Clark: A missed opportunity for Norvell and FSU Football in Death Valley
CLEMSON, S.C. -- It was there for the taking.
That's what is the most frustrating thing about Florida State's 30-20 loss to Clemson on Saturday.
The Seminoles, who had been pummeled and humiliated the last two times they played the Tigers, who had been lapped and then lapped again by Dabo Swinney's program over the last half-decade, actually had a lead. In the fourth quarter. In Death Valley.
What happened next was ugly -- and we'll get to that in a moment -- but it does need to be understood and at least recognized that the Seminoles put up one helluva fight against the Tigers in this one.
Three years ago, they lost 59-10 at home and had two different players ejected in the fourth quarter for throwing punches.
Two years ago they were down 42-0 before Swinney called off the dogs early in the third quarter, because he didn't want to risk injury in such an insignificant game.
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And then last year, he went and called FSU's whole operation cowards for not wanting to play through the COVID-19 protocols.
So, before we get into what went wrong, we should at least acknowledge how narrow the gap between these two teams is in 2021.
Will that be the case in 2022 and beyond? Who knows? But for right now, today, the Seminoles stood toe-to-toe with the ACC heavyweights for 60 minutes.
Part of that is because Clemson isn't anything close to what it has been in recent years. Understood.
But part of it is because FSU is, in fact, better.
That's progress.
Not that Mike Norvell wanted to take any bows for *almost* winning a game.
It was obvious afterward, when he spoke to the media, that he was emotional. He was upset. He was frustrated, sad, anything else you want to throw in there. Which is why he spoke at a library whisper for his opening statement.
That stood out to me almost as much as the words he was speaking.
"I am proud of this football team," Norvell said. "But we've got to play cleaner there at the end. And at the end of the day, it's just really disappointing."
As it should be.
Because Florida State genuinely, truly had a chance to win this game.
Clemson left the door open with three missed field goals and three turnovers. But unlike FSU's turnover, in which Treshaun Ward simply dropped the ball without being touched, I felt like the Seminoles forced theirs.
Jermaine Johnson had an all-time great play to give FSU its first fourth-quarter lead against Clemson in five years.
But at the end, even after getting a stop on the next possession, the Seminoles couldn't hold the advantage, and the Tigers scored with just under three minutes left to win the game.
Now here's where I want to point something out that really bothered me on Saturday: You have, have, have to go find somebody that wants to go catch a punt.
If an aggressive, sure-handed returner was back there for FSU when Clemson had to punt down 20-17, it probably saves the Seminoles 25-30 yards in field position. Not only does the ball not roll down to the FSU 20, but maybe a good return gets it close to midfield?
And even if your offense remains inept against Brent Venables' defense, you have a chance to pin a bad offense back near its own goal line late in the game. Instead, Clemson took over at its own 42 and was in the end zone three plays -- and two questionable penalties -- later.
Things like this matter.
In close games against quality opponents, when you're not a great team anyway, this hidden yardage matters. And it needs to be fixed.
But other than that, I'm not sure there are many gripes to be had.
I mean, it was obvious Clemson's defense was just too much for Florida State.
Jordan Travis was bottled up more than he has ever been in his college career, and late in the game, the Seminoles just couldn't block Clemson up front.
Would I liked to have seen Jashaun Corbin and Treshaun Ward get more than 14 carries combined? Probably. But I'm not sure it would have mattered all that much with the way Tiger defenders were attacking the line of scrimmage.
Norvell reiterated multiple times how good Clemson is on that side of the ball, and Travis said the words "great defense" at least four times in his postgame press conference.
So, I'm not going to rush to judge Travis as a quarterback or Norvell and Kenny Dillingham as play-callers because they couldn't do much against that defense. Other than Kenny Pickett at Pitt, what QBs HAVE looked good against Venables' unit?
Heck, UGA Is the No. 1 team in the country and scored three whole points against them.
So, let's keep some perspective, right? At the end of the day, give some credit to that defense wearing orange.
Travis wasn't good on Saturday. Not many quarterbacks are against that group. Let's see how he bounces back next week.
And that goes for the entire team. I was generally encouraged by what I saw on Saturday. Even with the poor defense in the first half and the dead-silent offense in the second half.
Florida State, a 10-point underdog, had the lead and the ball with under six minutes to go on the road against one of the top programs in the country.
By the way, if you had Florida State and 9 or 9.5 points (which is where the line fell during the week) and you lost cash because of that ridiculous final play, brother, just know, we all feel for you. That's an all-time horrible loss, and I hope you survive the night!
More than anything though, what I'm interested in, after watching FSU win three in a row and then almost extend the streak to four in what was a hard-fought, heart-pounding game, is how the Seminoles respond to this.
Because we've been here before, right?
They almost beat Notre Dame. Then went into a tailspin. That can't happen again.
Mike Norvell, for one, doesn't think it will.
He also, like the rest of you, ain't about moral victories. He made that clear afterward as well.
"I believe in this team," Norvell said. "They are pushed hard and they are going to respond. They are not going to quit. They're not going to lay down. I think you saw some challenging moments tonight. Just the way that they battled.
"And you walk into that locker room and everybody is hurting."
Good. That's how you're supposed to feel after playing in a game like that. Especially when you truly believed you were going to win.
I'm sure most of you are hurting, too. Because it would have been so sweet to beat Dabo in his own house after last year's foolishness.
It didn't work out though. Which is a shame because a win on Saturday would have been huge for the program, for Norvell, for the recruiting class, for the sobriety of the fan base, for everything.
But you just weren't quite good enough. Even with plenty of opportunities and missed Clemson field goals ... you still couldn't make enough plays down the stretch to take advantage.
So the sod at Clemson's Memorial Stadium stays intact, for at least two more years.
And now we move onto the final four games of the 2021 season, knowing this program is getting better, but still not sure how many wins it will have at the end of the year to show for it.
Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.
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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council