The FSU Seminoles had a great chance to upset the No. 19 SMU Mustangs on Monday at Doak Campbell Stadium, but they could not get it done. The Seminoles ended up falling 27-24 and losing their ACC opener for the third straight season, to the anger of their fans.
While he had two turnovers, FSU's defense was unable to contain SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings. He completed 26 of his 36 passes for 430 yards and three touchdowns. He used his legs effectively, rushing for 33 yards and keeping several plays alive. Five of his completions were to former Seminole Randy Pittman Jr., who SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee praised after the game.
"He's one of the most smartest, distinctive football players I've ever been with," Lashlee said. "I mean, he just played
lights out."
Lashlee also talked about SMU's defense, their offensive miscues, the lengthy delay, and more. Here is everything he had to say after SMU beat FSU.
Opening statement
Well, eventful night, I'm really proud of how our guys handled just the hour-and-45-minute delay, they were ready to play and then they still came out ready to play, showed a lot of maturity. I wanna say, appreciate Florida State, they were great through the whole process. Mike (Norvell) was great, the ACC was great.
Mike Roach and his officiating crew were phenomenal. The way they communicated to us through the delay and even throughout the game, we played probably a quarter and a half. It was right before half, I think, when we got clocks. And we couldn't communicate well and all that, both sides. So they just handled it really well, stuff happens.
So I'm really happy to win. It's hard to win, it's hard to win on the road. It's extra hard to win when you lose the turnover battle four to nothing. And do a lot of things to not make yourself hard to beat.
Game Ones are tough, that's not an excuse. But we were somehow able to get that out of the way, went on the road. And we're really happy to be one and I think we play a game in like 20 hours or something, so we'll try to get home.
On what they were doing during the delay
Well, I guess we didn't know it, but it happened right before we ran out. Cause the clock stopped, we get out there and then all of a sudden there's no lights. So and they were hopeful they could get it back on in about 10, 15 minutes.
So we stayed out there for a little bit. And I probably saw Mike and I go to midfield. We just like, at some point, you need to go in or you gotta re-stretch.
So once we realized it was gonna probably take longer than we hoped, we went in. They were hoping for 8:15, 8:30. Again, I think they did a great job getting to where we could play.
I don't know exactly what happened. It's definitely way out of my wheelhouse. But when I think a transponder blows or something, I don't know. So they got to where we could play and kinda old-school.
Both teams, Mike and I, I mean, I went all, never done a sport. We probably came in the locker room, we saw our guys, hey, it's like a lightning delay. We told them we're the last team in the country to get to play a game. What's another hour, hour and a half? And they were awesome. They were just awesome. They embraced the oddness of it.
And then we had to, I've never walked down into the other team's home tunnel to go in there, but we had to go just meet with Florida State and our people and the ACC and just decide. It was good. Everybody was on the same page.
Let's go old school. Wasn't what, 10 years ago, there wasn't any talking to players. They did have clocks, but so yeah, we just, both teams were playing with the same issues, so it was all good. But then we found out we're going to start at 9:15. Our guys came out and ready to go.
On which part of their process was impacted the most
Yeah, I mean, again, until two years ago, we didn't communicate in the QB's headset. Well, we've gotten used to it.
So for most of the first half, I'm not able to talk to Kevin. And you saw a bunch of times him kind of running over and like, hey, play, run back in, and so, I mean, we do what we do. We just adjust and move on, right? I think if you sit there and whine and think about how hard it is, you're not gonna solve the problem.
We just, all right, let's go play without it, and our guys did a good job with that.
On if he was happy with the offense overall
Yeah, I really was. And I think we punted one time, like at the end of the third quarter.
So the first fumble can happen early in the game, killed our momentum. We would at least have an attempt at three, you would think, on that drive, and we were moving it pretty good. And then the one that really hurt was we're up 17-10.
We get to stop the start of the half, we drive all the way down, and we have exactly what we want. And we just, we had a miscommunication. Receiver runs the wrong route, and Kevin was getting pressure and threw it instead of eating it.
Cause if he runs the right route, it's a throw and a catch, and so we throw a pick, it just is killer. And then we just start shooting ourself in the foot as a team, right? So then we throw a pick, basically in the end zone, come all the way down. We stop them, we jump off sides, take three points now, they end up getting seven.
And we get it back, and then we get a stop. Defense responded really well all night. You get a stop, and then, I mean, one of our most rivaled players tries to field a weird punt, and it hits his foot, and now they get it again.
And then, obviously, the only really bad turnover was the last one. That wasn't good, but other than, I'd say, really one and a half plays. Really, that one pick at the end was really, other then that Kevin played awesome.
I mean, he was in control, threw for 430, he ran it when he needed to. Things broke down, he made play, think of the last third and 11. Third and one, we get the hold, they cover it, he scrambles, and Chunky just turns it up, and, I mean, just, he's a player, man.
So, really proud of him, and I'm proud of our guys for just finding a way to win. That's all that really matters.
On if this was what he thought the offense could be
Yeah, I think it shows what we think we can be.
I don't know if you know, second or third play of the game, Kendrick comes out with a shoulder. Came back, and at the end of the game, he's the one icing the game, really tough. Chunky got banged up at one time, and they just kept playing.
We ran the ball well when we needed to, probably could have ran it more. But ran it when we needed to, threw it when we needed to. We moved the ball really well, we just, we had three really bad turnovers on offense, and it's just weird.
