FSU Seminoles

After nearly a month of caution, Terrence Brooks had seen enough of his blue non-contact jersey by the end of last week.

As warm-ups ended last Thursday, Brooks found the jersey once again waiting next to where he'd been stretching, but he refused to put it on. Instead, he kicked it back to the sideline before a trainer encouraged him to reconsider.

"I hate that blue," Brooks said. "I'm always in a blue jersey. I guess it's just a precaution thing."

So it's hard to blame Brooks for being a bit excited for the start of the regular season, when he could finally dish out those hard hits he was waiting for.

Turns out, however, the enthusiasm might have been a bit extreme.

Brooks was forced to the locker room midway through the second quarter against Murray State because of extensive cramping in his leg, and trainers think the senior's energy leading up to the game might have been the cause.

"They told me it was just a lot of anxiety and being really pumped up and stuff," said Brooks, who finished the game with four tackles after returning for the start of the third quarter. "That's exactly what I was. I was really excited, just the adrenaline going."

Rather than worrying about his blue jersey this week, Brooks said his top concern will be avoiding a repeat incident.

Brooks said he's had issues with cramping since high school, but he's worked with trainers to find a solution -- from better pregame hydration to trimming some of that nervous energy -- in hopes of staying on the field this Saturday against Savannah State.

"It's definitely a concern," Brooks said. "I want to take care of it as quick as possible because when we do get in big games, I don't want to be coming out of the game because of cramps."

While the cramps provided a minor diversion from the action, Brooks said he still was encouraged by his debut performance at safety, where he and Lamarcus Joyner turned in a solid opening-week performance. Murray State didn't complete a pass for more than 16 yards in the game.

"I felt real good," Brooks said. "I felt comfortable, just at home. Me and Joyner did real good, not letting anything deep, playing our assignments well. It felt good."

With one game of experience under his belt at safety and the long wait for his first contact of the fall now over, Brooks is hopeful he'll be able to take a more reserved approach this week, keeping the cramps from recurring.

"We'll be fine. I've just got to calm down more," he said. "It's tough, though. But it's something you've got to do, something to learn from."

Last week, the ACC went down the runway in a pair of Wranglers. Comfortable? Yes. Style points? No.

Let’s dress it up a little bit this week, shall we, guys?

Week 1 was good but not great for the conference. NC State was outplayed by a faster Tennessee team, but Clemson looked impressive in its victory over Auburn. Miami and Boston College entertained us, while Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech lulled us to sleep before a surprisingly fantastic finish in the first overtime game in Lane Stadium history. Wake Forest, though, barely beat Liberty, and Maryland mucked its way to a 7-6 win over FCS William & Mary with four turnovers along the way.

In Week 2 -- which is mostly a dud as far as the national spotlight is concerned -- ACC teams need to leave no doubt they’re the best on the field.

Boston College needs a convincing win over Maine. NC State needs a no-nonsense rebound at Connecticut. Duke needs to maintain the momentum it gained by beating Florida International on the road against an unimpressive Stanford team. Virginia needs to stay focused against Penn State. And Maryland? Well, it would be nice if the Terps could just score in Philly.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the first week was filled with mistakes and near-upsets as teams figured themselves out and worked their way through the kinks and opening-day jitters. The ACC was hardly alone in its lackluster start, as Wisconsin got a scare from Northern Iowa, Stanford snuck past mighty San Jose State, 20-17, and Pittsburgh lost to Youngstown State. The offenses we saw in Blacksburg on Monday night were underwhelming, as the defenses stole the show until late in the fourth quarter. Both Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech can and will get better as the season goes on, and both will have glorified practices against unheralded opponents this weekend in Presbyterian and Austin Peay, respectively. There’s no reason either should be on upset alert.

In fact, it should be an uneventful weekend for the ACC. With the exception of Duke’s trip to Stanford and Miami’s trip to Kansas State, the ACC should come out a winner against its nonconference opponents again. That’s not to say Duke or Miami won’t win -- but those games aren’t gimmes like, say, Florida State-Savannah State. Virginia could have a tough time at home against Penn State, which is trying to avoid an 0-2 start in its first road trip under Bill O’Brien, and NC State might struggle at Connecticut, but they’re hardly matchups against ranked opponents.

While it was a disappointing loss for NC State, the ACC doesn’t have anything to be ashamed about in Week 1. The league went 7-0 against its nonconference opponents Saturday, and 7-1 overall. Clearly, though, there is room for improvement. Even Virginia left something to be desired in its 43-19 victory over Richmond. This week’s lineup is less about making a statement on the national level -- there aren’t enough ranked opponents on the schedule to do that -- and more about playing polished. Wake Forest will host North Carolina in the only league game of the week, and coach Jim Grobe knows that 42 total yards of offense midway through the second quarter won’t cut it against the Heels. UNC put up 62 points against Elon -- and did it with style, as running back Giovani Bernard scored on a reception, a run and a punt return.

