Florida State offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham met with the media on Monday and said he thought Jordan Travis played an overall efficient game on Saturday.

But after only scoring 13 offensive points in a 30-20 loss, Dillingham added that there are plenty of things that need to be cleaned up on that side of the ball as the Seminoles start prepping for N.C. State.

"We put ourselves behind the chains," Dillingham said. "And when you're trying to beat a really good defense on third-and-long you're not going to be successful. ... When you put those {Clemson] defensive linemen on the field, combined with the simulated pressures, trying to protect. Not many teams in the country are going to be successful in that."

The Seminoles certainly weren't.

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In the second half of Saturday's loss, the Seminoles didn't score a single point offensively and only had one drive with multiple first downs. Some of that was because Clemson's defense is really good, and some of that was self-inflicted wounds, Dillingham said.

Three false starts didn't help the cause, and in every drive but one in the second half, FSU lost yardage on a play or a penalty. Meaning 1st-and-10 became 1st-and-15 or 2nd-and-13 or 3rd-and-12.

And the results of those drives were predictable. Because at that point, in third-and-long, Dillingham said Travis' running ability becomes much less impactful.

"When you get out of the pocket on third-and-12 or third-and-13 and you've got zone eyes on you, by the time you get to the line of scrimmage and become a non-passing threat, you're going to have four guys collapse," Dillingham said.

He said Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables had at least one spy focused on Travis for every play. And in some instances, he would have two -- one on each side of the formation, to keep Travis from breaking containment.

The result was the Seminoles' worst rushing output of the season and lowest yardage output overall.

"When you have a guy like Jordan, usually he can spark the run game with one of those special runs that go for 80 and then the stats say you ran the ball for nine yards a carry," Dillingham said. "And when you get boxed in like that, it really puts the pressure on having to win consistently in the box. The one-on-ones.

"(Venables) is not going to let you get those explosive runs, because they're good tacklers."

Overall though, Dillingham and head coach Mike Norvell said that Travis did some good things in the passing game. And the passing game itself, on first down, was one of the bright spots of the afternoon.

They believe it was actually something to build upon as the Seminoles approach the final third of the season, starting this Saturday against North Carolina State.

"We were really efficient," Dillingham said of the first-down passing game. "Which has not been something we've seen the last two years here offensively. ... I thought he did a really good job being patient in the pocket, going to his first, second and third [reads]. And one time it was actually his fifth read on one of the sit-routes.

"I thought he did a great job. Offensively, we knew we were going to be able to protect those situations. ... But we get into the third-and-longs and those guys are coming after you, and they're dropping eight because it's third-and-12, and I felt there were one or two times in the game he could've progressed and thrown a climb, but it's bang-bang.

"I would like to say we could make that throw, but when you're on the field, it's a little bit different. It's easy to say in the film room. But we've got to stay out of those down-and-distances when you face good teams. That's what it boils down to."

For the most part, FSU avoided those undesirable situations during its three-game winning streak, which allowed Travis to make plays with his feet to keep drives alive.

Dillingham said the crowd noise was a factor in some of the Seminoles' false starts. And as Norvell pointed out, three of the starters on the offensive line were freshmen.

There is only so much simulation you can do in practice to replicate the type of noise-level Death Valley reaches in a close game in the second half.

And to make matters even tougher, they were going against one of the best defenses in the country.

"This was our first real road game with a loud crowd in the last two years with this O-line, with this group," Dillingham said. "And I think it got to us a little bit. ... All of that is part of the growing process. When you play in those environments, you've got to stay focused on the task at hand."

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