Gameday
Tonight at 7:30, 17th ranked Florida State travels to Raleigh for a Thursday night showdown with Chuck Amato and the North Carolina State WolfPack.
There is a lot of back story to this game... Amato was an assistant coach at Florida State for nearly 18 years before accepting the head coaching position at NC State, his alma mater. He was with us during our glory years, when we had a 14-year streak of top-4 finishes and two National Championships. Because of that, he will always be a Seminole.
...Or will he? Personally, I can't stand the guy. I genuinely dislike him, and I'll tell you why. Every season, mediocre teams come into Raleigh and just manhandle NC State. Or the Pack goes on the road and gets blown out... Amato is constantly on the hot seat! And then the FSU game comes along. EVERY DAMN YEAR, we see a different WolfPack team for that game. All of a sudden, their defense clicks, the offense does better, and there are trick plays galore. It's become VERY obvious over the past few years that Amato coaches his team up for exactly ONE GAME each season: Florida State. Unfortunately for us, that usually means a loss.
In terms of pure dislike, Florida will always rank #1 for me. But NC State is tied with Miami for #2. In recent years, it's gotten even nastier... Last year when the Seminole coaches reviewed film of NC State prior to the game, they were alarmed at the number of dangerous, illegal chop blocks the WolfPack seemed to get away with in each game. Our coaches alerted the officials, who promised to notify Amato and be on the lookout for the illegal blocks. It didn't matter. During a play in the first half of the game FSU's leading pass rusher, Kamerion Wimbley, was blocked in the chest by WolfPack offensive tackle James Newby and then hit in the knees by center Leroy Harris. No penalty was called on the play, and just like that, Wimbley was gone. FSU went on to lose to NC State and got blown out by Clemson and Florida - all while Wimbley was sidelined.
Later in the same game, Seminole defensive end Alex Boston was chop blocked as well, but luckily escaped injury. It was un-freaking-believable. I know that a coach can't control everything his players do on the field, but come on... Amato knew this was going on. The Florida State coaches made SURE he knew. And it still happened! After that game, a 15-20 loss, I really started to dislike the man. That dislike has carried over to this season, and I watched with glee as his team was beaten by Akron - AKRON! - and Southern Miss earlier this year. They may have beaten Boston College, but needed a miracle to do it.
What I would LOVE to see tonight is for Florida State to just go into that stadium and lay the biggest smack down in the history of college football on Amato and his team. Of course, that's a pipe dream. It's probably going to be another nail-biter; a "defensive struggle." I just hope we win... And I hope this is the last time we play a Chuck Amato-coached team. The man deserves to be fired; SHOULD have been fired years ago.
It wasn't always this bitter! I thought I would share some classic Florida State vs. NC State moments with you. It was November 15, 2003... Led by All-American and first round NFL draft pick Philip Rivers, the unranked WolfPack came into Doak Campbell Stadium and proceeded to get into an all-out shootout of a game with #8 Florida State. Whenever one team scored, the other would come right back and answer. Big plays were happening on both sides of the field! Listen below as FSU tailback Lorenzo Booker rushes for a 71-yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter...
"I SEE ya Lorenzo Booker...!"
When regulation ended, the two teams were tied at 37. They traded touchdowns in the first overtime and in the second, the FSU defense finally stepped up and stuffed the Pack. Then, the Seminoles had a chance to put the game away. All they had to do was score. But... Tragedy. FSU's best receiver, Cro Thorpe, was tackled awkwardly and broke his leg in two places. The game stopped while Cro was loaded onto a stretcher. As he was wheeled out of the stadium, he held his fist in the air and the crowd went nuts. You could feel the whole atmosphere of the stadium change in an instant... This was no longer about escaping with a W. This was about winning for Cro, and putting away a team that had no business stepping onto the field at Doak Campbell and thinking they could win against Florida State. The very next play...
"He'll hand it off to Leon Washington...!"
