Akers, Blackman accept blame for costly turnovers in loss at Wake
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Cam Akers was the most dominant player on the field for most of Saturday night.
At halftime, he had accounted for both of the Florida State football team's touchdowns and half of its total yardage. By the end of the night, he had racked up 157 yards rushing on 30 carries and another 42 yards on four receptions.
But as he sat in the postgame press conference and reflected on the Seminoles' 22-20 loss to the Demon Deacons, the junior tailback couldn't stop talking about the one play he wishes he could have to do over again.
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With Florida State leading by two points midway through the third quarter, Akers and the Seminoles drove from their own 38-yard line to the Wake Forest 12 and had a chance to go ahead by two scores.
Akers had done most of the damage on that drive, with seven carries for 36 yards and a 5-yard reception. But at the end of a four-yard run that would have given the Seminoles a third-and-short from the 12, the tailback fumbled while being tackled to the turf.
The ball didn't appear to be jarred loose by a defender. Akers said he simply lost control of it while bracing for his fall.
"I turned the ball over in a critical moment," Akers said. "I turned the ball over, and I gave them a lot of momentum."
As well as he played on the rest of his snaps, the junior from Mississippi said the fumble was so costly that it "overshadowed" his entire performance.
Akers' backfield mate, sophomore quarterback James Blackman, expressed the same frustrations about his night.
He completed 27 of 43 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns, but he was down on himself for a second-quarter interception that thwarted another scoring opportunity, as well as his inability to get off passes on either of FSU's final two plays.
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