Column: Officiating Bad, But Not to Blame for FSU’s Loss to Wolfpack

When a team as talented and with preseason expectations as high as Florida State starts 0-2, fingers begin to point — particularly from the fan base.

Following Saturday’s 27-21 home loss to North Carolina State, FSU fans have had no problem expressing their displeasure with the officiating crew — and for good reason.

There was a ticky tack roughing the passer call on Brian Burns that led to an N.C. State touchdown. Once that flag flew, N.C. State quarterback Ryan Finley actually got up in disgust. The contact was so minimal that Finley thought he had been called for intentional grounding.

In the second half, a turnover was negated by pass interference on Tarvarus McFadden when it looked like the FSU cornerback had made a pretty nice play on the ball. That led to an N.C. State field goal.

Linebacker Jacob Pugh was also ejected for targeting on an attempted double pass where he simply grazed the passer’s helmet with the arm while going for the passer’s arm. To make matters worse, the call was not made on the field, but only by replay after the fact. Fortunately for FSU, that drive did not end in points for the Wolfpack.

As frustrated as FSU fans were with the calls, the blame ultimately falls on the team. Despite all those things working against them, the Seminoles had more than their fair share of opportunities.

On the day, FSU made six marches into the N.C. State red zone. On those marches, the Seminoles came away with just one touchdown and settled for five goal attempts, making four. That doesn’t include a fumble by freshman quarterback James Blackman on a nifty third down run that went inside the Wolfpack 25-yard-line and would have resulted in a first down.

Perhaps the biggest sequence consisted of three possessions late in the first half. Blackman’s fumble came with FSU trailing 10-7 and on the verge of being able to tie the game or take the lead. The FSU defense was able to get a stop on the pursuing possession and the Seminoles marched to the Wolfpack 13-yard-line, only to have Ricky Aguayo miss a 30-yard field goal attempt.

Four plays later, Jakobi Meyers badly beat an FSU defender to the inside before catching a pass from Finley and forcing a rare missed tackle from Derwin James on his way to a virtually untouched 71-yard touchdown. That gave the Wolfpack a 17-7 lead and FSU played from behind from there on out.

After FSU was able to get a safety on a bad snap with six and half minutes left, the Seminoles’ offense squandered a 49-yard free kick return from James to the N.C. State 40-yard-line. On four plays, FSU lost a yard to turn it over on downs. FSU was also forced to settle for a field goal after a Burns blocked punt late gave it the ball to start at the N.C. State 23-yard-line.

The FSU offense however, wasn’t the only unit that squandered opportunities. With FSU trailing 20-16 and the Wolfpack facing a 3rd-and-9 from the FSU 45-yard-line, the Seminoles allowed Finley to complete a 10-yard pass to Stephen Louis to move the chains. Three plays later, the Wolfpack were in the end zone.

With less than two minutes to play and N.C. State facing 3rd-and-7, FSU needed one stop to give its offense a chance to win the game with less than a minute to play. Instead, it allowed running back Nyheim Hines to bounce it outside for 15 yards to ice the game.

Looking back on Saturday’s loss, there were a number of chances for FSU to make plays in each facet off the game. The Seminoles left a ton of points on the field and missed some key opportunities to get off of it. N.C. State on the other hand, didn’t shoot itself in the foot with similar mistakes and was able to bend defensively without breaking.

Were there calls made on Saturday where it appeared that FSU got a raw deal? Absolutely. Could one or two have made a difference in the way the game played out? Yes.

Despite that, Florida State had more than enough opportunities to win on Saturday. As frustrating as the calls may have been, the people to blame for FSU’s home-opening loss weren’t wearing black and white stripes. They were wearing garnet and gold and that includes the coaches.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson