FSU's defense once again dominant

Originally Published: October 9, 2003

Email Print Share

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
Archive

When Florida State took up residence in the top five for 14 straight seasons, a span that included two national championships and made Tallahassee famous for something other than the governor, Seminole defense meant two things: Offenses ran without success, and quarterbacks ran for their lives.

In the decade from 1991 through 2000, Florida State allowed more than 101 rushing yards per game only once. And in five of those seasons, the Seminoles had one defender who by himself averaged one sack per game. The pass rush allowed defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews to play man coverage and sic his corners on opposing receivers.

Andrews, in his 20th season running the defense for the offensive-minded Bobby Bowden, also believed in playing many players. Florida State had the luxury of athletes on a second team that could come in and be nearly as good as the players they replaced. The depth wore offenses down.

The above traits have been hit or miss the past two seasons, when Florida State lost a total of nine games. But the Seminoles (5-0, No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 Associated Press) go into the game against arch rival Miami (5-0, No. 2 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 Associated Press) having played the kind of defense they played throughout the 1990s. Florida State already has 22 sacks this season, eight more than the team had in all of 2001. Opponents have scored only two rushing touchdowns and are averaging 89.2 yards on the ground. The pass defense has been in lockdown, too, allowing only one score through the air.

That's three touchdowns in five games, and even when you throw in a defensive touchdown and three field goals, the average of 7.4 points allowed per game is the least that one of Andrews' defenses has allowed since the national championship season of 1993.

Free safety B.J. Ward started to list three reasons why the defense has improved. "The first one would have to be accountability," said Ward, a junior who has blocked two kicks this season. "We had a lot of busted plays the last year because guys weren't doing their jobs. Guys were trying to make plays. The bottom line, everybody is going to do their job, and we're going to let the plays take care of themselves."

They have. The Seminole have allowed only three passes over 25 yards.

"Two would be maturity," Ward continued. "Two years ago we had sophomores playing. Now we've got juniors and seniors.

"Three," Ward said, and then he stopped. "I really can't think of a third one."

Ward is tied for the lead in tackles, with 28. While it's usually not a good sign when a free safety is making a lot of tackles, make an exception for the Seminoles. For one thing, five defenders have either 27 or 28 tackles, which means Florida State is swarming to the ball. The sacks are divvied up the same way. End Eric Moore leads the team with 3.5 sacks, and three teammates have three each.

Together, they mean that Andrews has the depth to shuttle people in and out of the lineup, a luxury, or, against teams as talented as Miami, a necessity that he hasn't had the past two years.

"We lost to Miami on a field goal," Ward said, recalling last year, when Florida State couldn't hold a 27-14 lead in the fourth quarter. "Guys were playing the whole game and cramping up."

This season, on the other hand, Ward said he hasn't played more than 50 snaps in any one game, and the reserves are getting as many as 25.

Though the Seminoles returned 10 starters from last year's defense, eight of them missed most or all of spring practice because of injuries. What started as a problem became, over the course of the spring, a great boon. The second-teamers got so much work during the spring, Andrews said, that they became good enough to start.

"It happened just like you hoped it would happen," Andrews said. "Those eight guys just made a tremendous jump, growing up and maturing. There's a big difference when you're a backup and you go out there thinking like you're a backup. You play like a backup. Once you're on the field, you're not a backup."

The best of several examples of that is sophomore weakside linebacker A.J. Nicholson, who took the snaps last spring when senior Kendyll Pope couldn't practice because of a shoulder injury. Though Nicholson played a lot as a freshman, this season, he has come in for Pope, made 22 tackles, forced three fumbles and returned one for a touchdown.

"With this group," linebacker coach Kevin Steele said, "it's almost like the starters are the group that plays the first quarter. That's hard to do."

But that's what Andrews strives to assemble. As coaches go, Andrews is a fresh bagel -- crusty on the exterior, warm and soft on the inside. It takes young players a couple of years to gnaw through that crust. Andrews carries a sharp tongue onto the practice field, and he isn't afraid to use it on the secondary, which is his responsibility. One of his more famous remarks, which he rasped out a few years ago, "I'm going to call your mamma and apologize for lying to her, because I told her you could play football."

Ward, from his perch as a veteran, has learned to appreciate his position coach. "Coach Andrews knows how to get guys playing to their potential," Ward said. "We might say, 'We're satisfied. We're playing good.' He knows how to get two extra steps out of you."

Extra steps will be important against Miami because the Hurricanes, unlike their performances against West Virginia and Florida, will focus from the opening kick, instead of when they fall behind in the second half. What isn't known yet is whether their best is good enough.

Miami leads the Big East in turnovers with 13. Junior Brock Berlin has thrown more picks (seven) than touchdowns (six), and rookie quarterbacks in this rivalry have a history of losing. Senior tailback Jarrett Payton gets his first career start, which means he has been a dependable backup throughout his career. Asking some combination of him, senior Jason Geathers and freshman Tyrone Moss to be enough to replace Gore is asking a lot.

The Seminole defensive coaches admit to beginning their game plan for Miami on the Saturday night two weekends ago that they returned from their 56-7 victory at Duke. It's not cricket to admit to anything earlier. Put it this way: for at least two weeks, Florida State has been getting ready to stop Miami. The chances of playing traditional Seminole defense against the Hurricanes are a lot greater than they have been since their last victory over their archrival, during the national championship of 1999.

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He can be reached at ivan.maisel@espn3.com.