Clark: FSU offense has done unthinkable so far in 2015

Here’s a stat for you fine folks. One that I think is pretty relevant as we head into the seventh game of the season.

The Florida State offense is the only one in the country, at any level of college football, that doesn’t have a turnover this season.

For some perspective, there are 128 FBS teams, 123 FCS teams, 169 Division II teams, 241 Division III teams, 85 NAIA teams and 66 junior college teams across the nation in 2015. So that’s a total of 812 offenses in college football in 2015. And the only one who has yet to commit a single turnover so far this season is Florida State. Yep. The only one. Out of 812.

I mean, that defies belief. That’s just nutty.

So two questions come immediately to mind: How do we explain the complete lack of turnovers so far? And will I now be accused of jinxing the Seminoles as soon as they commit their first one?

To answer the second question first, yes, of course I will.

This column could be seen as the equivalent of sitting down in the dugout right next to a pitcher that’s got a perfect game going and saying, ‘Hey man. You realize they haven’t had a baserunner yet? How cool would that be if you got three more outs? You’d be like famous forever, man. Anyway … good luck!”

But I don’t see it like that. First off, we all understand FSU isn’t going to go an entire season without turning the ball over. That’s not going to happen. A lost fumble will come. So will an interception. That’s just the sport. You can’t blame me for an inevitability. So don’t even try it, partner!

Secondly, this column is about the past six games. And what exactly has gone right for the FSU offense in that regard. It’s not a predictor of the future. It’s not wondering if FSU can make college football history by not committing a single offensive turnover for an entire season. Nobody’s wondering that. Cause it ain’t happening.

That doesn’t mean this hasn’t been surreal.

Especially considering last year.

After six games in 2014, FSU had already committed 12 turnovers. Jameis Winston had thrown five interceptions already and would end up throwing plenty more. The Seminoles finished with a staggering 32 turnovers last season, including a few in the playoff game against Oregon you may remember.

This year FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher replaced Winston at QB with a senior transfer, who had about a month to really learn the system and who had a pretty ugly turnover history of his own.

Everett Golson had 14 interceptions and eight lost fumbles last season for Notre Dame. It got so bad for the South Carolina native that he was eventually benched in favor of Malik Zaire, which led to Golson’s transfer to FSU.

So you take an offensive system that could arguably be labeled a high-risk, high-reward one (FSU has never had less than 18 turnovers since Fisher arrived in Tallahassee in 2007) and insert a mistake-prone QB into it. And what do you get? Zero turnovers through six games, of course.

“The No. 1 thing that affects games is turnovers,” Fisher said. “Getting them and not having them — we’re doing a good job there.”

A bit of an understatement, sure, but Fisher’s not about to go jinxing this thing by talking about it too much. He routinely knocks on wood when the subject is brought up, in fact. Fisher knows that Lady Luck absolutely plays a role in turnovers and he has no idea when she’s going to show back up. So he’s not about to start taunting her.

But there’s more to it than superstition, obviously.

There are a couple of factors at play here. Golson didn’t take a lot of risks in the first month of the season. He seemed hesitant to throw in the middle of the field or to any receiver who wasn’t standing all alone. He took almost no chances. That can cut down on turnovers, naturally.

While Golson has started making throws into tighter windows the last two games, what he’s also done – which has been key – is use his legs to avoid terrible mistakes by rolling outside the pocket and throwing the ball away. The QB has yet to just toss one up for grabs.

Also, Golson has fumbled once this season and Dalvin Cook has fumbled twice. But the Seminoles recovered all three. That’s lucky.

And make no mistake, when it comes to turnovers there is some luck involved. Especially when you have zero through six games (the FSU record for consecutive non-turnover games coming into the season was three).

But it’s certainly not all luck. Golson hasn’t made any head-shaking throws right into a defender’s chest. He’s held onto the ball. So have the skill players. Which has led to a streak unlike any in FSU history.

It will end soon. We all know that.

But for the time being, it’s certainly worth appreciating.

There are 811 other teams in this country that certainly do.

Corey Clark can be reached via email at csclark@tallahassee.com and followed on Twitter at Corey_Clark.