Winless 'Noles look to bounce back at 4-0 Wake Forest

Sep 26, 2017 - 3:09 AM TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Here's a sentence Florida State fans didn't think they'd hear: 4-0 Wake Forest will host an 0-2 Seminoles team that's still looking for its first win of the season.

Unusual, to say the least.

Florida State, which started with a preseason No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press poll, has come crashing down in the matter of two games.

A season-opening 24-7 loss to No. 1 Alabama in Atlanta -- and then last Saturday's stunning 27-21 defeat to visiting North Carolina State -- quickly changed the mind of poll voters. Florida State dropped from No. 12 last week to unranked, ending a streak of Top 25 appearances that had stretched for 89 weeks and was second in the nation behind the Crimson Tide.

The Seminoles (0-2, 0-1 ACC) did lose two weeks of games due to Hurricane Irma. But when head coach Jimbo Fisher open his press conference Monday to discuss the rough start, he wasn't about to use that as an excuse.

"After looking at the film at the N.C. State game, again, credit to N.C. State. They have a very good football team, did a great job," Fisher said.

"There's some areas that we'll get our guys in and coach them up better ... and that's on us as coaches. And that's me as a head coach to make sure that gets done."

The Seminoles are averaging 14 points, 75 yards rushing and 316 yards of total offense through two games.

Those numbers are very un-Florida State-like, and the Seminoles don't have a lot of time in between games to fix the issues.

Due to Hurricane Irma -- and the Seminoles having to move their Sept. 16 game against Miami to their open date Oct. 7 -- last Saturday against N.C. State marked the first of nine straight games for Florida State. And it may even be 10.

On Monday, ESPN.com reported that the Seminoles are in talks with Week 2 opponent Louisiana-Monroe to reschedule their Sept. 9 game that was canceled due to the storm. The only possible date that could happen would be following the Seminoles' final regular-season game of the year Nov. 25 against Florida. The game would be made up for bowl eligibility purposes, Seminoles associate athletic director Rob Wilson said.

Florida State receiver George Campbell said it doesn't matter how many games the Seminoles have to play in a row, the needed corrections are not only doable on the fly, but easier than most might think.

"It's about execution. Nothing crazy," said Campbell, who had a solid game in the loss to the Wolfpack with three catches for 85 yards.

"We beat ourselves. It's about execution on special teams and making sure we step up and make the plays. We have to make sure we block the right person and make the right reads. There's nothing special to it. Just making sure that we execute everything."

That execution may have to come this weekend without two of Florida State's best players.

Linebacker Matthew Thomas, last year's leading tackler and also the leading tackler in Week 1 against Alabama, left the game before halftime against N.C. State with a lower back injury and did not return. Later in the game, leading receiver Auden Tate injured his left shoulder on the Seminoles' first drive of the second half and did not return.

Fisher said Monday that neither player suffered a season-ending injury; their status was officially "day to day."

The Seminoles will also be without starting linebacker Jacob Pugh for the first half because of a targeting penalty in the second half against N.C. State.

There is one bright spot, though, about the 0-2 start. The last time this happened was 1989. That year, the Seminoles won 10 in a row and finished 10-2, defeating Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl and finishing No. 3 in the final AP poll.