We missed one field goal, we settled for a field goal inside the five. I made a really bad second down call, and we ended up not scoring on third down, having to settle for three that time. We showed how good we can be.
This was game one on the road against a really talented team. We got a lot to clean up.
On what he learned about their new players
The moment's not too big for them. I mean, look at our defense, a lot of new guys. We're still getting after the quarterback. They ran it a lot.
I don't have the stats, but we stopped the run enough, especially with a quarterback that can run. The two big plays, we just didn't tackle well. Game one stuff, hopefully we'll get better, but I thought our guys were physical.
Final offense, a lot of the new skill guys. I mean, the only guy Kevin had really played a game with that was a starter was Ymir Knight, and then a little bit of Jalen Cooper. Everyone else was new, tight ends, receivers, the running backs.
And so for them to click as good as they did, I mean, Kevin missed two weeks at fall camp, but our line was really good. I don't think we had a sack. I don't think we had a sack on offense.
Like they protected him, we ran it well. They do a lot of looks that they blitz a ton. I mean, it was a blitz fest. They probably got tired, they blitzed so much. But our O-line did a good job of just continuing to hang in there.
On the offence's resilience and mental toughness when they were moving the ball but not scoring
They did what we asked them to, they responded. We asked them to be calm in chaos, could be more chaotic than the first hour and a half, right? And we're in total control of the game, driving down in the third quarter to try to go up two scores.
Mess up, miscommunicate, throw a pick. Next thing you know, we're tied. Then we break through, go down, score.
Take the lead, next thing you know, they throw it in flats. Guy makes a great play, scores, we're tied again. Then I think we, then we throw a pick.
Defense comes out, they're three and out. So we just, they did a really good job responding. There's a moment, unfortunately, we turned it over too many times for me to be sure which one it was.
I can't remember, I think it was after the muffed punt, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure, and I wasn't very happy. And Kilgore just ran by and said, ‘Coach, we got y'all, don't worry about it.’ Just kept running. And that's the mentality the whole team played with. So that gives us a chance with anybody.
But I think you saw tonight, if we can not beat ourselves, we'd be pretty good. Yeah, it was good. His first kick here, he's been really good.
On kicker Nick Reed
He kicked the ball off great. Kicking the end zone's a big deal. And so, yeah, but to bounce back from that miss, I mean, you're tough at the end.
‘Did we score? Did we not score? Did we complete it down to 20?’ We were kind of in between, but that last run, we centered it up. And great operation, he made it. So he responded well.
We had some issues. We missed a field goal. We fumbled a punt.
We jumped offsides on PAT. So it wasn't very pretty, wasn't very clean, not happy about it at all. And if we wanna keep winning, we're gonna have to clean it up quick.
On what Randy Pittman Jr. was like this week
He was RP, he's a big gooseball, and I love him. I mean, he's the happiest dude. He's always in a great mood. He's one of the most smartest, distinctive football players I've ever been with. I mean, he just played lights out. I mean, catches the same ball on the sideline, catches the first, second play of the game.
At one time where they about took his pants off, I don't know if y'all saw that. We got backed up first and 20, and he carries guys and jumping over guys. He's just a football player, and he didn't get too high.
I was really proud of him. He scored a touchdown, and earlier in the week, he told Coach Dodge to tell me if he scored a touchdown, he's gonna get a celebration penalty. And I told Riley, I said, Riley, ‘You go to him and tell him he's not getting a celebration penalty.’
And I said, I'll figure something out. I didn't have to. He had a good little dance from what I saw, but nothing illegal, so.
On how fun it is to watch a healthy Kevin Jennings play and run
Y'all saw what he can do. And like I said, we were sloppy or it would have been 430 and five touchdowns. But I think he's happy to be healthy, and I think he knows what his legs can bring. We didn't decide running much, pulled a few.
But there's gonna be plenty of times we need to. But just extending plays, I think the last drive, and he took a pretty good hit on that one, but that was big, got us the second one. So his legs, not just extending plays to throw it, which he's great at, but running the football is really big for us in big games.
On SMU’s defense
Yep, yeah, I mean, I think first half we played great. We gave up 10 points. We put him in some tough spots.
I mean, fumbled the punt, backed up. Late in the game, it's tied we throw the other pick. So they just really, I thought for the first game, you always worry about tackling, we tackled well.
We got enough pressure on the quarterback when we needed to. Like I said, we slowed down the run game. I don't know the stats, but it didn't hurt us too bad. So I thought it was a good first game for the defense, I was proud of them.
On them winning their eighth straight season opener
A whole lot better than not winning it. You know, 1-0 is a lot better than 0-1. 'm sorry, Hayden, I'm just, I'm tired. Yeah, no, it's good. I mean, it's good to be 1-0, it's good to be 1-0 in the league.
We knew the beginning of our season is a challenge on the road. Now we play, it's already Tuesday, we play Saturday. We'll get home on Wednesday, I don't know when we'll get home.
But got a short week, gonna have some guys beat up against a team that went, I think, third round last year, and then we got another road trip. So we gotta get better from the sloppiness fast.
And the one thing I will say is the sloppiness wasn't, we didn't have a lot of false starts.
We didn't have any on the road. We didn't have any late hits, personal fouls, sportsmanlike conducts. The one that was really undisciplined was jumped off sides on fourth and three on a field goal.
So the holds, those things, the pass interference, those things are gonna happen, they can get cleaned up. So yeah, they're great, just gotta be better if we wanna keep winning.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: What SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said after beating FSU
