There has been a lot of chatter, discussion and debate about Florida State's offensive struggles after the disappointing performance in the loss to Clemson. Offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden spoke to the media Monday night about several issues including the inability to score in the first half of games, the clock management issues, Xavier Lee's lack of playing time, getting Greg Carr back into the offense and more.

Jeff Bowden: Timeouts were unnecessary. We got the play in and Drew (Weatherford) misread the play on his wrist band and that is the best I can give you. I had one error that caused a timeout, it was our second offensive timeout where I had a wrong number typed with the play call. In other words, we had a naked called and we had the wrong personnel group. I have to take that. That was it. The rest of them shouldn't have happened.

Jeff Bowden: Well, it looks like turnovers right now to me. We had a drive going early on and we fumbled the ball. That probably the best explanation I can give you.

Jeff Bowden: Well that was one thing I told the kids. We said before this game we were going to stay with the run and be patient with the run. Last year we were real quick in the second half to abandon it and go to the pass. That is exactly what they wanted us to do and we didn't do it. We gave ourselves a chance in the game and we got back in the game. Late in the game, the biggest mistake that we made was a third and one that we didn't convert that we should have converted.

Jeff Bowden: Yes, it was Joe's.

Jeff Bowden: Well, let me put it this way. If they expected it, they didn't defend it. We blocked it, we didn't hit the hole. We just didn't hit the hole that was there.

Jeff Bowden: Well, you saw him more in the second half. Greg just hasn't played well in games like I expect him to. He hasn't blocked like we expect him to, like I expect him to. So on top of that, we had some routes that Chris Davis was a little better at running than Greg and we felt comfortable with Richard Goodman.

Jeff Bowden: Yeah, but if it makes him better for the rest of his career – Yeah, if it costs us a game, yeah, but that didn't cost us the ballgame.

Jeff Bowden: Yeah. We had a plan last week and a plan the week before, I sure would like to see that plan happen.

Jeff Bowden: We are not playing as well as we can play yet. We had some great, we sewed the offense up, bunch of cut-ups in that game where we had some potentially big runs in that game and we are either falling off of a linebackers block or not cutting up the backside or we do that and a receiver, when a run bounces out to the perimeter, a receiver is not blocking on the perimeter so they all were pretty bothered by what they saw. There was a lot of potential for big runs in that ballgame.

Jeff Bowden: Why?

Jeff Bowden: (laughs) Why, you don't have to ask me that question.

Jeff Bowden: Yeah, that is the guy on every team that just lost that is taking the heat probably. That is just the nature of his position.

Jeff Bowden: I can understand it a little bit in this game because it was a big turnover game last year and when we spread the field on them last year they did so much in the middle of the field that anything in the middle was going to be short and anything down the field was going to be on the edge just because they invited us to throw it in there and which we did for them last year. I know two picks that we threw last year were hash-to-hash. I am sure that weighed on his mind a little bit but other than that I don't know. I thought that if you take away his drops he is going to miss some guys now and then and I think that is true every time but I wonder because he was 11-of-19 and I know De'Cody (Fagg) dropped a ball and Chris Davis had a drop. (Richard Goodman had a drop) and you are talking about a touchdown, that is a big drop now. Now all of a sudden he is 14-of-19 and that is not bad. No, he still didn't play – I could see why he would be concerned about forcing it down the middle.

Jeff Bowden: I didn't think (he was), but if he was and he was not saying it I can see why.

Jeff Bowden: Yeah, but if I were him, to be honest with you, that would have been nice but if I were him I would have dumped it down to. We were still (tied) and you don't want to turn it over and give the ball to them at that time and you think maybe, maybe you get one more crack at it. It shouldn't have come down to that, like I said the third and one was pivotal and the very next drive we had a second and long call and we are trying to reduce it to a third and makeable, third and average, and we bust a run through there and fumble it all the way back to the line of scrimmage and here you are with third and 14. I can find about three or four plays in a game like that, that turn a game.

Jeff Bowden: Well, I don't know. I think that is something that we will talk about. That is part of that plan, are we going to have a plan. I think it will weight into it, certainly will.

Jeff Bowden: No, you are not right. I hope I said that right.

Jeff Bowden: There is no question. Right now, I would have been more concerned with being 3-0 than where we are ranked (offensively). Obviously those are not standards that you want but neither is 2-1. Going into this last game I would have been happy to stay with the plan we had, had we come out with a win. The only other thing that you could have done is for us to kind of revert back and spread the field and give Drew more at-bats and he can build up them great passing stats and maybe throw some picks, I don't know, but no, we are not happy with that right now.

Jeff Bowden: Yeah, a little bit. Greg Carr has got to play, he has got to play better and practice better. He is going to try. He has not done neither in the first three games. That is a decision for that movement. You wish you could take back that all of a sudden you are feeling good about Rich Goodman and he drops a touchdown. You say, shoot, why wasn't Chris Davis in there but it is because Rich has played well and you had no reason to think he wouldn't make the play but it just happened. I am going to guarantee you that I am going to make sure the right people are in the right positions next time.

Jeff Bowden: Yeah. Well you know receivers are like batters, the more I press them, the more they press. They have to get over this slump. They are no different than the quarterback. You make a bad throw you have to put it behind you. Chris just looks like a guy that is pressing, just go out and do what you have done a 1,000 times, he don't ever drop that ball but to me that is what it looks like to me. It looks like they are pressing.

Jeff Bowden: Well, Chris had separation on the drop. He was wide open, the ball seemed to hang forever, and it looked like he just took his eyes off of it at the end. I think we were. I think we are getting separation enough.

Jeff Bowden: I think he has played okay. I don't think he has been explosive enough again, yet. I keep waiting for the bigger play to happen after the catch.

Jeff Bowden: He has made some big catches, I am talking about the run after the catch. He has made some big, big catches so far. I see him making more.

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