Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and quarterback Ashton Daniels met with local media after Monday night’s 27-24 loss to No. 19 SMU at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“Tonight, coming off of it, just another close game, a lot of one plays,” Norvell said. “You think back through it, some of the explosive plays that we gave up defensively, some of missed opportunities there offensively. Never really got in rhythm throwing the ball, but had some good runs.”
“Ashton as a runner did some good things,” Norvell
said. “We also got to go and be able to make plays in the passing game when opportunities present themselves. Didn’t do a great job in protecting with that. There’s some inconsistencies there that we got to clean up. It didn’t all come together in the passing game and ultimately that’s on us. We’ve got to get that corrected….It’s a shame to come up a field goal short.”
Florida State finished 2-of-15 on third down. SMU had four turnovers. The Seminoles were outgained 585-324.
“We were able to create takeaways. It’s something that we knew going into the game was going to be a big factor,” Norvell said. “Unfortunately, we only had seven points off takeaways, which when you get four turnovers, you need to be able to put points on the board in those situations. We did not do a good enough job of putting points on the board after turnovers.”
On third downs for both sides of the ball:
“It still comes down to overall execution of the things that are called,” Norvell said. “Have there been different issues? Yes. … Guys trying to do a little too much or just being inconsistent in certain aspects of alignment. That comes down to it’s player, it’s coach, it’s all of us. If we’re calling it, we got to be able to go out there and execute it.”
Asked about playing without helmet to helmet communication after the delay:
“As long as it was going to be balanced and equal on each side, then that’s adjustments to be made,” Norvell said. “Does it affect things? Yes. But it affects things on both sides.”
On the close game:
“I was proud of our guys for the way they battled,” Norvell said. “We were down there in the third quarter, were able to tie the game up. It comes down to a play. … Ultimately, you got to go make the play when we get the opportunity to make the play. They made the plays that were necessary and we came up short.”
Asked if he had thought about looking at anyone else at quarterback:
“We all take ownership in it,” Norvell said. “There’s a couple of really good throws that we got to finish on. He did some good things in the running game. He did put the ball in some good places. At the end of the day, we evaluate all things, and I believe that Ashton’s a guy that has capability…. It takes more than just one player to be able to execute at a high level in the passing game. I fully expect for him to grow from the experiences that we’ve had. We evaluate all things and so we’ll get a chance to watch the film.”
Ashton Daniels completed 12 of 23 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 71 yards and one score.
“We’re devastated in the locker room,” Daniels said. “We know that’s a game that we should have won, and we have many, many opportunities to win, and that hurts.”
“You’re not gonna score points if you can’t string first downs together,” Daniels said. “We have to go out there and convert on those third downs.”
Florida State is 1-1 and 0-1 in the ACC. The Seminoles have a bye next week before a trip to Alabama on Sept. 19.
Check out the full press conference video below (courtesy of Noles247)
