Written by Erik Slaby
Tallahassee, FL – On a cloudy, grey afternoon here at Doak S. Campbell Stadium, the Florida Gators defeated the Florida State Seminoles by a score of 41-14. This loss by Florida State breaks a five-year winning streak against Florida but more importantly, it breaks 36 consecutive years of making a bowl game by Florida State. It was the longest streak in the nation and with this loss, it is now broken. Florida State head coach Willie Taggart spoke after the game about how it feels to not be in a bowl game and breaking the bowl streak.
“It was really tough because of what was at stake and nobody in that locker room wanted to be a part of that team that breaks the bowl streak,” said Taggart. “And so it was really tough and a lot of tears and guys were hurting. We wanted to get it done and we didn’t. So it’s frustrating, disappointing, and again guys are hurting.”
Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois also spoke about how it feels to having the bowl streak broken.
“Right now, it hurts. It’s cutting deep right now. We’ve went to a bowl game every year that I’ve been here, and it just hurts not to go to a bowl game,” said Francois. Adding, “I don’t think I’ve ever not seen Florida State in a bowl game since I’ve been alive, and to end the bowl streak with me being the starting quarterback – it just hurts. This is not a good feeling for me, my family, my teammates, the fans… It’s not a good feeling right now.”
From the start, it was apparent that Florida State was going to have a very difficult time not only against a very tough Florida team, but also themselves. On the first offensive play of the game, Francois took a shot down the field to wide receiver Tamorrion Terry and though the pass was incomplete, what really hurt Florida State was that Terry was called for offensive pass interference. That call led the Seminoles to be backed up to their 13-yard line, facing a 1st & 22. Florida State was unable to get anything going and were forced to punt. This would be a running theme for the Seminoles as they continuously shot themselves in the foot in every phase of the game with sloppy play and at times, dumb penalties.
Penalties have been a problem for Florida State all season and it was no different in this game as they finished the game with 10 accepted penalties for 60 yards. It seemed like every time Florida State would have a big play offensively, or make a huge stop on defense, there would a be a penalty flag on the field that would take away the good play.
Offensively, the worst example of this was early in the second quarter. Florida State was down 10-0 to the Gators when Francois managed to get the ball out to running back Cam Akers, before getting rocked, and Akers sprinted down the field for a 70-yard touchdown. This was a huge momentum changer for the Seminoles as they were only down by three at that point. Unfortunately, the play was called back due to an illegal shift by one of the wide receivers. That penalty seemed to suck the wind out of the offense and they were once again, forced to punt.
Defensively, it happened on the first drive of the third quarter. Going into halftime, Florida State seemed to have a bit of momentum as they were only down 14-7, after an incredible 15-yard touchdown catch by Akers late in the second quarter. Florida started the third quarter on offense and they systematically moved the ball, almost at will, to the Florida State 13-yard line. Florida was facing a 3rd & 7 when they pitched the ball to running back Jordan Scarlett and he was forced out of bounds by Florida State cornerback Stanford Samuels, four yards short of the first down. It looked like Florida was going to have to kick a field goal, when Samuels was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing a punch after the play was over. That gave Florida new life and they promptly took advantage of it with a three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Feleipe Franks to wide receiver Josh Hammond.
These two types of penalties, along with false starts, holding and any other type of penalty you can think of have plagued Florida State all season and have cost them in huge situations. Taggart spoke about the penalties after the game and the effect they’ve had on the season as a whole.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Taggart. “It’s kind of like throughout the year where we had our struggles. We do things that cause you to lose ball games like that. It’s third down, we were ready to get them off the field and then we, we’re not tough enough to walk away and that’s what we got to be, that’s what good football teams do and we didn’t do that. Again, you look at some of the games that we lost and the way we lost is we weren’t disciplined, we didn’t do the things we needed to. We wasn’t tough enough to walk away when someone pushes or shoves us and that’s something we got to learn to do.”
Unfortunately for Florida State, there’s not another game left on their schedule for them to try to correct these mistakes. The book is closed on the 2018 season and all of the issues Florida State has had this season, will have to be fixed in the offseason. It was a disappointing season for the team but hopefully, they will get it fixed. Taggart said that process will start right away.
“And it’s important that, starting with me, starting tonight, I evaluate everything from me, our staff, what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and making sure we get it back to the way we all want it around here. And we will,” said Taggart. He also added, “We didn’t get it done. But we can grow from it and we will grow from it and I was brought here to get this program back right and that’s what we’ll do is get it back right.”
