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What Did FSU Football's Performance Against Miami Say About State of the Program? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

0:02
Speaker 2: All right, here we go.
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Speaker 1: It's the third hour, literally turning the page on the
0:05
Speaker 1: rundown here on show 5699 of The Morning Show with
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Speaker 1: Preston Scott. I'm Preston. He's Jared, producer to be named later,
0:12
Speaker 1: sitting right alongside of him. And joining us on the
0:14
Speaker 1: phone line is the managing editor at Warchant.com. He is
0:19
Speaker 1: Ira Sheffel. Good morning, Ira. How are you?
0:22
Speaker 2: I'm good. How are you doing, Preston?
0:23
Speaker 1: I'm doing well. So tell me how a Florida State
0:28
Speaker 1: fan ought to feel watching the Seminoles come so close
0:34
Speaker 1: and being so competitive against what is likely, what are
0:39
Speaker 1: they the number one team in the nation now?
0:41
Speaker 2: They are the number one team in the country. Yep.
0:44
Speaker 1: So how should we feel about all that?
0:47
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, there's just a lot to try to digest.
0:51
Speaker 2: I mean, on the one hand, you know, you, you,
0:54
Speaker 2: you have to give in, in the window of that
0:56
Speaker 2: one particular players, the coaches, a ton of credit and,
1:01
Speaker 2: for taking Miami to the wire, to double overtime. And
1:06
Speaker 2: you led the game in the fourth quarter. You led
1:08
Speaker 2: the game in overtime. You're playing a team that statistically
1:12
Speaker 2: had the number one offense in the country and number
1:15
Speaker 2: one defense in a lot of categories in the country.
1:18
Speaker 2: And with a payroll, it's probably twice what yours is.
1:21
Speaker 2: So all of those things are tremendously impressive. And then
1:25
Speaker 2: you also walk away being mad because you had two
1:29
Speaker 2: really terrible officiating decisions go against you that kind of
1:32
Speaker 2: cost you any chance to win the game. So all
1:34
Speaker 2: of that would make you feel good about things. On
1:37
Speaker 2: the flip side, it's understandable to be mad that you're
1:40
Speaker 2: 3-4 now. You're 1-3 in the ACC. And you also...
1:46
Speaker 2: look at the rosters and say, well, why is it
1:48
Speaker 2: that we have to overcome all these obstacles? You know, why,
1:52
Speaker 2: why are we in a position as Florida state to
1:54
Speaker 2: where it has to feel like we're playing David playing
1:57
Speaker 2: Goliath when we're playing our arch rival. So there's just
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Speaker 2: a lot to digest.
2:02
Speaker 1: And that's why you're here to help our digestive system.
2:07
Speaker 1: I wish you fell with war chat.com where you go,
2:09
Speaker 1: you subscribe, you get all the Intel on FSU athletics.
2:12
Speaker 1: So let me, let me ask it this way. Should,
2:16
Speaker 1: FSU had won that game.
2:20
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I think you, yeah. I mean, I
2:23
Speaker 2: think they could have, they, they definitely were in position
2:26
Speaker 2: to do it. I don't know if they would have,
2:28
Speaker 2: even if the calls didn't go against them and I,
2:29
Speaker 2: and I, the calls were egregious and that, you know,
2:32
Speaker 2: that's the thing, like on the one hand you could say, well,
2:35
Speaker 2: even if they get the calls, you know, first they
2:36
Speaker 2: get a touchdown taken away by a holding call. That
2:39
Speaker 2: was ridiculous. I mean, every offensive lineman that has a
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Speaker 2: Twitter account, Every former or current offensive lineman in the
2:45
Speaker 2: country that has a Twitter account has ridiculed that holding call.
2:49
Speaker 2: And then the last play where Deuce Robinson at worst
2:54
Speaker 2: has simultaneous possession with a defensive back, which should be
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Speaker 2: a touchdown. They rule an interception, which is just insane.
