FSU to stick with Ponder as starting QB
The Florida State Seminoles had convinced themselves they were back on the national scene heading into last Saturday’s home game with Wake Forest.
An ugly 12-3 loss later, and the Noles are back answering questions about an offense that has sputtered for three years. One change apparently won’t be made this week against Colorado, as Christian Ponder will remain the starting quarterback.
Ponder appeared to lose his role as the starter during the second half of FSU’s loss to the Deacons. After one third-quarter possession, Ponder gave way to backup D’Vontrey Richardson, who led FSU on its lone scoring drive.
But both sophomores were terrible against Wake, combining to complete 12 of 36 passes for 118 yards. They threw five interceptions — Ponder had three — with no touchdowns.
“(Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher) just said everybody has a bad day every now and then, that I’ve got to move on and focus on Colorado — come out and do my best again and really prove that I should be the starter,” Ponder said.
Ponder admitted that he was unnerved after throwing an interception on his first play of the game against Wake Forest.
“Everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” Ponder said. “The next game is going to be the most important game we have, showing that we can come back.”
Richardson will continue to see snaps, but FSU’s coaches apparently won’t be turning to senior Drew Weatherford, who is languishing on the bench despite 33 career starts.
“It wouldn’t do any good except to cause more confusion,” coach Bobby Bowden said.
FSU averaged only 3.4 yards per play vs. Wake and fumbled twice. Senior running back Antone Smith had 24 yards on eight carries. Jermaine Thomas, who tied the school record for rushing yards in a debut by a true freshman with 91 yards against Western Carolina, didn’t touch the ball once. And junior Preston Parker, in his first game of the season, had three carries for 0 yards.
Ugly all around. And now the Noles host a Buffs team that just upset West Virginia.
“We’ll coach ‘em better, we’ll play better and move on,” Fisher said.
Florida State is a 6-point favorite on WagerWeb.com for this week’s game.
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