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Published Sep 6, 2019
Insider Report: FSU QB Blackman cleaning up miscues; young LBs impress
Austin Cox and Ira Schoffel
Warchant Staff

From a statistical standpoint, James Blackman delivered a nice season-opening performance against Boise State.

The redshirt sophomore, who beat out graduate transfer Alex Hornibrook for Florida State's starting quarterback job during preseason camp, completed 22 of 33 passes against the Broncos for 327 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

That gave him a quarterback efficiency rating of 182.9, which ranks No. 1 in the ACC and No. 17 nationally.

As impressive as the numbers look, however, Blackman and his coaches -- offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and head coach Willie Taggart -- all acknowledged this week that the quarterback's lapses in decision-making played a role in the Seminoles being shut out in the second half and falling to the Broncos, 36-31.

"I think he understands what he did wrong and where he needs to be better," Taggart said on Thursday. "And the majority of it is just staying focused, staying locked in to the game plan, staying locked in to the game. And if he does that, James will be fine."

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After racking up 264 passing yards in the first two quarters, Blackman accounted for just 63 in the last two. Thee Seminoles recorded three first downs after halftime in squandering an early 18-point lead.

Three days after the loss, Blackman and Briles stood just yards apart from each other and answered reporters' questions. It was the first time Blackman had started a season opener for Florida State, and it was Briles' first game as the Seminoles' play-caller.

When they looked back on that game, the player and assistant coach had the same view of what went wrong from the quarterback's perspective.

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