Willie Taggart’s second season in charge of the Florida State Seminoles is off to a rocky start. FSU is 1-1 after a loss to Boise State and an overtime win against Louisiana-Monroe, and the program has quickly become a laughing stock in the college football world. Seminoles’ tight end Tre McKitty personified the snark associated with FSU football by lining up the wrong way on Saturday, but he told The Athletic’s Tashan Reed that it was part of the plan.
#FSU TE Tre McKitty said the play where he lined up backward was intentional. FSU was pushing the tempo and wanted to get lined up quickly.
"Yeah, I've got a million messages about that… There was nothing wrong with me. I didn't line up the wrong way on accident." pic.twitter.com/3XpPJyz9bV
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) September 10, 2019
Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles confirmed that McKitty was in the right spot, and although he lined up the wrong way, it wasn’t important. When asked about the play, Briles said:
“It was a stopping situation where you cannot tempo, so we came off the sideline and it’s a thing that we do offensively. The guys can line up wherever they want. I don’t care. Just get to your spot where you need to get to. We pushed the tempo and I think we gained 11.”
The internet had a field day with McKitty lining up in the opposite direction, posting numerous memes making fun of the situation. It seemed to encapsulate the situation in Tallahassee perfectly as Taggart looks to turn thing around at FSU.
While last year, FSU’s problem was the offense, this year the issue has been the defense. FSU scored 31 points against Boise State in its season opener and 45 points against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, but the Seminoles are only barely 1-1. The defense collapsed in the second half of both games leading to FSU blowing double-digit leads in both games.
The near loss to ULM was the worse performance. The Warhawks don’t have a great offense, but they scored 31 points in the second half to send the Seminoles to overtime. A missed extra point at the end of the first overtime cost them a chance at the upset, but ULM nearly secured one of the biggest wins of the young season.
FSU enters this weekend as a 7.5-point underdog to Virginia.
H/T The Athletic
