By Will Vandervort.

Seminoles get a little greedy

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher liked the way his top-ranked Seminoles started their game last Saturday in Dallas, Texas against Oklahoma State, but he wasn’t pleased with the way his squad allowed the Cowboys to get back in the game late in the second quarter after being up 17-0.

To him, they got a little greedy with things.

“Well, they only had one drive in the second quarter,” he said. “We were up 17-0. We gave up a kickoff return. That’s the first thing that set the tone. We had great kickoff coverage early, which limited play calls for them, and then we gave up a big kickoff return and they get the ball out to the 35-yard line, and then they were able to hit a few runs.”

The Cowboys eventually cut the lead to 20-17 in the third quarter as quarterback J.W. Walsh and running back Tyreek Hill helped them get back in the game. FSU had no answer for Hill as he had 278 all-purpose yards, including 140 in kickoff returns.

“We got out of gap control. We were in place to make plays, and then we get a little bit greedy and try to come out of our gap and make plays and didn’t stay disciplined and stay in our gap. Then they got momentum and we had the turnover before the half and they were able to kick a field goal,” Fisher said.

FSU (1-0) eventually forced a turnover—two to be exact—in the second half that turned the game back in its favor during the 37-31 victory.

“We knew, like I said, it was a tough opening game with a lot of different scenarios and a lot of different things that happened, but I loved the way we kept our composure and were able to make plays when we had to,” Fisher said.

Florida State will host The Citadel (7:30 p.m.) in its home opener Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.

Going to The Horseshoe. Like Florida State and Clemson, Virginia Tech isn’t scared to go on the road and play one of the big-time programs in college football. The Hokies, who are coming off a 34-9 victory over William & Mary to start the season, will visit the Horseshoe Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

This is the second time in the last three games an ACC squad has played the Buckeyes. Of course Clemson beat Urban Meyers’ Ohio State team in the Orange Bowl to conclude the 2013 season.

“Quite a challenge going up to Ohio State and playing an extremely talented football team, an extremely well-coached football team,” Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. “They are very good up front defensively, very, very good. They have some real play makers on offense. I think they are a very complete football team.

“So we understand the challenge in front of us, but we need to have a great week of practice and get ready to play our best football if we possibly can.”

Ohio State won its opener last week against Navy, though it struggled. With that, quarterback J.T. Barrett, who has taken over for the injured Braxton Miller, still had a good game. Beamer says there is no drop off at quarterback for the Buckeyes.

“I think he’s about the same guy,” the Hokies’ head coach said. “I mean, athletic, physical, what was he? He was 12 of 14 for 228 yards, and I think he ran nine times for about 50. To me it’s kind of the same player without the experience. Experience is a great thing, but I was impressed with how the Barrett kid played in the opening game, for sure.”

Friday night lights. Pittsburgh and Boston College will open up their ACC schedules on Friday when the Eagles host Pitt at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Pittsburgh is coming off a 62-0 victory over Delaware, while Boston College beat Massachusetts 30-7 in its season-opener last week. This will be the Eagles home opener as well as they renew their old rivalry with the Panthers.

BC and Pitt used to play each other every year in the old Big East Conference.

“Yeah, I love it. I really do,” said Boston College head coach Steve Addazio. “I had four great years in the old Big East when all these teams traditionally played each other. They were kind of black and blue games and just physical, so I’m really looking forward to it.

“I know our team is. I’m sure Paul (Chryst) and Pittsburgh is fired up as well. It’s kind of what makes college football special and unique.”

Offensive problems at Wake. In last week’s loss at Louisiana Monroe, Wake Forest managed only 94 total yards.

It was an issue head coach Dave Clawson expected with a bunch of first-time starters at key positions, including at quarterback. His defense played well in holding of the War Hawks for much of the game, but in the end they simply wore down as La. Monroe scored the game’s final 17 points.

“Yeah, I think you certainly go into a season with concerns and places that you think you’re not relatively strong at,” Clawson said. “I don’t know if we were surprised. I’ve said all along that we’re right now ahead on defense.

“We’re more experienced there. We returned a bunch of starters off a pretty good defense a year ago. And offensively, we graduated a lot of players from an offense that wasn’t very good a year ago. So we’re better on defense right now. I was certainly – you know, we didn’t play well up front on the offensive line, and a lot of it was not assignment mistakes. We just flat-out didn’t block people and we’re capable of playing better than that.”

The Deacons (0-1) will try to play better in their home opener as they host Gardner Webb at 6:30 p.m. this Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

ACC Standings

Atlantic                Div.       ACC        Overall

Louisville            1-0          1-0

Florida St.           0-0          1-0

Syracuse              0-0          1-0

Boston C.             0-0          1-0

NC State              0-0          1-0

Clemson              0-0          0-1

Wake Forest      0-0          0-1

Coastal Div.        ACC        Overall

Duke B. Devils   0-0          1-0

Ga. Tech               0-0          1-0

Va. Tech               0-0          1-0

N. Carolina         0-0          1-0

Pittsburgh           0-0          1-0

Virginia Cavs      0-0          0-1

Miami (Fla.)       0-1          0-1

This week’s ACC Schedule:

Friday

Pitt at Boston College, 7 p.m.

Saturday

SC State at Clemson, 12:30 p.m.

Richmond at Virginia, 3:30 p.m.

Georgia Tech at Tulane, 4 p.m.

Old Dominion at NC State, 6 p.m.

Gardner Webb at Wake Forest, 6:30 p.m.

Duke at Troy, 7 p.m.

Murray State at Louisville, 7 p.m.

Florida A&M at Miami, 7 p.m.

The Citadel at Florida State, 7:30 p.m.

San Diego State at North Carolina, 8 p.m.

Virginia Tech at Ohio State, 8 p.m.