QB: B
Jamarr Robinson wasn't amazing yesterday, but if 20-27 (19-23 before that final drive) isn't good enough, I don't really know what be. Franklin/Friedgen called a lot of quick plays - bubble screens, hitches, slants - and most of them worked. They were easy throws - not gimmes, but they weren't difficult - and Robinson connected. He even hit most of his intermediate stuff, too. Not to mention that he nearly had a TD to Torrey Smith; that ball was thrown perfectly, and Smith just went the wrong direction. Oh, and he had 60 yards on the ground.
Pretty nice second game for Robinson.
RB: A
Maybe this grade is a little inflated because I missed them for so long, but this is what we expected from the running backs at the beginning of the year. Da'Rel Scott was awesome in his first game back from injury, and something definitely changed with Davin Meggett. Maybe it's the presence of Scott, but he looked completely different than he has this entire year - more decisive with the ball and more open to contact. The two combined for nearly a 150 yards on 4.6 yards per carry - this from a team that had refused to run the ball against almost every team they've played since Scott's injury.
WR: B-
Torrey Smith led the group again with seven catches for 74 yards, but could've done much better if he had hauled in the touchdown pass that went right through his hands. LaQuan Williams reintroduced himself to the stat column with two nice catches for 29 yards. Adrian Cannon showed his skill with that bubble screen - he can make just about anyone miss with that simple stepback juke. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day for the group - Ronnie Tyler fell down on a quick slant once, but he wouldn't have been able to get to the first anyway.
Cannon's TD and Smith's consistent numbers keep this from a C, but Torrey's missed TD hurts, and most of the yards and receptions came from the scheme.
OL: B
To be honest, I'm a little torn here, because Maryland still had to gameplan around the line for large periods of the game, but they really did what they were expected to do for the most part. It wasn't a perfect game - twice they completely ruined screen plays, and FSU getting into the backfield wasn't unseen - but they only allowed one sack (for just one yard), usually gave Robinson enough time to make his reads, and opened enough of a hole to allow Scott and Meggett to put up more than 4.5 yards per carry without any huge runs bringing the stats up. After what we had been experiencing with this group, I was pleasantly surprised.
DL: D
Terrible showing from this group yesterday. FSU gashed them for 198 yards on the ground, including two longs runs, didn't have a sack, and rarely got to Manuel to make him force even more mistakes than he did, at least not without a couple of linebackers flanking them on a blitz.
If you want specific plays, well, Deege Galt missed his contain on the option TD run (not quick enough to match Manuel), so whoever the corner or safety was (didn't see, might've been Wiseman or Skinner) had to pick either the QB or the RB, and chose to go after the QB. Manuel pitched it and Pryor had no one in front him. On the Bert Reed TD run, Derek Drummond bit hard on the fake and never had a chance to get back in his lane and at least stretch out the play.
LB: C
Alex Wujciak's INT and ensuing return saves the day for this unit. Outside of that giant, gamechanging play, the linebackers were largely quiet. Wujciak had just 6 tackles and didn't do anything to stop the field day that FSU was having on the ground. Hartsfield still looks a little rusty compared to what he was before the injury. I actually forgot Adrian Moten and Ben Pooler were on the field at times.
Oh, actually, props to Darrin Drakeford for making the most of his playing time. Huge hit and a forced fumble in one of his three plays on defense. Why don't we use him more? We already burnt his redshirt.
DB: B-
Terrell Skinner's pick and Cam Chism should've-been-game-sealing interception were more than you can usually count on. Antwine Perez had a coming out performance in place of Kenny Tate; I think I know why he was a 5 star who saw a little bit of playing time at USC as a freshman. Actually, Chism has blossomed into a legitimate #1 corner, or is at least close. Happy with that performance.
Manuel's 17-27 performance wasn't great, but it wasn't all that bad. Anthony Wiseman is partially responsible for that - every time he's on the field it seems like he gets picked on now. Skinner gave too much cushion on his guy more than once, too, and that led to a TD. Everyone was pretty bad on the first and last scoring drives for Florida State.
Special Teams: C
The good: two Nick Ferrara field goals and a mostly stellar day punting.
The bad: a quiet KO return performance from Torrey Smith and a long Greg Reid punt return that started Florida State's game-winning drive.
The bad is worse than the good is good.
Coaching: C-
Torn here, too. On the one hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the playcalling most of the day, and Friedgen even showed some balls when he went for it on 4th once or twice. In fact, for most of the day, this was a B+ performance, especially on the offense. Then came the end of the game. Actually, first off, FSU didn't have trouble moving the ball through the course of the game, partially due to Brown's more conservative than usual playcalling. That final drive was absolutely horrendous, though; Maryland went to a prevent defense the entire time, and Manuel ate it up.
Then there was conservative playcalling on Maryland's second to last possession and some weird choices on their final one (five yard comeback with 30 seconds left?). There were some questionable time management choices, too, and whether or not Ferrara should've punted it out of the endzone is debatable.
Pretty respectable coaching job until crunch time. This team will just about always lose close games, and that definitely reflects back on the staff, both in game-time and practice.
Helmet Stickers:
- Jamarr Robinson, QB - Props to JRob for the great day and first passing TD in a Terps uniform.
- Alex Wujciak, LB - Broke the all-time Maryland record for interception return yardage.
- Da'Rel Scott, RB - No one on special teams deserves it, and Scott was great.
- Davin Meggett, RB - Even better than Scott, he looked like Meggett from the end of last year. Two TDs, too.