I'm not going to recap this. We all saw it. I'm not going to panic or get overly discouraged, either. If we learned anything today, it's that the entire ACC blows -- and everything Florida State, as per usual, sucks immensely worse:
So we can still win the conference. We can still go whatever and whatever -- 11-1? 10-2? We can still set out to accomplish what everyone considered the benchmarks before four interceptions followed 3:40 p.m.: an ACC Championship, and, if stars align, a really good bowl game. We just might have to do it entirely on special teams.
We traveled to an away game against the no. 2 team in the nation, a game that no one really expected us to win. And we didn't. It's not the end.
There are legitimate concerns. Things we should've ironed out by now. Other things that are a result of where we started. Technique that needs work. Holes that need filling. Playcalling that needs improvement. Absolutely, we shot ourselves in the foot with far too many mistakes, and that's sickening. It was a clusterfuck for nearly everyone not named Leonard Hankerson or Damien Berry.
But don't lose perspective, either: in the grand scheme of things, our program is still on the rise -- unless, that is, this happens 3 or 4 more times. And then we'll unleash hell, grab our pitchforks, and drug ourselves into oblivion before we can stab anyone with those pitchforks. That day may come, but it isn't this one. This one calls for liquor.
You can't win when you have 4 turnovers. But they'll be fine. This is just part of the maturation process.
-- Edgerrin James