Mike Norvell On FSU Football's Frustrating Loss To SMU: 'You're Sick To See It'

The Florida State Seminoles were outplayed on both sides of the ball in a 27-24 loss to No. 19 SMU on Monday night.

Though the final score looked close on paper, the Seminoles were outgained by 261 yards, and mainly stayed in the game due to four turnovers from the Mustangs. SMU made a variety of mistakes that kept Florida State within striking distance.

The loss was frustrating in multiple aspects, and Florida State was booed by its own fan base at different junctures in the second half.

With the Seminoles entering their first BYE week, the team has to right the ship quickly, or risk falling apart with a daunting schedule on the horizon.

What Did Mike Norvell Say After Losing To SMU?

Following the loss, head coach Mike Norvell met with the media to discuss a variety of topics.

Check out his full comments below.

Opening Statement: Just to start off, obviously, congratulations to SMU, but I also appreciate all the facilities, behind-the-scenes people. Tonight was a unique start with the delay and just something that was kind of uncontrollable, but a lot of hard work went into that behind the scenes to allow us to play the game tonight so definitely appreciate everybody in the facility that helped make that happen.

Tonight, coming off of it, another close game. A lot of one plays, and you think back through it, some of the explosive plays that we had, that we gave up defensively, some of the missed opportunities there offensively. We never really got in rhythm throwing the ball but had some good runs. I thought Ous ran the ball really hard, I thought there was some good seams there.

Obviously, Ashton as a runner did some good things. We also got to be able to go and make plays in the passing game when opportunities present themselves. Didn't do a great job in protecting with that. There were some inconsistencies there that we've got to clean up, and it just didn't all come together in the passing game.

Ultimately, that's on us. We've got to get that corrected, we've got to get that improved because we had our opportunities. It's a shame to come up a field goal short.

Special teams, I thought there was some big plays that we were able to create with recovering the muffed kick. Daniel did a good job. We knew that's a very talented returner, and we wanted to get the ball on the ground, kind of see if you can force him into some tough decisions, and we were able to create a takeaway there. Also, with the field goal, I thought that was good execution by our guys.

There's some good things that were definitely present, but unfortunately not enough to allow us to achieve victory against a good football team. And they are that, and they've got experience. The quarterback played really well, was able to extend plays. We gave them a couple cheap ones, made it easy on them at times.

At the end of the day, they made the plays that were necessary and we came up short.

Q. Mike, you talked about the struggles in the passing game, but did you come into it expecting to run this much more than you did pass, or was that because you just couldn't get the passing game going?

Some of it was mixed, had some run-pass things that we called that we're really going to take what they gave us in regards. We had some good runs that showed up off that, but also wanted to try to get some consistency going in the passing game, and unfortunately wasn't able to do that to a level and be able to sustain that throughout.

There were some dynamics of that. We were doing some good things in the run game and wanted to have a little bit more balance, but also wanted more production in what we're trying to do there.

Q. Defensively on 3rd down, is there a common issue that's causing the issue with allowing teams to convert as they are at the rate they are, or is it different things each time around?

Well, it still comes down to overall execution of the things that are called. Have there been different issues? Yes. Unfortunately, that has showed up, but, also, you're taking away the things that we're supposed to be taking away, at times has cost us. Guys trying to do a little too much or being inconsistent in certain aspects of alignment.

That comes down to, it's player, it's coach, it's all of us that, if we're calling it, we got to be able to go out there and execute it, and, unfortunately, it's not happening consistently enough in big situations. And it's in all phases.

When you come up short and you don't play to the level that I know that we're capable of playing, we all have to take a look at that and we have to get it corrected.

Q. What do you think of a game like this where the yardage total has such a disparity, but you guys are right in it until the last minute and still have a chance of potentially winning on that final drive?

I thought our guys did battle. I thought we were able to create takeaways. It's something that we knew going into the game, it was going to be a big factor. 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.

And then, we had the two turnovers on the one drive with the interception and then with the muffed kick, but, we've got to take advantage of those, and we did not do a good enough job of putting points on the board after turnovers. It's good that the defense was able to create those, but we have to be better in complemeting and taking advantage there.

Q. I have two questions, Mike. The first question is, you guys had to agree to go without the helmet-to-helmet and the iPad and all that to be able to play the game tonight. Why did you want to play the game tonight? Why was that important to do that? And then the other question is, you've lost so many close games last year, now, obviously this one. Is there a common denominator you can put your finger on that can help change the result the next time you're in a close game?

