FSU suffers worst home loss ever

Taggart points finger at ‘some guys that quit’ in rout

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State’s worst-case scenario became reality Saturday, with the Seminoles suffering the worst home loss in program history.

FSU (4-4, 2-4 ACC) was vocal about protecting Doak Campbell Stadium, but No. 2 Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC) and its NFL-caliber talent handed the Seminoles an embarrassing 5910 loss and left Seminoles coach Willie Taggart to pick up the pieces.

“First time since I’ve been here I felt like we had some guys that quit on our football team and that can’t be tolerated,” Taggart said. “One thing you can’t do: you can’t quit. You quit, you don’t play. So we’ve got to do a great job of making sure we’ve got the right guys and at every aspect of the game — offense, defense, special teams.

“Didn’t play well at all and did all the things you can’t do against a team like that.

“That’s on me and our coaches and our players and everybody that’s here. And we’ve got to find a way to get that right.”

Florida State matched Clemson during the first quarter and the Seminoles had every reason to be hopeful after holding the potent Tigers scoreless.

The FSU defense limited Clemson to 41 yards before quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s 41-yard pass that ended the first quarter.

The Seminoles showed they can play elite defense, but the struggling offense killed any chance to build a lead.

The defensive line pressured Lawrence into making inaccurate throws and it seemed it could be a close rivalry game.

During the second quarter, however, Clemson scored 28 consecutive points and took control of the game.

The game started to get away from FSU when the defense got pressure up front and Fred Jones tipped Lawrence’s pass, forcing Clemson to kick a field goal.