Most players to leave Tallahassee area before Hurricane Michael hits

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State football players will work out Tuesday morning, then take shelter ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Michael.

FSU coach Willie Taggart and his coaching staff will depart on recruiting trips while all but two football players from Tallahassee will head to their respective homes outside the area while the storm passes, Taggart said during his coaches’ show Monday night.

The Seminoles, who have a bye this week, are slated to resume practice on Saturday.

Florida State University announced Monday that campus will be closed Tuesday through Friday in preparation for a storm that could reach a Category 2 or higher strength by the time it makes landfall.

The storm isn’t expected to dramatically alter preparation for FSU’s next game against Wake Forest on Oct. 20.

Taggart said the Seminoles would be able to get plenty of work in on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.

“We’re going to get back to the fundamentals,” Taggart said. “That’s an everyday thing, fundamentals and technical. But we’re going to spend a lot more time than you usually get during a game week.

“We’re going to work on ourselves and prepare for what Wake Forest is doing.”

Taggart reached out to the ACC for a clarification of the official’s call on an FSU trick play that involved two forward passes, erasing a critical touchdown during the Seminoles’ 28-27 loss to rival Miami Saturday.

With the Seminoles leading the Hurricanes 27-20, quarterback Deondre Francois tossed what appeared to be a lateral pass to D.J. Matthews, who then hit Keith Gavin streaking toward the end zone for a deep touchdown pass.

An official ruled Francois’ toss to Matthews was a forward pass and the ball couldn’t be thrown upfield to Gavin.

Taggart has contended that Matthews was behind Francois and it was not a forward pass.

“Yeah, we sent it in to get some clarity,” Taggart said when asked if he requested that the ACC to review the call. “Make sure we’re doing it the way we thought we should do it and the way we executed it. So waiting to hear back to make sure we get clarity of how we do it so we don’t make that mistake again.

“Again, we thought we did it the right way.”

In the postgame press conference, Taggart thought the trick play was legal, and after watching the film, he stands by the belief officials made the wrong call.

FSU offensive tackle Landon Dickerson re-aggravated an ankle injury during the victory against Louisville last month.

“Landon had a setback that last game against Louisville,” Taggart said. “There’s no timetable right now when he’ll be back.”

Dickerson originally injured his ankle against Virginia Tech during Week 1, but after three weeks of rest, he started and played the entire game against Louisville.

Punt returner Matthews was named ACC Specialist of the Week after what Taggart called an outstanding performance against Miami.

The sophomore’s 145 punt-return yards bolstered the Seminoles’ special-teams unit, which is considered one of Florida State’s weaknesses.

Matthew posted the first punt return for a touchdown of his career and FSU’s first since 2016. He ranks sixth nationally in punt returns with 17.7 yards per return.

The 145 yards he gained against Miami is the thirdhighest single-game tally in Florida State history.