CLEMSON, S.C. -- Some losses have left Florida State disappointed. Others have caused the Seminoles frustration. One left them simply embarrassed.
But Saturday night, after they let No. 4 Clemson pull away late for a 31-14 victory, there was one overriding emotion:
Anger.
FSU’s players were furious at themselves for not playing better in the first half. They were mad about not cashing in on all of their opportunities in the second half. And, most of all, they were angry that they didn’t pull off a victory that they were sure was in their grasp.
Instead, they fell to 3-6 on the season and finished ACC play at 3-5.
“I was mad, everybody’s mad, because we knew we could have beaten them people,” senior linebacker Matthew Thomas said. “We just didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that we had.”
Well after the game had ended, Thomas still was fuming at himself for failing to pick up a fumble late in the second quarter. It was a play that could have turned the entire game around.
After Clemson drove from its own 30-yard line to the FSU 1, with a 14-0 lead already in hand, FSU sophomore defensive end Brian Burns forced his second fumble of the game deep in Seminole territory.
Thomas was the first one to get to the loose ball, but instead of jumping on it for the recovery, he tried to scoop it up and run it back, and Clemson ended up recovering it at the 8-yard line. Two plays later, the Tigers kicked a field goal to push their lead to 17-0.
