Before the 2012 season begins, the Osceola and Noles247 take a look at the season that was for Florida State football. Next up: FSU's 62-10 win over Charleston Southern in the final tuneup before the clash with No. 1 Oklahoma.
Freshman Rashad Greene had another breakout performance in FSU's win over Charleston Southern.
By Geoff Nichols
Noles247 correspondent
Fifth-ranked Florida State headed into its week two matchup with FCS opponent Charleston Southern riding a high following a shutout of Louisiana-Monroe the week prior.
The overmatched Buccaneers provided FSU with one final tuneup before the next week's showdown with Oklahoma, and the Seminoles answered the call with a 62-10 rout that allowed for several backups and freshmen to see some action.
Quarterback EJ Manuel led the Seminoles' offense with 379 yards and four touchdowns while completing 69 percent (24-for-35) of his passes. True freshman James Wilder Jr. paced the running game with 76 yards on just 10 carries.
Redshirt freshman QB Clint Trickett continued to look good in relief of Manuel with two more passing touchdowns on six completions and a rushing touchdown.
What went right for FSU:
For the second straight week, the Florida State defense looked dominant despite playing an inferior opponent. The defense held the Buccaneers’ offense to an astonishingly low 84 yards and only 10 points, and nine of CSU's 15 offensive drives ended in three-and-outs.
The Florida State offense had only four drives not end in a score of some sort. Manuel ended his day with four passing touchdowns and probably could have added a few on the ground had Jimbo Fisher loosened the reigns. Freshman receiver Rashad Greene led the Seminoles in receiving with 98 yards and two touchdowns, all from Trickett. With those two TDs, the Greene-Trickett tandem pushed its season total to three touchdowns on just three completions.
What went wrong for FSU:
Despite strong performances on both sides off the ball, some persistent issues continued to show through – primarily an apparent lack of cohesion along the offensive line and a difficulty getting the running game on track.
QB Clint Trickett scored through the air and on the ground.
The offense racked up 647 yards but looked out of sync at times, and Manuel threw a costly interception that led to the Bucaneers' lone touchdown of the game.
While the numbers on defense may be hard to argue with (holding Charleston Southern to just 1.9 yards per play), there were still a few early-season kinks – missed assignments and missed tackles – at times.
What we learned:
That, even in light of a big win, Florida State had quite a few obvious issues on both sides of the ball to work on over the next week as it prepared for its hotly-anticipated contest with No. 1 Oklahoma on Sept. 17.
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In only his second game at FSU, freshman receiver Rashad Greene continued to grab the spotlight with 140 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
What Jimbo said:
“Went out and did what we were supposed to do - didn’t play perfect but we cleaned some things up. Some young guys made some really nice plays and got some experience in what they did. We have to continue to get better. Defense played well. We didn’t lose our concentration in the end of the ball game when the young guys were in.”
