Northern Illinois

Things really look grim in Tallahassee. Willie Taggart is starting to look a bit over his head as the starting Head Coach at Florida State. While I am not buying that he isn’t the man for the job, I do believe he will be facing the hot seat in 2019. This is a season sooner than I would of initially assumed, however the start to 2018 has been so poor he will face scrutiny unlike any other he’s received at his previous stops.

The fact that Northern Illinois is a nail-biter and a must-win for Coach Willie is an embarrassment to the Florida State legacy. Florida State’s active consecutive bowl streak is now at-risk thanks to an embarrassing loss to Syracuse, in addition to the loss against Virginia Tech. Most of this isn’t truly Willie’s fault. Frankly, the recruiting and development along the offensive line has been poor over the past four seasons, with significant regressions from 2014 through this season. Willie brings a system that is radically different than the Jimbo Fisher offense. The four and five star talent on-hand was compiled to run the Jimbo system, and not the Willie system. Finally, there are deep culture issues at Florida State that starts in the locker room. Willie has a mess to clean up, and with the Seminole fan base already fuming, he might not have as much time as he’d like to rebuild the program.

I might do a piece at some point regarding the Florida State program, where it was and how it has fallen. A hint: I’m of the impression that the whole system might need to burn down before being rebuilt from the ashes.

Now, the final verdict for Northern Illinois

Final Verdict

Northern Illinois is a surprisingly comparable team to Florida State, at least statistically. Horrifically inept offense (worse that FSU’s!) however a statistically elite defense by Group of Five standards. If Northern Illinois can disrupt Florida State’s offense enough, they can certainly win. Likewise, the FSU defense can win this game for Florida State against an inept offense from Northern Illinois. The home field advantage might be the push FSU needs to win.

Florida State can lose this game. I repeat: Florida State University CAN LOSE TO NORTHERN ILLINOIS…

But they get the win in the must-win situation against the Group of Five opponent.

Northern Illinois: 10

Florida State: 16

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