Daily briefing: On a big win for Florida State, more Pac-12 disappointment and Marcus Freeman
Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:
FSU’s win had perfect finish to error-filled game
Once you get past the mistakes – if you get past the mistakes by both teams and the Big 12 officiating crew – Florida State’s 24-23 victory over LSU Sunday night in New Orleans is the Seminoles’ biggest win since their 2013 national championship. The past five seasons of that nine-year span have been excruciating. Mike Norvell’s rebuild bore fruit Sunday night, at least until the final 1:05, when his team, leading 24-17, lost a fumble at LSU’s 1. The Tigers got an undeserved chance to tie the game with two seconds left when an official incorrectly ruled LSU tight end Mason Taylor out of bounds at the Seminoles’ 2. After LSU took advantage of the gift play and scored, Florida State blocked the extra point to end the game, the perfect finish to an error-filled night. The Tigers made a season’s worth of mistakes in special teams alone (two muffed punts, two kicks blocked), not to mention a sputtering offense. The beauty of Week One is that fans are so excited to have college football back, they’ll forgive mistakes. Just don’t make them after Week One.
Utah’s loss more disappointing than Oregon’s
Another Pac-12 season, another disappointing start. Yeah, I picked Utah to go to the College Football Playoff. I’m more disappointed in the Utes beating themselves at Florida than I am in Oregon getting humiliated by defending national champion Georgia in Atlanta. The Ducks got dominated physically twice late last season by Utah, and the Dawgs have better athletes than the Utes. That’s not ground that can be made up in one offseason, especially by a first-time coach, even in the age of the transfer portal. The Utes, on the other hand, outplayed the Gators. But they made two trips inside the Gators’ 10 and got no points, including Cam Rising’s interception on second-and-goal in the final seconds. That’s the kind of loss that can motivate a team for the next 11 games.
Marcus Freeman, meet Lou Holtz
The bad news is that Marcus Freeman is only the second coach in the past century to start 0-2 at Notre Dame. The good news is that things worked out well for the first, Lou Holtz. He took the Fighting Irish to the Cotton Bowl in Year Two and the 1988 national championship in Year Three (Notre Dame’s last title, as every schoolboy knows). Freeman has way more talent and way less attitude to adjust in Year One than did Holtz. Freeman’s Irish have played well enough to beat most teams in losing to No. 9 Oklahoma State 37-35 in the Fiesta Bowl to end last season and 21-10 at No. 2 Ohio State to start this season. There will be bumps in the road – there always are – but Freeman appears well-equipped to handle them.