3:01
Speaker 2: You know, even if those things happen, Florida State still
3:04
Speaker 2: has to convert a two-point conversion just to tie. And,
3:07
Speaker 2: you know, the odds are they're probably not going to
3:09
Speaker 2: win that battle as they go into triple overtime. But,
3:14
Speaker 2: you know, I was thinking the analogy earlier. Just because
3:17
Speaker 2: you've committed a crime in the past doesn't mean the
3:19
Speaker 2: police can put you in jail whenever they want to. So,
3:22
Speaker 2: you know, Florida State wasn't the better team, but they
3:25
Speaker 2: should have been given the chance to. to compete when
3:27
Speaker 2: they had earned it. So I don't know that I'd
3:30
Speaker 2: say they should have won, but they definitely could have
3:31
Speaker 2: won that game.
3:32
Speaker 1: Is there any room at all? And I think we
3:37
Speaker 1: can all agree Malachi Toney is one of those guys
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Speaker 1: that he's going to beat everybody that he lines up against.
3:43
Speaker 1: He's that good, right? Second best receiver in the country.
3:46
Speaker 2: All right.
3:47
Speaker 1: But could an argument be made that Malachi the conference
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Speaker 1: might have an interest in marginal calls going one way
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Speaker 1: to make sure they've got the number one team in
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Speaker 1: the nation.
3:59
Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, and I, I hate to bring that
4:00
Speaker 2: stuff up and, you know, in our mutual friend, Jeff Cameron,
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Speaker 2: a long time ago, you know, used to kind of
4:07
Speaker 2: criticize me when, when I would bring up officiating and he,
4:10
Speaker 2: and there's a good point. His point was once somebody
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Speaker 2: in the media, once you start bringing up officiating, it's,
4:16
Speaker 2: it's like it opens the door to always complain about
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Speaker 2: officiating and, But this was egregious. And yeah, I mean,
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Speaker 2: I think two things to consider there. And I hate
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Speaker 2: to bring it up, but like one is, yes, you
4:28
Speaker 2: have a team that is your best chance to not
4:32
Speaker 2: only make the playoff, but possibly win a national championship.
4:35
Speaker 2: So there's a little bit of vested interest there to
4:37
Speaker 2: help them out. But that happens. I mean, we've seen
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Speaker 2: that in college sports throughout the years where those teams
4:42
Speaker 2: in certain conferences kind of get the benefit of the doubt.
4:45
Speaker 2: We've seen it in basketball. I mean, Coach K's teams
4:48
Speaker 2: at Duke always got the benefit of the doubt. I mean,
4:49
Speaker 2: that's just something we've come to expect. This, I started
4:54
Speaker 2: to wonder about, you know, FSU's place in the ACC.
4:58
Speaker 2: And because this thing, over the last two years, and
5:01
Speaker 2: this has not been a good FSU team, but they
5:03
Speaker 2: have had some really tough whistles over the last couple
5:06
Speaker 2: of years. And Mike Norvell brought it up after the game.
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Speaker 2: And I think the fact that he brought it up
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Speaker 2: is important because he's not a guy that brings up
5:14
Speaker 2: officiating very often. But he pointed out this same crew,
5:18
Speaker 2: the same officiating crew, was at the Stanford game last year,
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Speaker 2: where it sure looked like Gavin Sawchuck got in the
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Speaker 2: end zone on the last play of the game, and
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Speaker 2: they ruled he did not. And replay, again, said that
5:29
Speaker 2: they couldn't find evidence that he did. And that same
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Speaker 2: crew is the one that ruled an interception on that play.
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Speaker 2: So you just wonder if FSU being kind of persona
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Speaker 2: non grata in the conference, because you A, they sued
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Speaker 2: the conference, and B, they're actively trying to get out
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Speaker 2: of the conference and they're fighting this PCSA Act because
5:47
Speaker 2: they want to get out of the conference. Even if
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Speaker 2: it's not a directive to not give FSU a good whistle,
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Speaker 2: is it just kind of becoming the state of the
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Speaker 2: affairs where Florida State's just not going to get the
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Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt?
