CLEMSON, S.C. – The sounds of Florida State’s iconic Warchant rang around the stands and bellowed through the narrow halls of Clemson’s Memorial Stadium Saturday night.
But it wasn’t sung by the traveling FSU football fans, but rather by those sporting Clemson orange while walking by dejected Seminole fans.
An agonizing referendum on a Seminoles (4-5, 1-5 ACC) program that is once again in a tailspin and that currently strikes little fear into the hearts of opponents.
The Tigers fans sang and chopped to FSU’s iconic theme for the final minutes of a 24-10 win over the Seminoles, a ninth win for Clemson in the last 10 games between the two programs. With five losses in the last six games, FSU head coach Mike Norvell again reiterated his belief in his team, while the belief of the fanbase continues to fade.
“I believe in this team. I believe in the playmakers we have. I believe in the guys that we have. It sucks to lose the games that we’ve lost, but I know the work and investment they’re putting in,” Norvell said. “I know as a staff what we’re doing.
“But we’ve got to get the job done.”
FSU failed to score more than 10 points in a game for the first time this season as the Seminoles lacked creativity and cohesion offensively. The defense, relative to recent performances, didn’t play poorly, but it allowed too much extra yardage off missed tackles and a few explosive plays.
The performance was a familiar one for anyone who has watched the team over the past two seasons, as careless mistakes proved costly for the Seminoles. From wide open drops on fourth down, an overthrown touchdown pass or a fumble inside the 10-yard line, not for the first time this season, FSU couldn’t get out of its own way.
“When you have drops, when you have missed chances that are critical plays, when you have penalties that show up at inopportune times. … It’s hard to overcome that,” Norvell said.
“I thought our guys worked to try to get it fixed. There were times we were driving; we had the fumble inside the red zone, which we haven’t had those issues on exchanges this year, and it showed up in this moment. For whatever it was, whether it’s guys trying to do too much, press, or maybe just getting away from the core fundamentals of finishing a catch to the tuck. Those things show up, and we’ve got to get them fixed.”
Sitting at four wins and in need of two wins in the last three games to at least salvage a bowl game, Norvell faces an uphill climb to get his team in shape for a final home contest of the season against Virginia Tech.
How the final three games of the Seminoles’ season play out is impossible to predict. Norvell needed a good performance against Clemson to buy him some favor, but he didn’t get it.
With a looming end-of-season review alluded to by athletic director Michael Alford in a statement following the 20-3 loss to Stanford, continued performances like the one against Clemson won’t help Norvell’s case.
“I felt like the guys were going to go out there and showcase us,” Norvell said. Like I said, there were opportunities, but we just weren’t good enough tonight.”
When a night starts with travling fans making their support heard from the far corners of Memorial Stadium, and ends with heads down as rival fans jeer, the words “weren’t good enough” properly sum up what a disaster this game was for the Seminoles.
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football’s loss to Clemson a referendum on Seminoles program
