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TALLAHASSEE - Senior defensive tackle Charles Howard told himself in the split-second after Syracuse snapped the ball that he had to step up.
The Orange had handed off to running back Walter Reyes on first and goal at the 5 looking to build to a surprising 10-3 lead in the final minute of the half Saturday.
"I was thinking, "I have to do something. I'm so close to the guy,' " Howard said.
With a blocker knocking him to the ground, Howard managed to swat at the ball - "I know I felt a little pigskin," he said, laughing - and jar it free from Reyes. Cornerback Bryant McFadden dived on it.
"If they get points out of that, who knows what the outcome would have been," defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "That was huge."
"A lot of times you have players like me who are just looking for a break or a big play and when you get presented with the opportunity, you want to take advantage of it," said Howard, a backup pressed into a more prominent role with junior Brodrick Bunkley out with a sprained left ankle. "I was fortunate."
Modesty. Howard also had a key sack on the final Syracuse drive as the Seminoles held on for a 17-13 win at the Carrier Dome. He did what Andrews demands of all backups, play like a first-teamer when called upon regardless of the situation.
"Charles did step it up," Andrews said. "Charles has gotten better the last two, three weeks. You could see it coming."
NOT SO SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS: As senior Dominic Robinson headed onto the field to receive a fourth-quarter punt last weekend, coach Bobby Bowden had a message; make that a plea.
"Hey, 21," Robinson said he heard, glancing over to see Bowden pulling both arms to his chest, a sign for him to secure the punt first and foremost.
He did, but he was one of a select group. Leon Washington dropped one and Chris Davis fumbled away one that led to a Syracuse field goal and a closer game in the final quarter. When you add in penalties on returns and two missed Xavier Beitia field goals, the special teams didn't live up to their name on Saturday night.
"It's just been a combination of things," said Andrews, who works with punt returners. "You look at it and wonder, "Are they taking the same approach as they are when they're playing offense or defense? Is the effort the same? Is the focus the same? Do they really know the importance?' Maybe we're doing something wrong ourselves. We're working on it and meeting on it more now than we ever have. It doesn't show it on the field; that's where it counts."
GETTING STARTED, PART I: For men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton, the first day of practice on Saturday morning will be all defense, all the time. This year's team must play better on that end and he isn't wasting a moment on making that point.
"We're going to try to accelerate that process a little bit more than we did last year," he said of teaching his man-to-man D.
Despite three freshmen and two junior college transfers, he and his staff plan to give the Seminoles the big picture first a la looking at a puzzle box before trying to fit pieces together and then get more specific.
"After we show them what we're trying to accomplish, then we'll break it up and start drilling to try to develop the habits that we think it's going to take to be a better defensive team than we were last year," he said.
GETTING STARTED, PART II: The women's basketball team also begins practicing Saturday with a roster far different from the one coach Sue Semrau had envisioned a matter of months ago. Forward Ronalda Pierce died in June from a ruptured aorta attributed to Marfan's syndrome and standout point guard Shante Williams is taking the year off for personal reasons.
"We're going to look different than we thought we were going to look," Semrau said, adding that the challenge to reimagine her team's identity is exciting.
From Day 1, she said, this group will work on defending and rebounding.
"That's got to be something we're committed to, not only every day, not only every game, but every possession," she said. "I'm seeing an excitement and a buying into that already from our individual workouts."
Brian Landman covers Florida State. Reach him at 813 226-3347 or landman@sptimes.com