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How did the rest of the team take the news?

Jimbo Fisher: They knew he was hurting pretty good after the game, right afterwards. It was shocking to them. He was their leader. He was the guy they all looked to. Like I tell our guys, it’s time for another guy to be a hero. Maybe it’s E.J., maybe it’s somebody else. It doesn’t necessarily have to be E.J. Kids move on. They know we have to. It’s part of the game.

What are your thoughts right now on where the team is? I know you take it week by week, but this literally is a must-win situation I would think.

JF: I don’t think we look at it that way. You don’t say that to them. You say we have to play well. If we play well, then we have a chance to win. Winning and losing will take care of itself based on what you do and how you prepare yourself. That’s how we’re taking it.

What is Christian doing now? Has he had the surgery? Will he be on the sideline?

JF: He’ll be on the trip. He’ll be there, room with E.J. Be on the sideline. We’ll be able to talk to him, make adjustments, see what he’s seeing, just knowing he’s been in those shoes before.

When exactly is his surgery?

JF: I believe it’s the end of next week sometime. I don’t know the date exactly.

I did see in one of the practice reports that Christian was more likely to return next year instead of going to the NFL. How do you feel that decision will benefit him?

JF: If it’s time to go out, it’s time to go out, but I don’t ever think coming back and gaining more experience, gaining more knowledge, polishing your game, I don’t think that hurts you. If you’re definitely a top five pick and you know you’re going to go, you’ve gotta go. But I don’t ever think coming back to college and maturing and learning more ball and becoming a more complete player and working on other weaknesses you have, I don’t think that ever hurts you. And the thing is, he’s coming back to an offense that has everybody back. Everybody. The offensive line, the tight ends, the receivers. We’re only playing one senior, that’s Rod Owens.

Yeah, I think people forget that.

JF: Exactly. And there’s only about three juniors, Hudson, McMahon and Ponder.

That being said, are you pleased with the way things at least offensively have gone this year?

JF: We’ve gotten better. I still wish there were times in games we would’ve made some plays at key times. Part of that is maturity. As far as what we’re doing, our ability to run the ball, throw the ball, create plays, we’re averaging 440 yards a game and some points. We’re making tremendous progress on offense I think, I really do.

In summary, are there any particular keys you guys have to do offensively on Saturday to win this game?

JF: First of all not turn it over, like always. I think we have to be able to run the football, take pressure off of E.J. so that we can throw when we want to and not when we have to all of the time. Pick our moments to put him in the right situations. I think he can handle it, but I think it would help tremendously to take some pressure off of him.

Even though Florida State still has three chances to win two more games to become bowl eligible, the winner of Saturday’s game against Wake Forest is likely the one team that makes it to the postseason. If Florida State is going to survive, it’s going to have to do it under the direction of first-time starting quarterback E.J. Manuel. Manuel was not available for a phone interview this week, but his coach and recruiter, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, was. Here are the highlights of our conversation:

Tell me a little bit about E.J. A lot of Florida State fans have never seen him play before. What do you think we can all expect from him on Saturday?

Jimbo Fisher: He’s a guy who has a lot of instincts when he plays, he’s athletic. He’s very athletic, he can run. He’s faster than Christian. He’s a big, strong, guy. As a person, he’s very similar to Christian, as far as his work ethic, his demeanor, the way he carries himself. They’re very similar-type people. It’s going to be a matter of him feeling comfortable, and getting through the anxiety and relaxing. He throws the ball nice. He’s a big strong guy. He’s got a chance to be a really good player.

What did you see in him when you recruited him? He’s your first hand-picked quarterback, right?

JF: He was. The thing I liked about him, he had size and athleticism and could run. He threw the ball well. But the thing I liked about him was all the other things -- his leadership, the way he carried himself, his toughness, the way people responded to him. When he walked in the room, people gave that instant respect. He had that command. He had all the intangibles you really want in a guy. Here at Florida State, if people say, ‘That’s the signature guy in your program,’ would you be proud of that? Most definitely. He stands for all the right things.

How much do you have to change your offensive game plan for this game now?

JF: Not a ton, I don’t think. We’ll still do the things we do. We’ll still do the runs and things. There may be certain passes he likes better than Christian liked. We can tweak those things, but we’ll stay within the framework of the offense. He has a good grasp of what we were doing. It’s not that you have to cut it back, maybe it’s the situations you put him in, where sometimes on certain things you may have seen Christian out there a lot more because he not only can make the big play, he’d say, ‘Ok, that’s not there.’ Check it down, get you out of things. You’ve got to be careful, I think, not putting too much pressure on him to have to make every play. You have to let the other guys around him play. But he’s capable of making plays.

You say he’s faster. Would you want to see him run more?

JF: No, I’m just saying he’s an athletic guy. He can move around. He can scramble out of the pocket, he can run.

Stay tuned for part II.