FSU football: Special teams play against Clemson were ‘special’

One area of concern heading into the 2023 FSU football season was how the special teams unit would look. FSU punter Alex Mastromanno has always been solid, and the issues place kicker Ryan Fitzgerald experienced last season have been well-documented.

How would FSU replace punter returner Mycah Pittman? A long Clemson kickoff return in 2022 led to a huge 31-14 lead early in the third quarter. Last season, Mike Norvell wouldn’t have even thought about allowing Ryan Fitzgerald to attempt a 48-yard field goal on the road to tie the game in the third quarter.

If Ryan Fitzgerald misses that kick on Saturday? I firmly believe FSU would have lost that game, but he didn’t, and the kick likely would have been good from well over 50+ yards.

It’s a testament to sticking with a young man and overcoming adversity. It’s what the program has been built on. Alex Mastramannno was instrumental in making Clemson earn every score.

He had six punts, a long of 59 yards(this one was when FSU was pinned near their goal line late in the game), averaging 49 yards per punt, and pinned Clemson inside their 10-yard line twice.

Keon Coleman returned one punt for nine yards and faked Clemson out on another one by signaling a fair catch and allowing the ball to roll into the end zone for a touchback.

He didn’t let a punt hit the ground and roll forever, costing FSU precious field position against an excellent defense. FSU kickoff return defense only allowed two returns for an average of 23 yards, and Clemson returned two punts for 21 yards.

It’s a unit that goes unnoticed until they do something wrong, so I thought it was important to give them credit for the big win. Whenever the offense and defense struggle, every hidden yard counts, and special teams were special on Saturday against the Tigers.

It’s one of the reasons FSU won the game.