A week after being laughed off the field by Clemson, Florida State football was unable to solve Wake Forest’s kicking skills, suffering a tough loss.
A week after being laughed off the field by Clemson, Florida State was unable to solve Wake Forest’s kicking skills.
The Seminoles watched as Nick Sciba booted through five field goals, including the game-winner with just over four minutes left, falling 22-20 and seeing their record slip under .500.
As we near November, the pressure surrounding Willie Taggart and his job as head coach at Florida State is going to mount. The Seminoles did many things right this week, but they still had turnovers and penalties that killed any momentum generated.
Taggart stated after the game that the loss hurt “big-time” and he wasn’t joking.
Cam Akers had a breakout game despite running behind a depleted offensive line, racking up 157 yards and finding the end zone three times. The talented running back seems to be hitting on all cylinders right now and Florida State needs to ride him.
James Blackman hit Tamorrion Terry for what would have been the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth, but once again, the defense let the Seminoles down.
Like it did many times last year, Florida State just does not have the athletes like in the past to rely on a strong defense. Wake Forest had over 300 yards passing with its backup quarterback, Sam Hartman, and also ran for over 100 as a team.
The real pain of this loss might not be fully felt until the end of the season. With three wins right now and five games left, the Seminoles are going to have to knock someone off to become bowl eligible.
Florida State hosts Syracuse next, which, seeing as the game is at home, could be a coin-flip. They follow that up with arch-rival Miami at home before heading to Boston College.
Best-case scenario would be 5-5 with Alabama State and Florida left. There is no chance this team at its current stage can compete with the Gators on the road, so Florida State is looking at needing to really buckle down over these next three games to likely save Taggart’s job.