Florida State Football: Top 5 moments from the 2018 season
By Matt Oglesby
4. Illegal forward pass call
The Noles lost a lot in 2018, but this one probably hurt the most because it’s the one that got away.
The Noles led the Miami Hurricanes by 20 points midway through the third quarter before the Canes mounted a comeback to beat the Noles 28-27, giving Miami its first win over Florida State in Hard Rock Stadium since 2004.
The Noles collapsed; that shouldn’t be overlooked. But they may have held on to win the game—and ultimately save their beloved bowl streak—had it not been for an extremely questionable illegal forward pass call that negated a trick play touchdown toss from D.J. Matthews to Keith Gavin.
After review, the officials concluded that the first pass from quarterback Deondre Francois to Matthews was a forward pass, although on replay it was clearly a backward or lateral pass. But Taggart chose not to challenge the ruling on the field, recalling a similarly questionable decision that wiped out a touchdown against Virginia Tech.
Ricky Aguayo then missed the subsequent field goal and Miami quarterback N’Kosi Perry marched the Canes down the field for a touchdown to take the lead.
After the game, Taggart reached out to the ACC for clarification, but it was too late.