played hard, I thought they played physical and I thought they sustained it from beginning to end. I was very impressed with their preparation...
"Our inability to make critical stops on third down, due to the way Florida State was playing. Their quarterback did an exceptional job, not only executing on third down but scrambling where appropriate and making the key throws. Underlying that, they won the physical matchup in terms of being able to run the football, and run it effectively from the beginning of the night through the end of the night. I thought those factors were the biggest difference in the game -- prohibiting our offfense from having enough snaps and being on the field frequently enough to give us the balance we were hopeful for."
Q: What did you tell your players in the locker room after the game?
A: "I was very honest in saying that Florida State played more physical tonight. I think they played with more hunger, meaning more desire. Many plays were stopped at the point of attack, but I think they continued to play longer and harder than we played."
Q: How good was FSU's offensive line?
A: "I was impressed through the week in their athleticism. I was impressed today that they were more physical than I anticipated. They were very athletic in the first two football games in terms of getting downfield on their screen passes, and cutting. Their size is more like defensive linemen, as you watch them. So they are very athletic.
"I didn't think they would be able to move us off the line of scrimmage. And not only did they do that, they did it consistently, beginning to end. And that was the biggest surprise to me of the game...from beginning to end, (they) ran the football and it wasn't a lot of elaborate schemes. It was basically zone blocking, which was their men against our men."
Q: What were some halftime adjustments you made to stop their offense?
A: "It really comes down to gap integrity, and each player doing exactly what they are supposed to do. And when you run zone schemes, someone is losing at the point of attack, or someone is getting cut off, and losing their gap. And that is where seams develop.
"Basically, man for man, Florida State's run offense was better than our run defense this evening. And when you start taking chances and bringing pressure -- and we brought more today than probably in any of the previous two games, maybe all of last year, in trying to help them make plays, but even then Florida State handled that well."
Q: Why couldn't you stop FSU's offense no matter what?
A: "I think Florida State was more prepared in general than we were tonight -- really from beginning to end. And otherwise you don't have the number of points scored, nor the success especially on third down that they were having. So I think their preparation exceeded ours."
Q: What was difference with defense from today and Oklahoma game?
A: "I believe we were fundamentally sound in the first two (games). I believe we had the right personnel on the field. I believe we had the right schemes, which were basically the same schemes we played in Week I and Week 2. But our execution was just not the same, nor was our urgency to finish plays the same. And that to me was quite a bit different today...I think it needs to also say a lot about Florida State and their preparation. They were very well prepared and they played a clean football game.
"And again, their quarterback in my estimation made a lot of really nice throws. But then when the throws weren't open, he was able to scramble for first downs, and break pressure in the pocket...
"Then he had some nice designed runs for himself as well. So if anything, I think we underestimated maybe what he was capable of. Not only throwing the football, but how he could run it. And I thought he really played a nice football game and did a nice job leading their team."
Q: Did their constant third-down conversions kill your spirit?
A: "Possibly, yeah I think it tests your resolve and it can effect your confidence and I think it just effects your love of playing the game. You are talking now about a defense that I don't think has played more than 58 plays in the first two games, gettng out and being very good on third down, and now it was basically the opposite...
"And basically everything we had planned and prepared, we used. And none of which was very effective. Our zone pressures weren't working in terms of getting to the quarterback. We had some man pressures that also weren't effective. And base zone and even dropping eight [wasn't effective]. So execution ultimately was their execution was better than ours."
Q: Was FSU QB Christian Ponder's ability to run the big key?
A: "Yeah, If I were to say there was one difference from our previous two football games to today, it might not seem as big to maybe the observer, but the quarterback's ability to scramble for first downs and run the football was a big difference..."
Comments? Questions? Kudos?