For their efforts in Florida State's 21-7 victory over Florida this past Saturday, seniors Terrance Parks and Shawn Powell have both earned Atlantic Coast Conference Football Players of the Week accolades.
Parks saved the finest performance of his career for his final regular season game - against arch-rival Florida. The second-year starter matched his career-high with 6 tackles - all solo stops - including the first two tackles for loss (-17 yards) of his career. Parks was an integral part in both the run support efforts that limited the host Gators to 54 rushing yards, and the coverage unit which yielded only 130 through the air and came away with four interceptions. Parks came away with the Seminoles' fourth and final interception of the night - the first of his career - and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.
One week after taking over the FBS lead in overall and net punting, Powell solidified his standing. Cranking out a career-high 9 punts in a conservatively called, field position game, Powell averaged 44.0 yards. More importantly he kept Florida's laboring offense backed up all day, pinning five of those nine punts inside the 20-yard line, pushing his season total to 21. Impressively enough, three of those were inside the Florida 10-yard line (he has 12 inside the 10 this season). Three of Powell's punts covered 50 or more yards (he has 11 of those in his last 3 games), including a 62-yarder that marked the sixth over 60 yards this season. On the year Powell is averaging 47.0 yards a punt and boasts a net average of 42.0, both of which lead the nation. He's nailed 43 percent of his punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line this season, and 63 percent of his punts have gone unreturned.
The Minnesota Vikings may have lost 24-14 to Atlanta on Sunday without the help of all-everything running back Adrian Peterson, but former Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder continued to show the tremendous upside he has in the NFL.
Here's what Sports Illustrated's Don Banks wrote about a particular play that Ponder made in the game in his Sunday " Snap Judgements" column.
"The best throw I saw all day came from Vikings rookie quarterback Christian Ponder, who hit Percy Harvin between the numbers on a 39-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-13 in the fourth quarter. It was a perfect strike, and even though Harvin was somehow being well-covered by Falcons inside linebacker Curtis Lofton on the play, the Vikings quarterback put it where only Harvin could make the play."
As the honorary sod captain for Florida State's game at Florida, Shawn Powell had the special honor of cutting some Florida Field turf Saturday night after the Seminoles' 21-7 win over the Gators.
Powell, who is the nation's best punter, brought the turf back to Tallahassee where it will be buried in the sod cemetery next to the FSU practice fields.
Jenkins matched his season-high with six tackles including 2.5 sacks of Virginia QB Michael Rocco. The 2.5 sacks matched a career high for the junior and pushed his season total to a team-leading seven. The preseason All-American and All-ACC candidate now has 10 tackles for loss on the season. In addition to applying pressure on the quarterback, Jenkins was instrumental in the Seminoles' limiting the Cavaliers to a season-low 78 rushing yards - more than 100 under their per-game average - and 316 total yards. FSU's rushing defense now ranks third nationally and the Seminoles are sixth nationally in sacks per game. Jenkins now ranks seventh in FSU history with 34.5 career tackles for loss and with 20.5 career sacks. He is 10th all-time for the Seminoles.
The Atlantic Coast Conference Office has completed its NCAA mandated
review of the play that occurred at 1:58 of the 4th quarter of the
Miami @ Florida State game in which Florida State's Nigel Bradham was flagged for "Unsportsmanlike Conduct- Targeting an
Opponent."
Plays involving unsportsmanlike conduct and player safety have been an
increasing point of emphasis within NCAA rules based upon the American Football
Coaches Association and NCAA initiatives implemented to reduce the number of
concussions.
Rule 9, Section 1, Article 4
of the NCAA Football Rules states: "No player shall target and initiate contact
to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm,
elbow or shoulder. When in question, it is a foul." A defenseless opponent
includes a receiver whose attention is focused on receiving the ball. If the
officials deem a foul flagrant, the offending player must be ejected.
Officials are required to make
instantaneous decisions during high-speed game action. The officials ruled that
there was question as to whether contact occurred to the head or neck
area of Miami's #2 and that the
action was against a defenseless player. When there is question as to the
specific area of contact, in accordance with NCAA rules which requires
officials to err on the side of player safety, Unsportsmanlike Conduct must be
called.
Following the required video review by the Conference
Office, it has been determined that the contact made by Florida State's Bradham
was not to the head or neck of the receiving player nor was it flagrant. The
play was a legal hit and no further action will be taken by the Conference
Office.
It's a hit that will continue to be talked about for some time because of the penalty and ejection to Nigel Bradham afterwards.
Depending on whether or not you agree with the call will remain eligible for debate but one thing is certain: it's the one play that will always be remembered when talking about the 56th meeting between Florida State and Miami.
To all fans that are in Tallahassee for this Saturday's Florida State vs. Miami game, be sure to stop by the Friday Night Block Party at Kleman Plaza in downtown Tallahassee.
The party gets started at 5 p.m. and lasts until 11 p.m. the night before the big game.
To those of you who have not been to a Friday Night Block Party before, the event is hosted by the Seminole Sports Marketing staff and there is plenty of food, spirits and fun. It's the perfect way to start off a weekend in Tallahassee.
Kleman Plaza is located right next to the IMAX Theatre and Harry's Seafoord Bar and Grill. It's a different event than the one that takes place on Adams Street.
A pair of former Florida State football players will lace up their cleats for a Sunday game for the first time this season.
After being cut by the Carolina Panthers before the season started, Everette Brown was signed Tuesday by the San Diego Chargers. Brown, a defensive end, was a second-round pick by the Panthers in 2009 and joins a Chargers team that boasts former FSU teammate Richard Goodman.
Mister Alexander has been ont he Houston Texans' practice squad after going undrafted earlier this year but he has been brought up to the active roster. Alexander was called up to the big leagues to replace injured linebacker Darryl Sharpton, who is a former player at Miami.
Florida State fans love to represent the Seminoles on Halloween and here's the proof.
Earlier today, I asked FSU fans on Twitter to send me their photos from the spooky holiday that featured some sort of 'Noles costume. Let's take a look at some of the submissions.
