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Seminoles learning as they grow

An untested defense is giving up big plays and searching for answers.

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 20, 2001

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- As he dejectedly walked toward the locker room last weekend, Florida State sophomore cornerback Stanford Samuels received supportive advice from the Miami Hurricanes.

Keep your head up, they told him.

He just nodded.

Then Samuels accepted responsibility for the 49-27 loss. He was the defender on 27- and 18-yard scoring passes from Ken Dorsey to Andre Johnson and on a 35-yard Johnson catch that set up a third touchdown. Everyone can do the math.

"I was there and I just didn't finish the drill," he said on the three plays.

He had plenty of company, and that's the reality for the No. 21-ranked Seminoles (3-2, 2-1) as they prepare for tonight's ACC game at Virginia (3-3, 2-2).

Junior cornerback Malcolm Tatum fell on a 52-yard touchdown pass against North Carolina and, in that same game, three Seminole defensive backs converged on one receiver, leaving Kory Bailey about 20 yards open for a 53-yard score in that 41-9 loss.

Overall, the Seminoles have allowed seven passing touchdowns, matching their 13-game total of last season, and they are 50th in the nation in passing efficiency defense.

"We're doing some things well," defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said, "we just don't have any consistency and we're not playing with enough pride and determination and courage right now to make plays we've got to make."

He and the Seminoles know that has to change.

Soon.

"All the yards are starting to come from the secondary ... and I think everybody's looking at us as, that's the weakness on the defense right now," Tatum said.

"We just had a test this past weekend; we failed it," senior safety Abdual Howard added. "But just because you take one test and fail doesn't mean you stop taking tests. As long as you go on the field, you're tested. If you feel like you were victimized the week before, you've got to believe the next team will try to do the same thing."

Cavaliers junior receiver Billy McMullen leads the ACC in receptions (7.8 a game), third nationally, and receiving yards (98 a game), 13th nationally.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Schaub set school records for completions (33) and attempts (54) last week against North Carolina.

Think he might be winging it again?

So what can the Seminoles do?

For starters, the beleaguered cornerbacks and safeties better heed the Hurricanes' advice and keep their heads up. A cornerback has to have a swagger, an attitude that no receiver will beat him. Deion Sanders had it. Mario Edwards, after giving up two crucial passes to Tennessee's Peerless Price in the 1998 national championship game, didn't.

"It (confidence) is not where it should be right now," Howard said.

Samuels, however, countered that confidence is not an issue. He insists the players know they have the ability for success, they simply need to work harder during the week.

"I think my problem has been in practice, when we go against the scout team, I tend to lax up and let the man have a little room," he said. "I cover him, but I give him a little room and then in the game that's tended to come out a little bit."

The consequences have been obvious. During the Miami game, Andrews, a hard-driving perfectionist, even scrapped his signature bump-and-run coverage for more zone.

"If they're going to run by us, we're going to back off of them and try to prevent it," he said. "In the past, we've had corners who line up and they love to play bump-and-run. You're going to give up some plays when you do that, but we're doing it way too much right now. I don't know what's our best alignment. Until we find somebody who's got enough courage to get up there and play it, we won't be playing it."

It hasn't helped the defensive backs that FSU's pass rush hasn't been as ferocious as in recent years. There's no Peter Boulware, Reinard Wilson, Andre Wadsworth, Corey Simon or Jamal Reynolds accumulating sacks like so many pennies in a jar.

FSU's defensive line has five sacks, two by injured end Alonzo Jackson. Without pressure, virtually no cornerback can expect to shut down an able receiver. And it's not like FSU has a stable of veterans.

Besides Samuels and Tatum, Andrews used sophomore cornerback Rufus Brown more on Saturday and he said he hopes that second-year freshman cornerback Leroy Smith, who had been turning heads in the fall practices, will be available. Smith tore cartilage in his right knee and had surgery Sept. 19. Second-year cornerback Bryant McFadden and freshman Dominic Robinson also could see more action if they prove in practice they are ready, Andrews said.

"I don't want to say we're young, but we lack big-game experience," Brown said. "Everything's experience."

Howard, himself a first-year starter, said too many people have bought into the youth factor and used it as crutch.

"We've got to get over that," he said. "All of us have been playing football almost all our lives ... it's really nothing new to us."

"We know we can do it," Samuels added. "We know the techniques to get it done. We just have to go out there and do it. There's nothing else you can say about it."

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