Seminoles searching for solutions after latest special-teams struggles

Florida State had one of its worst special-teams games of the season Saturday at Clemson.

The Seminoles booted the opening kickoff out of bounds, had an extra point blocked, and lost all kinds of yardage in the return game when Treshaun Ward allowed multiple short punts to bounce and roll.

If FSU had played those situations better, then maybe the game turns out differently in Death Valley.

Either way, head coach Mike Norvell and special-teams coordinator John Papuchis are not happy with the way that unit played on Saturday, and really how it's played all season long.

Papuchis met with the media following Tuesday's practice.

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"I've had some times in my career where ... you feel like you're doing everything the right way and for whatever reason things are popping up, different things," Papuchis said. "I always look at it like this. After the fact, if I had it to do all over again, what would I do differently in that given situation, in the week of preparation?

"Believe me, no matter what is said by anybody, I'm my biggest critic. I always will be. If I can look at it at the end of the week and say, 'I don't know if I would have done X,Y and Z different,' then you learn from the mistakes and you move on. If you look at it and say, 'I really screwed that up,' then you've got to figure out and do some soul-searching and why that happened."

Ward, who is the fourth punt returner the Seminoles have used this season, let three punts bounce during the course of the game, including two in the final six minutes.

Neither was an easy catch. The balls were lined, and the conditions were windy.

But the decision not to race up to catch the ball cost the Seminoles valuable yardage. Clemson's punter wound up averaging 51.5 yards per punt on the afternoon.

Papuchis said they want every ball to be caught, but as Norvell said after the game, the most important thing -- especially when you have a lead -- is to possess the ball. Racing up to return a punt and then fumbling it over to the other team would be disastrous.

"Obviously, that's been a source of frustration throughout this whole year," Papuchis said of the punt return failures. "We've given up a lot of hidden yardage just by letting the ball hit the ground. ... Within reason, we want to field all kicks. There were two balls for sure that hit the ground the other day that we absolutely need to field."

The last one, Papuchis said, when Clemson was punting the ball back in the final minute was not one of them. Because the Tigers' special teams did something on that punt that made it very difficult for Ward in that spot.

"They roll punted, they kicked it back across the field; they were trying to keep it out of his hands," Papuchis said. "Of course, we don't want to give up the yardage, but if he didn't feel comfortable getting it, obviously we would prefer to have the ball. ... Now get on top of it, so the clock stops rolling. That's a critical piece of it.

"So, there is a fine line in terms of that decision-making process."

On the extra point that was blocked, Papuchis said Clemson got good pressure up the middle on the snap, and that it bordered on a rules infraction the way the Tigers attacked the long snapper.

The FSU staff sent the video into the ACC to get clarification.

"It was almost over the long snapper," Papuchis said. "That is where you're softest is over the long snapper because usually he's protected. So, that's where he came."

Papuchis also said he wasn't sure, based on the video, whether the kick was too low.

Either way, it was one in a long line of issues for FSU in the kicking game.

Whether it's been virtually zero impact plays in the return game to missed extra points to not flipping the field in the punt game to fumbling kickoffs and letting punts roll for 20 yards, it has been a special-teams season that has just not come together for the Seminoles.

That's of particular concern because Norvell prides himself on special teams. He's had the No. 1-ranked unit in the country before. Papuchis, too, has been a part of elite special teams in his career.

Right now, though, through eight games of the 2021 season, the Florida State Seminoles are ranked 94th in the country in overall special-teams efficiency by the Football Outsiders Index.

That's 93 spots below where they want to be ranked.

"Most of the things that have showed up from a special-teams standpoint, I felt really good about throughout the course of the week that haven't played out in the games at times," Papuchis said. "Some of it is physical execution. You do your best to try to prepare guys to go out there and perform at a high level. That's what this game is about from a coaching standpoint: You try to put your guys in the best position to be successful as often as you possibly can.

"It's kind of like your own kids. At some point, you've got to let them go and do their own thing and hope the lessons you taught them throughout the course of the week have prepared them to be successful on Saturdays."

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