First is, there's a lot that goes into the opportunity to play the game. And, obviously, the safety of the players, making sure they had lights, making sure all those factors were a top priority. As long as it was going to be balanced and equal on each side, then it was adjustments to be made.

There was talk of alternatives if things didn't work out, but, it was all kind of part of it and, does it affect things? Yes, but it affects things on both sides and so yeah, it's definitely a different situation, but, it's how it played out.

And then in regards to the close games, in those moments, I was proud of our guys for the way they battled.

We were down there in the 3rd quarter, were able to tie the game up. It comes down to our play and there's so many that you can go look back at throughout the course of the game and you can look at the 1st quarter, 4th quarter, but, whether it's an additional stop, whether it's an assignment that we've got to be on point with, whether it's in run block, route, depth, quarterback drop, read, those things, they show up big.

It's just the consistency of that that has to improve and, ultimately, you have to go make the play when we get the opportunity to make the play. As coaches, it's our responsibility. I make sure we're putting our players in the best position, and that's what I told the guys afterwards. Everybody in the program has to improve. We have to be better, because you only get so many of those opportunities.

And when you're playing a good football team, there's certain things that we allowed to happen, it's just sick, you're sick to see it. Obviously, I just wanted so bad for these players just to be able to understand what they can accomplish, understand what they can do, and then we gotta go do it too.

And so at the end of the day, it's a lot of little things. We, harp on it, we emphasize it, from communication to details, fundamentals, technique, but in that moment of truth, that's what's got to show up.

Q. Mike, you got fans booing when you're in the 4th quarter of a game that you're down three with the ball. Do you guys notice that? Does that affect the team at all?

You notice it, but at the end of the day, there's always going to be outside perspective. Whether you're at home, whether you're on the road, you got to be able to control what you can control, and that's a part of this game. We're blessed and honored to be able to get to do what we get to do out there on that field. We represent a special program, we represent a special place.

I can tell you that our players, our coaches, everybody within the program has the highest of expectations and we want to be successful and that's what we work for. That's what we work towards. The passion of this place, it's what makes it incredible. And, it is what it is.

If you don't want to get booed, continue to play, continue to work and play better. We got booed a week ago on a 3rd down, then converted on 4th down and then cheering, it's all part of it. That's a part of, what we get the opportunity to do and just maintain our focus on our job and don't get distracted by that either.

Q. When there's so much talk about winning the rushing battle as the foundation for success on both sides of the ball, and you guys were able to do that tonight, won that by over 50 yards, how much of a difference maker is the play that SMU got out of (Kevin) Jennings tonight and the way that he's able to convert those?

It came down to the explosive plays, you really look at it, turnovers, running the football, stopping the run, but then the explosive play we give up. You have a 50 yard touchdown at the beginning of the game that I'd like to say it was something different, but I mean, just a total bust in coverage when you saw a wrong signal, just had a bust. It's unfortunate that you see those, but those count, and then, just the explosive plays that presented themselves.

A couple of the missed opportunities that we had for some of the plays downfield, those are things that have to show up big, but, turnovers, run game, rush defense, special teams, and those explosive plays. it's a huge factor.

And so, you have to give credit to SMU for what they did and, obviously we got to improve more.

Q. What happened when you had to call the timeout before the punt, I think it was your second time out of the half?

We had 10 players on the field. A guy that was on the field ran off that was not supposed to. It's unacceptable.

Q. As you mentioned, the protection wasn't great. You guys made a change on the offensive line, but Ashton (Daniels), you obviously need more passing out of him. How is he playing? Have you given any thought to maybe looking at anybody else, or is he not the problem?

You look at all things, and we all take ownership in it. There's a couple of really good throws that we got to finish on. There's a couple of reads that we can be better at. There's some protections that we need to give more time on. There's a combination of things that showed up tonight that was not good enough for what it needs to be in our passing game. He (Ashton Daniels) did some good things, like I said, in the running game. He did put the ball in some good places with some opportunities tonight.

But, at the end of the day, we evaluate all things and I believe that Ashton's a guy that has capability. He's shown capability throughout our preparation and all the things we're doing, but now we've got to be able to carry that over to the game and it takes more than just one player to be able to execute at a high level in the passing game. He's got a huge role in it, and I fully expect for him to grow from the experiences that we've had and the guys around him and all that we're doing to get better.

But, we evaluate all things and so we'll get a chance to watch the film and break down even to a greater detail of where the mishaps were and go and improve.

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