TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher questioned his own play calls after Saturday night’s 17-16 loss to NC State.
One of the plays in particular came with about 10 minutes left in the game. Facing a third-and-2 from NC State’s 19, FSU called timeout. The Seminoles led 16-10. FSU tried to roll EJ Manuel right, but a backside blitz was not picked up and Manuel was sacked for a 15-yard loss.
Instead of attempting a 52-yard field goal by Dustin Hopkins, who made a 55-yard field goal to beat Clemson in 2010, FSU opted to punt and pin the Wolfpack deep. Fisher second-guessed himself Saturday night.
“In hindsight, don’t put him (Manuel) in that position,” Fisher said. “Hindsight, call it, run the ball, if you don’t make it, kick the field goal. We didn’t protect the edge. We did not execute it. In hindsight, should have just run the ball and kicked the field goal.”
On Monday afternoon, Fisher reversed course.
“Now that I look at the film, and how it happened, I don’t regret it,” Fisher said. “We tried to play aggressive. Thought we could make the first down. We were trying to go in and get a touchdown. Didn’t think that (a sack) could happen.”
FSU fans have taken to message boards and Twitter, criticizing Fisher’s play calling on Saturday. While Fisher’s decision not to kick the field goal has come under fire, he was also conservative down the stretch, too. On FSU’s second-to-last drive, Fisher called three straight running plays, forcing NC State to burn its timeouts.
But then a blocked punt gave the Wolfpack the ball on FSU’s 43 with 2:27 left in the game. NC State won the game with 16 seconds left on a touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Bryan Underwood.
“Hindsight is all 20-20,” Fisher said. “I don’t regret any of the calls. I regret that we didn’t execute some things that we did.”
Fisher said a number of players were responsible for lapses in focus and poor technique. He said very few of the errors are what he considers a missed assignment and thinks that the coaches can correct those mistakes in practices leading up to Saturday’s home game against Boston College at 5:30 p.m.
“We had 'em on offense, defense and special teams,” Fisher said of the mistakes. “I think it’s a matter of focus. Sometimes you slip mentally instead of focusing and concentrating. After watching the film, not discouraged — very encouraged. Everything is very fixable. Just have to go out and execute.”
FSU players took the loss hard, especially after a 5-0 start and expectations of a national championship had built up. The Seminoles watched as they dropped to No. 12 in The Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the coaches’ poll, and they are virtually eliminated from the national title chase.
The emotions were difficult not just because FSU lost, but how the team lost. FSU led 16-0 at the half and 16-3 going into the fourth quarter.
“The plane ride home was extremely tough,” Manuel said. “But there’s nothing you can do. … We were in control of the game and we let it go. All you can do is move on.”
Fisher said the process of moving on has already begun. He’s watched the FSU-NC State game with the assistants and they’ve critiqued film. But preparations for BC have started and, to the Seminoles, the second half of the season is already under way.
“There’s a lot of ball left,” Fisher said. “There are six games left. I look forward to seeing where they go in the next six games.”
