TALLAHASSEE — The fine line between clean and dirty play appears to have been crossed when No. 1 Florida State played The Citadel last Saturday.
FSU lost its two starting defensive tackles and a key backup behind them on the depth chart due to lower leg injuries suffered in the first half of the Seminoles’ 37-12 win at Doak Campbell Stadium. Details of the specific nature and severity of the injuries to Eddie Goldman, Nile Lawrence-Stample and Justin Shanks have not been released.
The injuries will test the Seminoles’ depth on the interior of the defensive line. If the aforementioned trio of injured players is required to miss significant time, Giorgio Newberry likely will step in for Goldman as a starter. Fourth-year junior Derrick Mitchell Jr., redshirt freshman Keith Bryant and true freshmen Derrick Nnadi and Demarcus Christmas each played against The Citadel and would factor into the rotation.
Cut blocking — an offensive lineman blocking a defensive player below the waist — is a fundamental and fully within-the-rules component of The Citadel’s triple-option offense. What isn’t allowed within the rules, however, is high-low blocking in which an offensive player targets below the waist a defensive player already occupied or blocked by another player.
FSU defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. questioned the Bulldogs’ motives after the game, and Seminole coach Jimbo Fisher criticized The Citadel’s cut-blocking methods.
Bulldogs offensive lineman Victor Hill took issue with Fisher’s comments and posted his own comments on a story on The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier’s website.
“I played in the game last night and also contributed to the injury list and that was just the mindset going into the game,” Hill wrote. “Me and my offensive line brothers preached to each other all week that we would be going for knees from the first play to the last play with the A-backs included. We saw it as if they (won’t) respect us for blocking them then we’ll make them respect us for cutting them!”
Hill later backtracked from his comment and ultimately issued an apology later Sunday. Bulldogs coach Mike Houston said Hill has been suspended for two games.
The Post and Courier reported that Houston said Hill did not properly convey the defense for his on-field actions.
“He was trying to say in his own way things like, ‘Florida State didn’t respect us going into the game,’ and ‘using cut blocks would force them to use their hands to defeat the block and slow them down in back-side pursuit,’” Houston said. “That being said, it came across the opposite of what he meant.”
Fisher did not address the media during his normally scheduled press conference on Monday. The Seminoles have a bye week before returning to the field against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Clemson on Sept. 20 in Tallahassee.
That game kicks off at 7 p.m. CDT and will be televised on ABC.