6:07
Speaker 1: So many things to talk about with Ira Sheffel of Warchand.com.
6:10
Speaker 1: He's the managing editor. And that's where you go. You
6:13
Speaker 1: can subscribe and get all kinds of great intel. I'm
6:17
Speaker 1: a subscriber. No, seriously. Yeah, I'm forking out my hard-earned cash.
6:23
Speaker 1: And love it. Love the writing. Love the reporting. Love
6:27
Speaker 1: the information. And love having Ira with us each and
6:31
Speaker 1: every Monday during the football season for the most part. Now, Ira,
6:36
Speaker 1: I think that game leaves some people feeling, well, now
6:40
Speaker 1: wait a minute. Without the payroll, we just lined up and, okay,
6:46
Speaker 1: it was a coin toss. We lost. But we were
6:49
Speaker 1: in that game. We were competitive. We have a roster
6:52
Speaker 1: where the talent gap may not be as wide as
6:56
Speaker 1: we thought it was. Is that a fair thought to
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Speaker 1: walk away from that game thinking?
7:02
Speaker 2: And that's where I get back to where we started
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Speaker 2: this conversation where it's complicated because if you play the
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Speaker 2: way you did in that game, if you play with
7:10
Speaker 2: that physicality, that passion, if you execute as well as
7:13
Speaker 2: you played, the plays you made on both sides of
7:16
Speaker 2: the ball, well, you beat SMU when they turned it
7:19
Speaker 2: over four times. You don't lose at Louisville in a
7:22
Speaker 2: game that you were up. You could have been up 21-0.
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Speaker 2: And so from that standpoint, you just look at it
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Speaker 2: and say, man, I mean, it's– It's kind of like
7:32
Speaker 2: when one of your kids does something well, and you're like, shoot,
7:36
Speaker 2: I remember myself when I was in school. I finally
7:39
Speaker 2: got a few good grades. I finally woke up my
7:42
Speaker 2: junior year of high school, and I got some good grades.
7:44
Speaker 2: And my dad was like, oh, I thought you were
7:46
Speaker 2: just a dummy. And it's like once you see that
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Speaker 2: you can't, once you see your kid can do something,
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Speaker 2: you're like, wait a minute, now I'm going to expect that. Well,
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Speaker 2: as well as after she played, now it just kind
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Speaker 2: of makes you mad that they haven't played that well
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Speaker 2: in some other games. And it makes you wonder, well,
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Speaker 2: what's it going to look like next time they play
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Speaker 2: and the time after that? And ultimately, and I'm sure
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Speaker 2: you're going to get there, the big picture with Mike
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Speaker 2: Norvell is why can't he get his team to play
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Speaker 2: at a high level more often?
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Speaker 1: Well, actually, I was going to start with, well, what
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Speaker 1: about the next five games? Because the argument could be made,
8:20
Speaker 1: especially with a bye week coming up, that if Norvell
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Speaker 1: is still at the reins, and I don't expect him
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Speaker 1: not to be, personally, and I'll ask you your opinion
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Speaker 1: on that as well, there isn't now a team on
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Speaker 1: this schedule, including Florida, that they can't beat.
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Speaker 2: No, that's absolutely right. And that's a sentence and a
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Speaker 2: statement that probably sends shivers down the back of some
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Speaker 2: FSU fans.
8:45
Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Because, you know, there's a lot of people who have
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Speaker 2: decided that they want to move on. They want to
8:50
Speaker 2: go in a new direction. But you look at these
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Speaker 2: games and you say, shoot, I mean, Clemson at home,
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Speaker 2: that's a game they probably should win. You look at
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Speaker 2: NC State, that's a game they should win. You look
9:02
Speaker 2: at Pitt, BC, yeah, they're all games that this Florida
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Speaker 2: State team should win. The problem is they have not
9:10
Speaker 2: consistently played well. You know, a year ago, I brought
9:12
Speaker 2: up that Stanford game last year where they felt like
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Speaker 2: they got kind of cheated by the officials. Well, that
9:17
Speaker 2: only could happen because they played so bad that they
9:20
Speaker 2: were losing to Stanford. And so there's the rub. Like,
9:24
Speaker 2: on the one hand, yes, they should win these next
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Speaker 2: five games or at least win four of them. And
9:29
Speaker 2: if he does that, then maybe Mike Norvell comes back
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Speaker 2: or is in position to come back next year. The
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Speaker 2: problem is they just don't consistently win those games.
