FSU football's Gus Malzahn, Tony White break down what went wrong vs. Clemson

Florida State's coordinators shared their thoughts on coming up short against Clemson and moving on to Virginia Tech.
Sep 6, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles offensive coordinator Gus Malzhan during the second half against the East Texas A&M Lions at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images
Sep 6, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles offensive coordinator Gus Malzhan during the second half against the East Texas A&M Lions at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Florida State made mistakes in all three phases of the game on Saturday, dooming itself in a 24-10 loss to the Clemson Tigers. It didn't feel like Clemson beat the Seminoles in this game. Instead, it seemed like FSU couldn't get out of its own way, and that may be the most frustrating part of the defeat.

On Sunday evening, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and defensive coordinator Tony White met with the media to share their thoughts on the performance, along with looking ahead to Virginia Tech.

READ MORE: Three honest thoughts on FSU football's infuriating loss to the Clemson Tigers

Video from both coordinators can be found below.

Gus Malzahn, Tony White Share Thoughts On FSU's Loss To Clemson

Tony White
FSU Athletics

Malzahn's Opening Statement: "Obviously, disappointed in our offensive performance last night. We had some uncharacteristic drops. We caught the ball at I think a high level all season. We had some missed opportunities. You know, we fumbled the football, I think it was 2nd and goal from the seven or eight, didn't get points."

"We got down there late. I think we had a little wide delay, and Pittman caught it and was down to the two or three. We had a wide receiver that didn't get the signal and was blocking. Came back, had a 15-yard penalty, got zero points. I thought that was a big point in the game."

"Obviously, the fourth down, Randy's been one of our better football players all season. That was unfortunate, but when you're playing a good team, or I should say a talented team, on the road, you can't have those self-inflicted mistakes. It was similar things that happened to us or what we allowed to happen to us against Stanford. We've got to do a better job the next time we get in that situation."

Check out more from Malzahn below.

First Question: General thoughts on the defensive performance against Clemson?

Tony White: "I thought they were ready to play. I thought they did some really nice plays. Again, it's always going to come down to the special situations. I thought third down, one or two more stops would take away seven to ten points on the board."

"I think the red zone, not giving them a chance, at the very worst, you have to hold them to field goals down there. We called a coverage and they run quarterback draw. That was a great call by them, should've made them throw the ball. I thought they were ready to play."

"There were some guys who really, really, really played hard and it was good, especially there towards the end you kind of feel like hey, 'let's just get the ball back for the offense, let's get these stops' and I think it was three or four straight possessions they went three-and-out and we were able to get the ball back to the offense."

"It was good to see, but we got to take the ball away, and again, they converted four third down,s but those are the scoring drives, right? So you've got to be able to limit those some kind of way."

Check out more from White below.


READ MORE: Mike Norvell sickened by FSU football's loss to Clemson: 'that comes down to all of us'

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Dustin Lewis
DUSTIN LEWIS

Lewis joined NoleGameday in 2016 and is currently in the role of Editor-In-Chief. A graduate of Florida State, Lewis contributes to football, recruiting, and basketball coverage. Connect with Dustin on Twitter at @DustinLewisNG.

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