Before Florida State returned to the practice field following its stunning loss at North Carolina State last Saturday, senior linebacker Vince Williams organized a barbecue to help with the healing.
The message was clear.
“We lost, get over it, move on,” senior defensive end Cornellius Carradine said. “You don’t want to make one loss into two losses, which is something that happened last year.”
Florida State players gathered Sunday afternoon to discuss the future. Many then went to the athletic center to watch film. By Monday’s practice the focus already was on Boston College.
“You have to be a man about it, not pout about it and not let it turn into a snowball thing,” quarterback EJ Manuel said.
Moving forward will not be as difficult as it was a year ago when FSU had to travel to Clemson after its first loss. The 12th-ranked Seminoles (5-1, 2-1 ACC) have the fortune of playing arguably the worst team in a bad ACC when Boston College (1-4, 0-2) comes to Doak Campbell Stadium at 5:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2).
The Eagles have been in decline for several years and their lone victory is over FCS member Maine. BC is coming off a 34-31 loss to Army, which is the Black Knights only win of the season.
“There’s a long season left,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “I’m very encouraged about our team. I’m excited about our team. I look forward to where they go the next six games and how they mature.”
That team had a lot more to play for before the 17-16 loss at NC State in which the Wolfpack scored the winning touchdown on fourth-and-2 pass with 16 seconds remaining.
“They got it down to a four minute game and they made some plays at the end,” BC coach Frank Spaziani said.
Florida State will readjust its goals knowing a spot in the national championship game now becomes far-fetched but an ACC title remains in the picture.
But for that to happen, FSU has to avoid the type of major meltdown that occurred a year ago when one loss to Oklahoma was followed by losses at Clemson and Wake Forest.
“You have to really focus yourself on moving on to the next week and it’s extremely hard to do,” Manuel said. “We got so close. We were ranked (No. 3) and we let it go.”
Boston College should help hasten that recovery. The Eagles can’t run the ball nor stop the run. They are last in the ACC — 117th out of 120 FBS schools — in rushing defense, allowing 259 yards per game, and next to last in the conference in rushing offense, averaging 104.8 yards per game.
“Our circle is still tight,” safety Lamarcus Joyner said. “We still believe in each other. We think we still have a lot going for ourselves.”
Post correspondent Bob Ferrante contributed
