The Florida State Seminoles witnessed yet another game slip away on Saturday, as the Pittsburgh Panthers stole the win in the last quarter. This is the third straight loss for the Seminoles and the second consecutive loss at home. This is the fifth time that the FSU has had a three-game losing streak under Norvell. Before the fans jump on Mike Norvell for FSU’s loss, the defensive coordinator bails him out, taking all the blame.

On the defensive side, FSU didn’t get going from the start of the game. The first possession of the Panthers saw them go on a 15-play touchdown drive that lasted for over eight minutes. The worst for the home team was that Pitt converted three fourth downs on the drive. The two sides exchanged blows until 14-14 late in the second quarter, and Florida State even got two interceptions to go 21-14 into halftime. Talking to the media today, Tony White took full responsibility for how his unit played.

“I’m going to put everything on me,” Tony White said. “When those guys go out on the field and they play hesitant, or they play not on the same page, or they play confused.” The coach accepts, “That’s me, like trying to do too much, trying to win the game on the chalkboard, and whatnot. You saw what happens when those guys just turn loose and go play. We’ve seen what that looks like on the grass.”

Had the Noles continued their effort before halftime, the final score could have told a different story. But that second-half performance has become the norm rather than the exception. Pitt accumulated 476 yards on offense (321 passing, 155 rushing). But more worrying is the pattern in the last three games. Florida State has allowed 108 points and 1,254 yards in the last three games.

“So, you’re trying to plug holes and you’re trying to do this, and you’re trying to compensate for this and you’re trying to do this,” White said. “Like, at the end of the day, play physical as all hell. Get your a-s to the ball and go tackle people and swarm. You know what I mean? And they’ll make you right. You can’t win the game on the chalkboard.” 

Whatever the game plan may be, you can’t allow the opposing RB to get 155 receiving yards on 8 receptions. Tony White’s defense failed to contain QB runs and prevent explosive passes, and at several points, the good plays got erased due to pass interference calls. Mike Norvell was seen talking to Tony White at the end of the game, and he didn’t look pleased with what he saw.

Mike Norvell on FSU’s loss

Mike Norvell, after the loss to Pitt, admitted, “The things you expected to see coming off the week of work were not applied well enough. Ultimately, too many mistakes. We had our opportunities, found ourselves in situations to be able to capitalize, and then obviously found ourselves in challenging spots during the game. And we didn’t do enough to overcome the negative plays.” He then took the blame for the loss. As fans turned on the head coach, the defensive coordinator stepped in to take accountability.

As Tony White took the blame for the poor execution of the Seminoles’ loss, he needs to fix things to bail his head coach out of this tough situation. The changes should come into effect immediately, before their next contest, this Saturday. The Florida State will be travelling to Stanford to face the Stanford Cardinals on October 18th.

This is a must-win game for FSU to stay competitive and at least get to bowl eligibility.