Florida State slips past Jacksonville State; visit to N.. 7 Brigham Young next

‘Noles avoid embarrassing upset; prepare for BYU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State coach Bobby Bowden isn’t too sure what he’s got this year, but he hopes it’s a lot better than what he saw Saturday night.

The Seminoles (1-1) needed a last-minute touchdown (they actually scored twice within 14 seconds) to squeak past lower-division Jacksonville State 19-9 on a rain-slicked field.

“Questions?” Bowden asked at the beginning of his weekly Sunday meeting with media covering the team, “I’ve got lots of ‘em.”

With a trip to No. 7 Brigham Young coming up Saturday, the veteran coach is plenty worried about his secondary being able to keep up with Cougars’ senior quarterback Max Hall and his array of receivers.

“Their quarterback (Hall) can throw the heck out of the ball,” Bowden said. “He can thread it.”

Hall completed 24 of 32 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game in BYU’s 54-3 win Saturday at Tulane.

Florida State’s Christian Ponder didn’t throw a touchdown pass in the win over Jacksonville State, but enjoyed his second strong performance of the young season, completing 22 of 35 passes for a career best 324 yards.

Both quarterbacks rank high nationally.

Hall has competed 50 of 70 passes for 638 yards and four touchdowns in wins over Oklahoma and Tulane. Ponder, a redshirt junior, is 46 of 76 for 618 yards and a pair of TDs, and his 653 yards’ total offense ranks 10th nationally.

Ponder, however, wasn’t pleased with the team’s performance against Jacksonville State, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).

“We have to do some soul-searching,” he said afterward. “If we want to have a successful season we’ve got to change a lot of things.”

Bowden said he’ll get a better barometer on his team Saturday after the Brigham Young game.

“It’ll tell us a lot, win or lose,” Bowden said.

Florida State hasn’t defeated a Top 10 team since 2007 when it defeated an unbeaten Boston College team on the road that was ranked No. 2 nationally in quarterback Matt Ryan’s senior year for the Eagles.

As it was last season when the Seminoles struggled in most games on their way to a 9-4 record, Bowden said he thinks every week will be a battle this year as well.

But he knows the Seminoles can’t have a repeat of Saturday’s performance.

“If you execute like that again, you may not win another game,” Bowden said.