Okay, guys. No more kidding around.

The bye week has come and gone, and it was a nice break. I relaxed and went to the fair — had a good time there, ate some fried food. I also did this scavenger hunt in downtown Raleigh. That was fun, but pretty tiring. Our team didn’t do very well. Seems to be a trend these days.

Now, though, I’m ready to get back to playing instead of watching people playing. It’s not like I’ve been sitting around bored, but I’m ready to get going.

This week, though, getting going didn’t come without a nasty fall cold. I don’t get sick too often, but when I do, it sucks. The flu shot was supposed to help, but it didn’t feel too great. I’m getting over it now, though, just in time for our little trip down south.

We practiced a little bit last week, just working on the basics of our offense and defense, just to try and get it rolling. We had a really good week overall.

The attitude, surprisingly, is pretty great. We’re here at the second half of the year, looking at it like we’re erasing it and starting over. State has gone 4-2 after the bye week.

This is my second time going to Florida — the last time was four years ago and we won a pretty close game. It’s been a while since I’ve been in that stadium, so that’s pretty exciting. It gets really loud. 

FSU just got their first win of the season this past Thursday. I only caught the highlights, but it looked as though Carolina started out playing really well, then melted down. FSU just sort of took over. That doesn’t really doesn’t matter to us, though. We know they’re going to be ready to go at home. I’m very ready to get going in the right direction.

Everyone on campus seems really excited for this weekend, but you can tell they’re disappointed. When you’re doing well, it seems like a lighter environment. Everyone is happy and energized. When you’re losing, there’s just not as much excitement around campus from what I see. I’d like to get that excitement back.

Enjoy the game and have a happy Halloween.

– As told to Kate Shefte