Matt Baker’s takeaways from Florida State vs. Boise State

Willie Taggart’s first recruiting class was FSU’s biggest Tampa Bay haul in three decades, and it’s starting to pay off. Receiver Warren Thompson (Armwood High) had his first career catch, a 51-yarder in the first half. On the next series, defensive back Isaiah Bolden (Wesley Chapel High) snagged his first career interception.

RELATED: Florida State blows a pair of 18-point leads in 36-31 loss to Boise State

There was a weird but understandable lack of pregame buzz around the stadium for a matchup of two successful, big-name programs. The announced attendance (50,917) was a solid showing for a game that, 48 hours beforehand, was going to be played in Jacksonville before moving to Tallahassee because of the threat of Hurricane Dorian.

Taggart’s end-of-season buyout would be about $17 million for a cash-strapped program, so I still don’t think his job is in major jeopardy yet. But I don’t know how you come back from a loss like this.

The most stunning line after the game was defensive back Levonta Taylor saying, repeatedly, that FSU was “supposed to blow them out.” After what happened last year (and the year before that), why would the Seminoles think that? What possible justification is there for that hubris?