We lost our best receiver that night, but it's still one of the best and most exciting games I've ever been to (or seen)! I'm hoping to see some of that same excitement tonight. GO 'NOLES!
There is a lot of back story to this game... Amato was an assistant coach at Florida State for nearly 18 years before accepting the head coaching position at NC State, his alma mater. He was with us during our glory years, when we had a 14-year streak of top-4 finishes and two National Championships. Because of that, he will always be a Seminole.
...Or will he? Personally, I can't stand the guy. I genuinely dislike him, and I'll tell you why. Every season, mediocre teams come into Raleigh and just manhandle NC State. Or the Pack goes on the road and gets blown out... Amato is constantly on the hot seat! And then the FSU game comes along. EVERY DAMN YEAR, we see a different WolfPack team for that game. All of a sudden, their defense clicks, the offense does better, and there are trick plays galore. It's become VERY obvious over the past few years that Amato coaches his team up for exactly ONE GAME each season: Florida State. Unfortunately for us, that usually means a loss.
In terms of pure dislike, Florida will always rank #1 for me. But NC State is tied with Miami for #2. In recent years, it's gotten even nastier... Last year when the Seminole coaches reviewed film of NC State prior to the game, they were alarmed at the number of dangerous, illegal chop blocks the WolfPack seemed to get away with in each game. Our coaches alerted the officials, who promised to notify Amato and be on the lookout for the illegal blocks. It didn't matter. During a play in the first half of the game FSU's leading pass rusher, Kamerion Wimbley, was blocked in the chest by WolfPack offensive tackle James Newby and then hit in the knees by center Leroy Harris. No penalty was called on the play, and just like that, Wimbley was gone. FSU went on to lose to NC State and got blown out by Clemson and Florida - all while Wimbley was sidelined.
Later in the same game, Seminole defensive end Alex Boston was chop blocked as well, but luckily escaped injury. It was un-freaking-believable. I know that a coach can't control everything his players do on the field, but come on... Amato knew this was going on. The Florida State coaches made SURE he knew. And it still happened! After that game, a 15-20 loss, I really started to dislike the man. That dislike has carried over to this season, and I watched with glee as his team was beaten by Akron - AKRON! - and Southern Miss earlier this year. They may have beaten Boston College, but needed a miracle to do it.
What I would LOVE to see tonight is for Florida State to just go into that stadium and lay the biggest smack down in the history of college football on Amato and his team. Of course, that's a pipe dream. It's probably going to be another nail-biter; a "defensive struggle." I just hope we win... And I hope this is the last time we play a Chuck Amato-coached team. The man deserves to be fired; SHOULD have been fired years ago.
It wasn't always this bitter! I thought I would share some classic Florida State vs. NC State moments with you. It was November 15, 2003... Led by All-American and first round NFL draft pick Philip Rivers, the unranked WolfPack came into Doak Campbell Stadium and proceeded to get into an all-out shootout of a game with #8 Florida State. Whenever one team scored, the other would come right back and answer. Big plays were happening on both sides of the field! Listen below as FSU tailback Lorenzo Booker rushes for a 71-yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter...
"I SEE ya Lorenzo Booker...!"
When regulation ended, the two teams were tied at 37. They traded touchdowns in the first overtime and in the second, the FSU defense finally stepped up and stuffed the Pack. Then, the Seminoles had a chance to put the game away. All they had to do was score. But... Tragedy. FSU's best receiver, Cro Thorpe, was tackled awkwardly and broke his leg in two places. The game stopped while Cro was loaded onto a stretcher. As he was wheeled out of the stadium, he held his fist in the air and the crowd went nuts. You could feel the whole atmosphere of the stadium change in an instant... This was no longer about escaping with a W. This was about winning for Cro, and putting away a team that had no business stepping onto the field at Doak Campbell and thinking they could win against Florida State. The very next play...
"He'll hand it off to Leon Washington...!"
We lost our best receiver that night, but it's still one of the best and most exciting games I've ever been to (or seen)! I'm hoping to see some of that same excitement tonight. GO 'NOLES!