FSU season goes down the drain with François season ending injury

As a Seminoles fan and supporter I did not expect to beat Alabama this past Saturday night. Had the opposite did happen, naturally I would be through the roof excited. But because I preach realism in the world of athletics my goal for Florida State were very simple. Be competitive enough to garner respect and not fall far in the rankings and secondly to not leave Atlanta, Georgia with a major injury to a key player.

I would actually argue that Florida State was competitive till late in the third quarter before giving the game to the Crimson Tide. Because of the fact I didn't expect them to fall far in the polls. With a close loss you could eventually see a realistic scenario playing out where they could run the table the rest of the season and securing a playoff berth in December.

Unfortunately neither scenario is likely to play out now with the devastating news that Florida State's quarterback Deondre François who tore his patella tendon in the 4th quarter and will miss the rest of the season. It's a catastrophic start to a year that while most believe the Noles were going to fall to the Tide, that they would find themselves still eventually winning the ACC and making their case into the four team playoff. That now is also in jeopardy. In fact right I would say that given what we saw this past Saturday, I am fully comfortable making the defending national champions Clemson Tigers the favorite to win the ACC.

I'm also not going to pretend that even if we are to believe that Seminoles backup quarterback James Blackmen, who will get the starting nod for the next game is able to hold the fort down the rest of the way, their schedule is already a challenge. Matchups against Miami, Louisville, at Clemson and at Florida still loom the rest of the way. Let's be honest -- it would take a miracle for Florida State to win 10 games this season -- let alone winning the ACC.

This weekend could not have gone worse for Jimbo Fisher and his crew.