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Speaker 1: 21 past the hour. Morning show with Preston Scott. Ira
9:40
Speaker 1: Chafell from Warchant.com. Ira, has Ashton Daniels proven himself to
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Speaker 1: be worth going after and basically being given the job
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Speaker 1: as starting quarterback?
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Speaker 2: It's really amazing when you think about it. And I
9:55
Speaker 2: know that some people are going to probably have already
9:59
Speaker 2: decided they don't think Ashton Daniels is a great college
10:01
Speaker 2: quarterback and he's not probably a great college passer. But
10:05
Speaker 2: in terms of being productive in an offense, I actually
10:08
Speaker 2: just posted a story at our website. You know, there's
10:10
Speaker 2: only three quarterbacks in the country that have produced more
10:13
Speaker 2: touchdowns than Ashton Daniels. He's got 23 touchdowns in seven games.
10:19
Speaker 2: You know, Jordan Travis last year had 26 or 27
10:23
Speaker 2: touchdowns in the entire season. He's got 23 in seven games.
10:27
Speaker 2: He had five touchdowns Saturday against Miami. You know, again,
10:31
Speaker 2: he's not a great passer. He only completes about 58%
10:34
Speaker 2: of his passes. But in terms of being a decision-maker,
10:38
Speaker 2: you know, his ability to run the ball, and he's
10:41
Speaker 2: made some big-time throws, yeah, man, he has been not
10:44
Speaker 2: just– a good quarterback, I think overall, but when you
10:48
Speaker 2: talk about the decision to go get him, you know,
10:51
Speaker 2: Mike Norvell took a lot of heat for not going
10:53
Speaker 2: and get a more high profile quarterback. Miami invested six
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Speaker 2: to anywhere from six to eight, or maybe even $ 10
11:00
Speaker 2: million to get Darian Mensah based on his salary and
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Speaker 2: what they had to pay Duke to get him out
11:05
Speaker 2: of his contract there. That's a ton of money. Ashton
11:08
Speaker 2: Daniels probably made a 10th of that. And he, he,
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Speaker 2: I thought he outplayed Darian Mensah on Saturday.
11:15
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Usman Kroma. What's the latest on his injury?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, just devastating. So he did have, I guess, an
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Speaker 2: ankle dislocation, had surgery.
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Speaker 1: Uh.
11:28
Speaker 2: over the weekend and uh... return to tell a seed
11:31
Speaker 2: there said they said the official statement expecting to make
11:33
Speaker 2: a full recovery and uh... certainly hope that the case
11:36
Speaker 2: but you know that they're definitely a tough injury in
11:38
Speaker 2: a time you have an ankle uh... they get that
11:42
Speaker 2: kind of weight placed on a talk to a friend
11:44
Speaker 2: of mine who's an orthopedic surgeon and he said he
11:46
Speaker 2: thinks you do think or mobile will come back and
11:48
Speaker 2: and and be closer because he was before But you
11:52
Speaker 2: hate to see that kind of injury because it's more complicated.
11:56
Speaker 2: A torn ACL, they can fix it with like a
11:58
Speaker 2: 100% chance of getting it right. An ankle is a
12:01
Speaker 2: little bit trickier. There's just so many different bones and
12:04
Speaker 2: ligaments down there. So you just hate it for him.
12:07
Speaker 2: But it sounds like if everything goes well, he'll be
12:10
Speaker 2: able to play next season. It's just he's going to
12:13
Speaker 2: have a road to recovery that probably will limit him
12:16
Speaker 2: even in spring football.
