How FSU's 'Pride Unit' was able to block three kicks in one game

Florida State blocked three kicks on Saturday for one of the first times in school history, and Marvin Wilson tied a school record by swatting two field goals by himself.

How it happened was a bit of a perfect storm, but it also didn't happen by chance.

It started with the creation of the Seminoles' field goal block team, which they call their "Pride Unit." While some college football programs have the same defensive players who were on the field for third down stay out there for the ensuing field goal attempt, FSU has a designated group of 11 players assigned to blocking field goals.

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"It is a personnel grouping in and of itself," FSU special teams coordinator John Papuchis said, while appearing this week on Mike Norvell's coach's show. "A lot of times, at a lot of places I've been, whoever's on the field at the time stays on the field. But for us, just like every other unit, (we) pick our very best guys and put them in position to be successful.

"It's a point of emphasis for us, and it showed up that way on Saturday."

The Pride Unit on Saturday consisted of most of the FSU starting defense, but with a few modifications.

The defensive line was Janarius Robinson, Marvin Wilson, Robert Cooper and Josh Griffis. Linebackers Emmett Rice, Amari Gainer and Leonard Warner actually were in the back end of the defense, guarding against potential fakes. And four defensive backs were coming off the edges -- Asante Samuel and Cyrus Fagan on one side, and Akeem Dent and Jaiden Lars-Woodbey on the other.

The blocks in this game all came from the same point of attack, where Robinson and Wilson charged through the left side of Georgia Tech's offensive line.

Wilson, who was honored as the ACC's special teams player of the week, knocked down the first two field goal attempts. Then when the Yellow Jackets were clearly determined to prevent him from blocking an extra-point attempt in the second half, Robinson took advantage and blocked that kick.

"It's a major point of emphasis for us," Papuchis said. "Every day that we rep field goal, we do at least one live rep."

That doesn't mean the Seminoles will be as successful against every opponent.

Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins blamed himself for making a "coaching error" by limiting the amount of time his players worked on field goal blocks and protection. As the Yellow Jackets evaluated their preseason practices with respect to COVID-19 protocols, Collins said he felt the players were spending too much time in close proximity.

The place he cut back was on live field goal attempts.

"That was on me," Collins said. "You've got to practice it, and that was completely on me."

Future FSU opponents likely will be a little more prepared. However, Collins said it will still be a challenge protecting against that group.

"They played really, really hard -- with really good players -- on those plays," Collins said. "And got the pressure and got the blocks."

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