Posted by NoleCC

By Bill Kristoph

Invent a quarterback controversy.

Seminole football coaches broke out the mother of all “let’s divert attention away from us” strategies Saturday night at Maryland. The ‘Noles started Xavier Lee at quarterback. According to reports, Drew Weatherford had tendinitis in his ankle and could not play. Well, he could play, but only if really necessary. Or maybe he could play if Lee didn’t play well. How bad was the injury? The coaches and reporters never clarified.

Perhaps I watched a little too much X-Files in high school and college. But something smells like conspiracy here, given recent QB changes at FSU. Remember when Adrian McPherson took over for Chris Rix due to Rix’s “high ankle sprain” and when Wyatt Sexton took over for the same reason? Both times Rix was deemed as able to play, in necessary. Why don’t the coaches admit that they felt a changing of the guard was needed to spark the team, instead of hiding behind a reason that “forced them” to make the change? The story gets even fishier when Weatherford’s remarks about the coaching staff early last week are taken into account.

The answer lies in the the title of this post. What better way to take the heat off of play calling and coaching than to divert Seminole fans’ attention with a nice little quarterback controversy. The message board posts all over the net are talking about it. The Tallahassee Democrat’s sportswriters are certainly happy to talk about it. It’s the headline over on Warchant.com today. Media around the state (not nationally, where the ‘Noles are hardly talked about anymore) are writing the same stories. It’s a little convenient for FSU coaches.

On Saturday night, Xavier Lee put on a solid performance. He has a cannon of an arm, and if his receivers could catch, the ‘Noles might have pulled out the victory. Xavier also showed his scrambling ability, which helps when the FSU offensive line continues to block like their counterparts on the Dallas Cowboys. He showed that his natural ability is likely better than Weatherford’s. Coming from a huge Weatherford support, I’m even willing to admit that Lee might be the better option down the road. But, the play calling wasn’t much better. Special Teams made game-costing mistakes and the defense, yet again, showed their youth and lack of depth thanks to tons of injuries. Lee, like Weatherford, will not do this on his own.

Take a look at the message boards around the internet. A lot of optimism returned to FSU fans. One fan even pointed out that Weatherford’s record is 12-7 and that “just isn’t acceptable.” 12-7 is not bad, it is not 15 years of AP poll dominance good either. Perhaps ‘Nole fans need to understand that they are not entitled to 1-loss seasons every year and that they were part of something very special during the 90’s. Then again, perhaps the FSU coaching staff should take a look in the mirror and regain their fire for coaching, recruiting and winning.
And before anyone crowns a new starter, or lays blame to Drew Weatherford let’s remember one fact: As of this moment, Lee is 0-1.