Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: FLORIDA STATE BY WES MORGAN F lorida State wide receiver Kenny Shaw pulled in a 23-yard touch- down pass from quarterback EJ Manuel to give the Seminoles a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter against No. 1 Oklahoma on Sept. 17. Or so everyone at Doak Campbell Sta- dium in Tallahassee, Fla., thought. Instead, officials ruled the play an incomplete pass. Shaw, who took a brutal hit, was motionless on the ground for 10 minutes in front of a si- lenced crowd — his arms outstretched as if he was holding the ball. The helmets of both Oklahoma cor- nerback Javon Harris and linebacker Tom Wort hit Shaw's neck at the same time and knocked him out immedi- ately. Harris was flagged for a per- sonal foul, and Shaw was later carted off the field and taken to a nearby hospital. He would be okay. In fact, Shaw returned to the field the follow- ing week and finished the year with 30 catches for 354 yards and four touch- downs. "I think that changed the complex- ion of the game," said Corey Dowlar, who covers FSU for Noles247.com and Osceola Magazine. "It seemed like ev- eryone was different." Four plays later, Manuel was in- tercepted, and the Sooners went on to win 23-13. The Seminoles also lost Manuel to a shoulder injury in the game, which was the beginning of a three-game losing streak that under- mined a promising season. A year after a 10-2 record and a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, FSU — which entered 2011 ranked No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press poll — seemed poised to achieve something special this fall. "Everyone had really high hopes," Dowlar said of head coach Jimbo Fish- er's second season in charge. "It was almost a situation where everything Fisher did wasn't questioned. There was tangible success last year — they won 10 games and went to the ACC title game. A lot of people thought they might have been a little ahead of schedule. For that reason, coming into this year, everyone's expectations were increased. "Because they struggled the way they did, losing to teams like Wake Forest [Oct. 8] and Virginia [Nov. 19] 34 JANUARY 2012 Redshirt junior quarterback EJ Manuel battled through a shoulder injury to throw for 2,417 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and also rushed for four scores. W Its Own kind of rattled fans' confidence in the coaching staff. For the most part, people see that the program is still on track. But it's not all-in, blind faith in the coaching staff." There was also a 35-30 defeat at Clemson on Sept. 24 in between the Oklahoma and Wake Forest losses. Reserve quarterback Clint Trickett, a redshirt freshman, started against both the Tigers and Demon Deacons while Manuel, a redshirt junior, nursed his shoulder injury. The offense simply wasn't the same. After throwing for just 26 yards and two interceptions, Trickett was replaced by Manuel late in the second quarter against Wake, PHOTO COURTESY FLORIDA STATE orst Enemy Florida State's lofty expectations were undermined by self-inflicted problems with Fisher explaining that the QB was healthy enough to play all along but was benched as a precaution. Manuel finished with 286 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but two picks cut the rally short. Compounding the team's frustration was the loss of start- ing tailback Chris Thompson, who fractured two vertebrae in the defeat and was sidelined for the rest of the season. "A lot of people questioned whether the coaching staff was a little overcon- fident going into the game," Dowlar said. "Did they think they could grind out a victory over Wake Forest with- out their starting quarterback? I think BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED