Good, bad and ugly: This is the identity of FSU football in 2017
CLEMSON, S.C. -- As much as this was a football game, it might as well have been a Rorschach test. Instead of black-and-white ink blots, these images were painted garnet and gold.
If you had rounded up 10 different Florida State fans Saturday night and asked them their biggest takeaways from FSU’s 31-14 loss to Clemson, you probably would’ve heard 10 different viewpoints.
One might've raved about the Seminoles’ fighting spirit in the second half, praising the way they made a game of it after trailing 17-0 at halftime. Another would've ranted about the continuing struggles of true freshman quarterback James Blackman and the fact that this team is now 3-6 on the season.
You would have heard complaints about the offense gaining just 46 yards of offense in the first half, and you’d have heard compliments about the defense finally creating some big plays -- forcing three fumbles, recovering two and recording nine tackles for loss.
Some would have said this was a game the Seminoles should have won. Others would have argued they were lucky to be in it at all.
Even though we all watched the same game -- in person or on television -- most of us saw it differently. And for good reason.
Like every other FSU game this season, this one was filled with the good, the bad, the ugly and the bizarre. Every position group had positives and negatives. Practically every player had good moments and bad.
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And after nine games, I think we can finally just admit that this is this team’s identity: They’re talented enough to look good at times, but sloppy enough to look bad at times.
This is who they are.
It’s the difference in recording 10 or 11 wins or being one of the ACC’s cellar dwellers. It’s the difference between beating the Miamis and Clemsons like they used to, and on Saturday finishing conference play with only three victories in eight tries.
It should not be overlooked that FSU's three ACC wins came against two of the weaker teams in the Atlantic Division (Syracuse and Wake Forest) and the second-to-worst team in the Coastal (Duke). Against teams with .500 conference records or worse, the Seminoles went 3-2. Against teams with winning records, they went 0-3.
It doesn’t mean they didn’t try. What it does mean is they’re not very good … at least not for an entire 60 minutes. It’s been the same story all season.
In early September, they were good enough to compete with Alabama for most of three quarters before self-destructing down the stretch.
In early October, they were good enough to lead rival Miami with just over a minute remaining before their defense collapsed on the Hurricanes’ final drive.
In early November, they were good enough to rally from a 17-0 deficit on the road against defending national champion Clemson before wilting in the final minutes.
That’s three disappointing losses against quality competition -- one at home, one on the road and one at a neutral site -- in three consecutive months. When the latest College Football Playoff rankings are revealed this week, there’s a good chance those three teams will be among the top four.
The Seminoles realistically could have beaten all of them. They beat none.
That’s why fans walk away from these games with so many different interpretations and conflicted emotions. They know that this team had the ability to compete at the highest levels if it played with consistent effort and execution, but they also know that this group never put it all together for four quarters.
They didn’t do it against the best competition, nor did they do it against the worst. All three of their wins came down to the final minute. Nearly all of their losses did as well.
Is it the players’ fault? Yes.
Is it the coaches’ fault? For sure.
Were difficult circumstances to blame? Of course.
When a season starts this high (No. 3 national ranking) and ends this low (needing three wins in the final three games to just become bowl-eligible), there is plenty of blame to go around. But after nine games, it's time to stop asking why things went wrong and begin focusing on how quickly those problems can be fixed.
Once the regular season is complete -- whether the Seminoles clinch a bowl berth or not -- Jimbo Fisher absolutely is going to make changes to his program. That was a foregone conclusion whether the Seminoles won or lost on Saturday. How many changes, and how widespread, is to be determined.
If the fans had a vote, they’d start with a new offensive line coach and a new defensive coordinator, and they wouldn’t stop there. It will be up to Fisher to decide how much change is enough.
Just like the fans on Saturday night, he’ll be taking his own Florida State Football-themed Rorschach test.
Will he see the struggles on offense as proof that he needs to analyze everything about his system -- from schemes to playcalling -- or will he dismiss them as the byproduct of injuries at quarterback, receiver and offensive line?
Will he decide that new blood is needed across the coaching staff? Or will he believe the remedy can be found with just a few less-drastic changes?
Will he assess that the failures of this season could have been, and should have been, avoided? Or will he decide that this team was mostly a victim of circumstance?
At this point, you have to believe there will be a substantial overhaul. Fisher is too competitive and driven to not face the harsh realities of the situation. If the 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016 clouded his vision, this 3-6 start has to have removed the fog.
Fisher also has to be taking stock of the landscape immediately around him. In less than two years, Mark Richt has transformed rival Miami from a mockery into an emerging machine. Rival Clemson has shared a spot with only Alabama atop the college football mountaintop for the past three years. And rival Florida is going to get a fresh start with a completely new coaching staff.
After dominating the conference and the state during his first several seasons as head coach, Fisher no longer has control of either. He knows as well as anyone that when it comes to athletics, you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.
For the better part of four years, the trend has been going in the wrong direction.
Jimbo Fisher’s Florida State tenure is at a crossroads.
We all can see that.
Contact Warchant managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com. Follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter.
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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council