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Speaker 1: Stupid thought. I just, I wonder, and I mentioned this
12:20
Speaker 1: earlier in the program, I wonder if it's complicated at
12:22
Speaker 1: all by how bow-legged he is. Because it just, it
12:25
Speaker 1: changes the angle of how the weight is distributed on
12:31
Speaker 1: his feet and his ankles.
12:32
Speaker 2: Yes. You know, when it comes to, a lot of
12:35
Speaker 2: times when the guys are bow-legged like that, there's concerns
12:38
Speaker 2: about their knees sometimes. But, yeah, I'm not sure if
12:42
Speaker 2: that is a factor or not. But I will say this,
12:44
Speaker 2: you know, when I was talking to my friend who's
12:46
Speaker 2: an orthopedic, he said, The fact that he is such
12:49
Speaker 2: an incredible athlete, that does factor into healing. When you're
12:55
Speaker 2: that well put together, and I think back to when
12:58
Speaker 2: Antonio Cromartie was at FSU and he toured ACL, and
13:01
Speaker 2: he literally was trying to play four or five months
13:03
Speaker 2: later because he was such a tremendously gifted athlete, that's
13:08
Speaker 2: going to help him get back.
13:10
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the, I guess it's all
13:12
Speaker 1: but a done deal, 24 teams, college football playoff. I
13:15
Speaker 1: personally hate it.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. Everything that happens in college football, including this, I
13:22
Speaker 2: keep thinking, man, at some point we're going to reach
13:24
Speaker 2: the tipping point where it affects the people's interest in
13:27
Speaker 2: the sport, but it hasn't happened yet. I do know that,
13:30
Speaker 2: you know, I do wonder whether it's going to be
13:32
Speaker 2: as lucrative as people think, because again, you are minimizing
13:36
Speaker 2: greatly the importance of the regular season. So, so yeah,
13:39
Speaker 2: I'm not a fan of it, but I keep waiting
13:43
Speaker 2: for the decision that really ruins college football, and they've
13:46
Speaker 2: done a lot of things to try to do that,
13:48
Speaker 2: and it still hasn't happened yet.
13:50
Speaker 1: Well, let me ask you this. It was a point
13:51
Speaker 1: brought up by one of our kids this weekend. How
13:56
Speaker 1: soon before then those big rivalry games that usually end
13:59
Speaker 1: the season, you start seeing the best players held out
14:02
Speaker 1: because they're in the playoff and they don't want to
14:03
Speaker 1: run a risk of those guys getting hurt? Yeah.
14:07
Speaker 2: And Corey has brought this up before with Florida State,
14:11
Speaker 2: you know, a few years ago, they were in a
14:12
Speaker 2: situation where it's like, why would you risk a guy
14:15
Speaker 2: against Florida? Or why would you risk a guy in
14:17
Speaker 2: the conference championship game? Yeah, no, those are all valid points. Yeah,
14:23
Speaker 2: and again, I just feel like every decision that gets made,
14:26
Speaker 2: it's very much made in a short-term mindset. And we'll
14:30
Speaker 2: have to see the long-term implications. But, yeah, I don't
14:32
Speaker 2: love it. Just like I don't love the NCAA tournament
14:36
Speaker 2: going to 90-something teams.
14:37
Speaker 1: Oh, it's disgusting.
14:39
Speaker 2: But as long as TV's got their checkbook out, these
14:42
Speaker 2: college officials are willing to take pretty much anything they offer.
14:47
Speaker 1: All right, Ira, thanks very much. We're off next week,
14:49
Speaker 1: so we'll talk in a couple weeks.
14:51
Speaker 2: Okay, guys.
14:52
Speaker 1: All right, Ira Sheffel with us from Warchant.com. Again, subscribe.
14:56
Speaker 1: Go to Warchant.com and support the work and get all
15:00
Speaker 1: kinds of great intel and writing in return.