Florida State football shocked the world on Aug. 30 by upsetting No. 8 Alabama in front of a sold-out crowd at Doak Campbell Stadium.
It is still shocking for most after the game, but not for FSU’s starting linebacker Justin “Juice” Cryer. After the game, he gave a heartfelt explanation of why the Seminoles came through the victory.
For Cryer, it was this past offseason that built up to making FSU an overnight success.
“I mean, all honesty, like there was nothing that happened in that game that we didn’t feel like was going to happen. We’ve been training for this since January. When people say the term January to January, like we mean that, and you can sit here and you can let what things that everyone else has to say about you, about your teammates, about this team, our coaches, our staff, but that doesn’t matter because we only the people who can control their what we say or what they say about us,” Cryer said.
“Honestly, it still might not be what people like when we want to say what they really mean, but at the same time, it doesn’t really matter because we worked our butts off from January to this very moment, and what happened that game would not surprise anybody in that room, maybe to y’all, not to us.
“So I feel like just moving forward that sets the tone for how we want to play defensively, even offensively, honestly, and moving forward, that is how we play Florida State football, and like that was not a shock to me at all. I feel like we felt confident, we felt good going into it, and that was a result, not a surprise.”
FSU was a 13.5-point underdog heading into the season opener. The Seminoles held the Crimson Tide to just 87 yards rushing, along with two passing touchdowns.
Cryer, who was the second-leading tackler with seven total, downplayed that the Alabama win was a statement win. That was not his MO, nor the Seminoles’.
“Honestly, I’m just worried about just moving forward, taking it day by day. (I’m) I’m not really in the mood or in the business of making statements about what this team is going to look like, but I know that day in and day out, we’re going to put in that work,” Cryer said.
“I’m going to keep coming, and obviously, we’re not perfect out there. I wasn’t perfect. Nowhere near. The thing we need to correct is all about the day-by-day improvements. It’s all about the climb, as we say, and you’ve got to believe in it. Everybody buys into it. Not sending a message to the college football world and not trying to make a big declaration. It’s all about day-by-day improvement and what we want to get better, how we want to get better, and we’re going to take it one day at a time. Keep moving forward.”
Juice Cryer among the last of the remaining 2023, 2024 team
Cryer knows firsthand about the highs and lows in his first two years at FSU. He was a true freshman when the Seminoles went 13-1, winning the ACC title and contending for the College Football Playoff before being snubbed as one of the four teams selected.
The following year, the Seminoles fell to 2-10
“Things are probably not going to go our way all the time, but at the same time, we’ve got to control what we can control and just respond to everything that happens,” Cryer said.
“That just speaks to the maturity of us as a team that have been together for the last three years, and I mean like believe that coach has in us. I can’t put into words how much he really does believe in us, how we can go out there and really make things happen.”
Other players who were on those previous rosters were Edwin Joseph, Darrell Jackson Jr, Quindarrius Jones, Blake Nichelson, Jaden Jones, KJ Kirkland, Ashlynd Barker, Samuel Singleton Jr., Ja’Bril Rawls, Omar Graham Jr., Shyheim Brown, Mac Chiumento, KJ Sampson, Andre Otto, and Daniel Lyons.
Earl Little Jr. was on the Alabama team in 2023 as a freshman and then transferred to FSU the following year. For Little, he believed the defense took a step forward after beating his former team. Little led FSU with nine tackles.
“We put in the work that we put in all season, and people had us in their minds from the end of last season up until this point now,” Little said.
“We probably flip the script now. Like I said, we enjoy this victory tonight. Back to the drawing board on Monday.”
Cryer also credited newcomers for not thinking any less of the returnees, creating a team chemistry with one another and high expectations heading into this season.
“A testament to those guys as well. Those new guys that came in, like they could have easily been like, I was on that team last year, like nothing with me. But they adopted that feeling that we felt,” Cryer said.
“They were like, ‘Man, like we can’t let that happen.’ Even though they might not have been here for it, it’s a part of this brand, and they adopted that feeling like we can’t let this happen again. And I mean, props to them for adopting, helping us get back to where we are.”
Florida State football 2025 schedule
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football upsetting Alabama not a shock for Juice Cryer. Here’s why
Reporting by Peter Holland Jr., Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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