FSU football: 3 takeaways from ‘Noles loss against Florida

Special Teams Was Abysmal.

First, let me say Alex Mastromanno was great aside from one shanked punt. He finished the game with six punts and two landing inside the 10-yard line for a 39-yard average. Florida punted six times in the game, and FSU only returned one punt for four yards.

However, the muffed punt by Ontaria Wilson was the play that changed the game. The first mistake was Wilson lining up too short and having to go back about 15-20 yards to attempt to catch the punt.

The sun was in his eyes, but that’s a punt that HAS to be caught. Another mistake was returning kickoffs instead of calling for a fair catch. FSU returned three kickoffs for an average of 22.6 yards. I don’t want to criticize Parker Grothaus too much for the onside kick attempt.

I understand he was trying to make the perfect kick, but he still has to allow the players to make a play on the ball. The hidden yardage lost on not returning and muffing punts have been an issue all year and must be corrected in 2022.