Seminoles Focused on Being Focused

By Matthew Osborne
SouthernPigskin.com

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Ranked as a top 10 team heading into last season, it appears that the pundits were slightly premature in prognosticating the Seminoles’ return to glory.

Things are finally starting to feel like normal in Tallahassee, Florida.

After a rough conclusion to the end of the Bobby Bowden era and a transitional period during new head coach Jimbo Fisher’s first couple of years at Florida State, the Seminoles now find themselves in the familiar position of entering a season with lofty expectations.

Ranked as a top 10 team heading into last season, it appears that the pundits were slightly premature in prognosticating the Seminoles’ return to glory.

In order for the Seminoles to regain their place amongst the college football elite, however, the team will have to place a greater emphasis on perfecting the details of the game, particularly when preparing for upcoming opponents.

The Seminoles lost four games last season, but were often just a play or two away from attaining victory in those contests. The hope is that better performance in the week leading up to the game will lead to better performance on the day of the game.

“Cleaning up the things in practice,” quarterback E.J. Manuel responded when asked what would be the difference between this season and last season. “It’s something that we didn’t get it done in practice, and we need to get it done, because that is where we had the lapses in the game. There would be one or two plays where it was something that we didn’t do well in practice, and we didn’t do it well in the game.”

Manuel is not the only Seminole to recognize the need for increased focus, either. Inspired by the perceived lack of focus shown by his players last season, Fisher has implemented a new policy which bans the players from using Twitter.

While many college-aged males would be extremely disappointed with a decision that prevented from enjoying the magical world of Twitter, DE Brandon Jenkins fully supports his coach’s decision to ban the social media website.

“We’re more focused,” said Jenkins. “We’re blocking out all of the other people that are outside of the locker room so we can go out and play football and have the communication with each other where we can trust ourselves.”

Returning arguably the top defense in all of college football, the Seminoles know that lack of talent will never be an excuse this fall. They also know that there will be a large target on their back this season, as they are the prohibitive favorite in the ACC race.

As far as Manuel is concerned, it will neither benefit nor hinder the Seminoles to know that every team will be gunning for them this fall.

“Whether you like it or not, it is what it is,” Manuel said. “Playing for Florida State, wearing garnet and gold, people are always going to have their arrows pointed at your chest.”

There is no doubt that the Seminoles are as talented as any team in the country. The thing that separate teams with elite talent, though, is the attention paid to detail.

In order for Florida State to finally get back into a national championship hunt, the Seminoles will have to keep their focus and attention to detail in every game this season.

If the Seminoles remain focused and determined, this very well may be the team that loudly announces the resurgence of Florida State football.