“There were a handful of FBS teams that lost to FCS teams this weekend, so we’re fortunate to get a win,” Grobe said. “But we need to play better. I don’t want to take anything away from Liberty; I thought they had a great plan and a great coaching staff with a lot of good players. We were fortunate to get a win, but we’ve got a lot of improvements to make.”

Winning ugly is better than not winning at all, but with four FCS schools, one MAC school and two Big East schools on the schedule this week, the ACC shouldn’t have to cut it close.

There are plenty of football coaches around the country who woke up Sunday morning with memories of an ugly Week 1 performance still lingering, but no one had it worse than Savannah State head coach Steve Davenport.

His team fell to Oklahoma State by the score of 84-0, and it was only that close because the Cowboys pulled their starters in the second quarter.

It was ugly, and Davenport knows his program, which has won just 12 games in the last five years, was in no position to handle the defending Big 12 champions.

But Davenport's Sunday didn't end with watching the game tape of his team's epic beating. After that was finished, he got a chance to flip on the game tape of Florida State, his Week 2 opponent.

No coach in the country will have a tougher job of rallying his troops this week, and we caught up with Davenport to see how he plans to do it, what he expects from his team against FSU, and what he saw in the Seminoles' 69-3 win over Murray State in Week 1.

NoleNation: Well, first off, how's your team -- physically and mentally -- after Saturday's game?

Davenport: Health-wise, we're decent. We have one kid who suffered a concussion who has been ruled out (CB Javon Moore). Those things that happened, that's part of the game, part of football. … That was the only big injury, and other than that we're as healthy as we can be.

Mentally, we'll find out. Sometimes, your fortitude is tested, and ours was certainly tested in Stillwater, and as you well know, we have just as tough a venue coming in Tallahassee. It'll be interesting. You find out a lot about kids. You find out a lot about yourself when you go through tough times. That was certainly a tough time we've got to get over, and I don't expect Florida State to feel sorry or any empathy for us. They're going to go out and try to win a football game, just as we are.

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The last Cornellius Carradine had heard, his teammate was going to be fine.

The X-rays had shown no break, and Brandon Jenkins' foot injury was supposed to be minor. By Monday night, however, Carradine's Facebook page was littered with friends wanting the scoop on Jenkins' status, and the Internet was buzzing with news that the Florida State All-American would miss the entirety of the 2012 season.

It wasn't until Tuesday morning that Carradine was able to talk to his teammate, but by then, he wasn't interested in the injury.

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The redshirt is coming off one of Florida State's freshman defensive ends. The question now is, which one?

Jimbo Fisher said Tuesday that either Mario Edwards Jr. or Chris Casher will move into the rotation at defensive end after Brandon Jenkins was lost for the year with a foot injury, but he's not likely to decide which one until seeing both players go through this week's practices.

"We'll see which one takes that next step and jumps up," Fisher said. "They'll be getting the reps. How fast things can change in 24 hours."

Monday afternoon, Fisher was adamant that both players would be redshirted for the season, and Edwards, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the nation a year ago, wasn't even dressed or on the sideline for Saturday's opener against Murray State when Jenkins got hurt.

Both players were in scout-team jerseys during Tuesday's early workouts in practice, but Fisher said Edwards and Casher will both get regular reps with the second-team defense in hopes the coaching staff can pin down which player deserves a chance Saturday against Savannah State.

"We'll put them with the twos, try to get them as many reps as we can and see which one is ready and can comprehend the game plan," Fisher said.

It's also possible both players could have their redshirts removed, and Fisher said he's been relatively pleased with how the two have progressed throughout the fall.

"Both have the ability to do those things (in a game)," Fisher said. "There's physical ability, and I was very pleased with the progress they were making in camp. We'll have to see how one of those two grab that opportunity."

Casher didn't play his senior season in high school, and at nearly 300 pounds, Edwards checks in on the heavy side for a defensive end.

Those are the primary reasons Fisher was aiming to redshirt the pair, but FSU is hopeful at least one can learn on the fly.

"Both of them compete," redshirt freshman Giorgio Newberry said. "They play with a motor, and I think once they get in -- they'll be nervous a few times, but after that, they'll be ready."

Every week, RecruitingNation sends out a fleet of writers to report from high school football games across the country. From the Road breaks down the top performances by the recruits they saw in person over the weekend.

If Florida State is going to live up to its preseason hype this year, it is going to have to do it now without its top two defensive players from a year ago.

The Seminoles are going to be without preseason All-America defensive end Brandon Jenkins for the rest of the season, a difficult enough proposition on its own. But couple that with the loss of cornerback/returner Greg Reid -- kicked off the team this summer -- and the Noles are sitting with a major talent deficit.

