Florida State had a first-and-10 against Clemson at the FSU 43. Then, without Clemson having to do really anything, FSU had a second-and-43 from its own 10.
Second down and *how many* yards to go?
43.
Two Seminole failures enabled this impressive loss:
- A snap that was both bad and apparently miscommunicated. FSU center Alec Eberle airmailed the ball over Deondre Francois’ head, so it likely wouldn’t have been a clean snap even if the quarterback had been ready for it. But he wasn’t ready for it, so Francois had to go on a wild chase as soon as Eberle released the ball.
- An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against running back Cam Akers, who’d had words with a couple of Clemson defenders in a big mass at the end of the play.
And thus:
All told, that’s 23 yards lost via the fumble and another 10 via the unsportsmanlike penalty. (That’s what half the distance to the goal worked out to. Had the Noles been a little farther upfield when this play ended, the loss would’ve been 38 yards and it would’ve brought up a second-and-48.) They wound up punting on fourth-and-28.
This might be the funniest yardage loss on a snap in 2018, but other classics of the genre have caused even greater setbacks.
This one from 2011 is an all-timer:
And this 87-YARD FUMBLE in a 2017 Mississippi State-Louisiana Tech game is the historical standard-bearer. It led to a third-and-93 for Louisiana Tech:
Here is that one set to “El Sonidito,” if you want it. (You do.)
This isn’t quite that, but the Noles should be commended for a strong effort.
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