Florida State defensive coordinator Tony White took responsibility for the Seminoles losing to Pitt over the weekend, 34-31. It was the third-straight loss for the once-soaring Seminoles, and White said his defense should have been able to win the game.

“That was totally on me,” he said.

The crux of the issue, White said, is that he needs to simplify the defense. Despite what he considered a “great” and “physical” week of practice leading up to the game, White saw his defense reacting slowly, playing timidly, and lacking the confidence he had seen before.

“I’m gonna put everything on me,” he repeated. “When those guys go out on the field and they play hesitant or they play not on the same page or they play confused, that’s me trying to do too much. Trying to win the game on the chalkboard. You saw what happens when those guys just turn loose and go play. We’ve seen what it looks like on the grass.”

White said the first step this week is to cut some things out of their defensive scheme. He wants to make it easier for his team – less thinking, more instinctive responses.

Despite blaming himself, White did see room for improvement on the field. The defensive coordinator bemoaned that Pitt had three scoring drives where its offense was in a 3rd and 10+ situation at least once.

In a game decided by a field goal, he pointed out, those plays made the difference. And it was his team conceding.

“If we make one or two of those plays, we’re celebrating a victory,” he said.

However, even if the final outcome had been different, White’s unit still would have been left with issues in need of fixing. The Panthers destroyed FSU over the middle, taking advantage of the deep coverage plan White deployed. His three high safeties for much of the game did help prevent deep completions, and the Seminoles recorded two interceptions in that look.

However, it also resulted in a true freshman passing for 311 yards in his first road start, and two Pitt running backs combining for 189 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

White blamed himself for those issues over the middle. He said his defense was caught overthinking, which gave the Panthers space and time. White said he will change things in practice this week to put his team in a better position.

“You can’t win the game on the chalkboard. You’ve got to give those guys a clear set of parameters, let their eyes be there, and then turn them loose. I haven’t turned them loose because they’re thinking too damn much.

“Gotta cut all the crap down and just let those boys go out there and fly around,” he said.

FSU travels to Stanford this Saturday with kickoff set for 10 p.m. EST.

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