Briles: Issues on first, second down cause FSU to be 'predictable' on third

Three days after getting shut out in the second half of the season opener, Florida State offensive coordinator Kendal Briles met with the media Tuesday morning.

He said the biggest problem between the two halves of the 36-31 loss was that when things started going poorly for the offense, it couldn't pull out of the tailspin.

"Momentum is the greatest player and coach on the field," Briles said. "When you've got it, you've got to try to run with it. When you don't have, it you've got to try to find a way to get it back. We just didn't find a way to get it back."

It was just the fourth time a Kendal Briles-coached offense has been shut out in a half. And while there were plenty of positives from the first 30 minutes, the first-year offensive coordinator mainly talked about the issues in the second half.

Florida State managed just 68 yards of total offense after amassing over 350 in the first.

"Just be more productive on first and second down," Briles said. "Had a lot of third-and-longs, which they were able to expose us a little bit up front. Because we were very predictable about what we were having to do. Just be higher percentage on first down."

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The Seminoles were just 1 of 12 on third downs in the game, and they had the ball for just 19:57 of game time. Which meant the Florida State defense was on the field for over 40 minutes. And 108 plays.

Briles was asked what can be done about the time-of-possession discrepancy.

"What can you do?" Briles said. "Don't go three-and-out. That's the best way to not put your defense out there quickly. I mean, we don't want to go three-and-out. That's not what you want to do. That's the worst thing you can do offensively."

But he's not about to change how he runs his offense. Just because of one bad half.

"No, we're going to do what we do," Briles said. "We've just got to be more productive."

Especially on first and second down, which can lead to easier third-down conversions.

Briles said he thought the offensive line did a "good job" on Saturday, and also added that the big runs in the first half came in part to the tempo the Seminoles were running.

He reiterated, like head coach Willie Taggart on Monday, that the Seminoles have to be able to run the ball the entire game. He said he expects that to be improved upon from Week 1 to Week 2.

Briles said he watched the Notre Dame-Louisville game on Monday night and mentioned how teams all over the country have issues in the first game of the season. It's not specific to Florida State.

"A lot of improvement happens from Week 1 to Week 2," Briles said. "So I expect that to happen."

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