Fisher staunchly defends FSU's strategy on Miami's winning play
After watching his team lose for the third time in four games, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher acknowledged Monday that the Seminoles need to improve in several areas.
They need to get off to faster starts offensively, they need to be more consistent on special teams, and they need to do a better job of finishing plays on defense.
One thing Fisher had absolutely no qualms with was defensive coordinator Charles Kelly’s defensive strategy on Miami’s game-winning touchdown pass with six seconds remaining. With the Hurricanes facing a first-and-10 from FSU’s 23-yard line with 11 seconds left, UM coach Mark Richt decided to take one last shot at the end zone before attempting a game-tying field goal.
FSU had taken a 20-17 lead just over a minute earlier, and Miami drove from its own 25-yard line to the FSU 23-yard line in eight plays.
The Hurricanes, with one timeout remaining, lined up two receivers to the left (on the strong side of the formation) and one receiver to the right. FSU played press-man coverage and had nine defenders at the line of scrimmage.
Miami receiver Darrell Langham, who was split to the right, raced toward the end zone with FSU cornerback Tarvarus McFadden running stride for stride. Langham then was able to turn and catch a back-shoulder pass from quarterback Malik Rosier and dive into the end zone for the winning score.
Two days later, Fisher was adamant it was the right play call, and he was happy to have the 6-foot-2 McFadden matched up in man coverage with the 6-4 Langham.
“T-Mac hadn’t had any … he had been in man-to-man coverage the whole day,” Fisher said. “I don’t think a ball was caught on him. He had one interference call, which was a very tightly contested play.”
Fisher pointed out that the Seminoles had been more susceptible in zone coverage throughout the day, noting they were playing Cover-2 when UM converted a third-and-20 play early in the third quarter.
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