Here’s the deal: You know how sometimes, you’ll be scrolling the internet and something will be described as “the worst,” and then you click and look and it’s really not something that’s all that bad? We promise you, that is decidedly not what happened here, as Florida State attempted an onside kick late in its season finale against Florida that ended terribly.
The ‘Noles found the end zone with 49 seconds left in the game to cut into the Gators’ lead and make the score 24-21. With the visitors needing a miracle to pick up a win, Florida State did what it was supposed to do: line up and attempt an onside kick.
Now, onside kicks are really hard! It’s rare that a team successfully pulls one off, but you can usually count on the ball to go close to 10 yards and for some chaos to potentially happen. Instead, FSU’s Parker Grothaus was not able to get nearly enough of the ball, so instead of it going anywhere, it fell forward off the tee and just laid there.
FSU's kicker whiffed the onside kick but the ball fell off the tee and was recovered by Florida pic.twitter.com/Mq8ybJLeZD
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 27, 2021
A Florida State player touched the ball, meaning they were hit with an illegal touching penalty. The Gators got the ball, ran out the clock, picked up the win, and earned bowl eligibility by finishing the regular season 6-6 despite firing their head coach earlier this week.