What helps is that Florida State has depth at defensive end, and young players with potential in the secondary. Senior Cornellius Carradine will step into the starting job for Jenkins. He has experience, and he played well against Murray State on Saturday after Jenkins got hurt, making nine tackles. The Noles also have redshirt freshman Giorgio Newberry and senior Toshmon Stevens and could consider pulling the redshirt from highly touted Mario Edwards Jr., the No. 1 player on the ESPN 150 for the class of 2012.

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It had been months since Bjoern Werner had been at full strength, after shoulder surgery robbed him of spring practice and curbed his workout routine.

In the interim, Florida State's conditioning coaches had ardently preached about the importance of diet, proper nutrition, fueling a player's body with more than junk food and Muscle Milk. Werner thought little of it. He was simply excited to get back into seven-on-seven drills, to test out the shoulder and dish out a few hits.

He weighed in at the start of summer, and the numbers weren't surprising. He'd always been heavier. This is where his power came from, he assumed. Then came a body fat analysis, and Werner was shocked.

"I can't tell you what it was," Werner said. "But it was bad."

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A quick look how Week 1's performances for Florida State's top competition for postseason awards:

RISING

K Dustin Hopkins, Sr. (Groza): The odds-on favorite to win the Groza award had a solid start to the season, connecting on two short field goals, converting all eight PATs and booting five touchbacks.

CB Xavier Rhodes, Jr. (Bednarik, Nagurski, Thorpe): Playing opposite two newcomers at corner, Rhodes finished with five tackles and an interception, as Murray State failed to complete a pass for more than 16 yards.

DE Bjoern Werner, Jr. (Lombardi, Nagurski): It was a dominant performance for FSU on Saturday, but no one was more dominant than Werner, who racked up four sacks, five tackles for a loss and one forced fumble. The slimmed-down Werner stepped to the forefront of an impressive group of D-linemen for postseason awards.

HOLDING STEADY

DT Everett Dawkins, Sr. (Outland): Dawkins didn't record a tackle against Murray State, but he was an anchor on a defensive line that utterly dominated the Racers, including stuffing the running game to the tune of 1.2 yards per carry.

LB Christian Jones, Jr. (Butkus): Jones had just one tackle in his new role as the weakside linebacker, but it came when he sniffed out a screen pass and brought the receiver down in the backfield.

S Lamarcus Joyner, Jr. (Bednarik, Nagurski, Thorpe): Joyner finished with five solo tackles against Murray State in limited duty.

DT Timmy Jernigan, So. (Outland): Getting his first career start in place of injured Anthony McCloud, Jernigan stoned Murray State's running game and picked up two tackles, including one for a loss.

FALLING

WR Willie Haulstead, Jr. (Biletnikoff): Haulstead's selection to this watch list was a bit perplexing to begin with considering he missed all of last season with a concussion. He did see action Saturday -- his first since 2010 -- but didn't record a catch.

QB EJ Manuel, Sr. (Maxwell, O'Brien): It's not that Manuel didn't play well in the opener, but his stat line -- 16-for-22 for 188 yards and one TD -- won't compare to the gaudy numbers some other quarterbacks posted against lower-tier Week 1 opponents.

DE Brandon Jenkins, Sr. (Bednarik, Camp, Lombardi/Rotary, Nagurski): Jenkins picked up his first sack of the season in the first quarter against Murray State, then left with a foot injury. Jimbo Fisher said the injury isn't serious, but reports Monday night indicated Jenkins could miss the season.

LB Nick Moody, Sr. (Butkus): Moody chipped in on one tackle for loss in Saturday's opener, but Fisher was less than complimentary of his senior following his first start at strongside linebacker.

On Monday afternoon, Jimbo Fisher praised the depth of talent he had at defensive end, suggesting there simply wouldn't be playing time for freshmen Mario Edwards Jr. and Chris Casher, two of the nation's top recruits.

By Monday night, however, things had changed.

All-ACC defensive end Brandon Jenkins will miss the season with a foot injury, and while the Seminoles are well stocked at the position to overcome the loss, Fisher might now need to reconsider whether he'll redshirt both of his freshmen.

With Jenkins sidelined, senior Cornellius Carradine will step into the starting job. Carradine led all FSU defenders with nine tackles against Murray State, including two for a loss. Carradine recorded 5.5 sacks last season, his first at Florida State after transferring from Butler Community College.

Redshirt freshman Giorgio Newberry and senior Toshmon Stevens both saw extensive playing time against Murray State on Saturday, and Fisher could consider that enough depth to move forward.

But while the decision to redshirt Edwards seemed clear-cut just a day earlier, Jenkins' injury clearly complicates matters.

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