In the middle of Florida State's four-game losing streak, fingers were consistently being pointed at the defense. In FSU's last two losses, however, the blame has fallen decidedly on the side of the offense.

FSU's 24-10 loss at Clemson on Saturday night was riddled with dropped passes, turnovers, bad penalties, and missed blocking assignments by the offensive line. Plays were regularly there to be made, with quarterback Tommy Castellanos often finding open receivers for would-be first downs, only to see the ball fall to the ground. 

Five penalties for FSU created 50 yards of difference in the game, leaving the Seminoles in difficult down-and-distance situations. Meanwhile, Castellanos was on the run all night, as the Tigers racked up six sacks and nine tackles for loss. There was even an uncharacteristic fumble and ensuing turnover in the redzone by Castellanos on the exchange with a running back.

Too often, the one step forward on a drive was literally followed by two steps back.

FSU head coach Mike Norvell was hesitant to point fingers, but even at his most optimistic, he acknowledged how those miscues affected the game.

"If we finish on a couple of the catches and throws, a few times in protection, those are opportunities," he said. "But that's the game. That's part of it. You've just got to be able to respond to it in the moment, and we didn't do a good enough job of that. We left a lot out there."

Norvell went on to say it was a combination of the issues, rather than one specific problem, that stalled the previously-prolific Seminoles offense.

"I don't think there's a single overriding thing," he said. "Through the course of the year, we've had very limited dropped passes. We've been really good at that. We've been a team that's made a lot of plays, been really good offensively. Coming into the game, [we were] one of the top in the country.

"Tonight, we just could not get ourselves into rhythm because of the lack of some of those plays that were left out there. You've got to have them. Obviously, playing a defense that was very aggressive in what they were doing, they did a good job in that. But when somebody's going to hit you up, bring that type of pressure, it creates space, and we had space."

More from Norvell:

On what went wrong for the offense:

"Offensively, we really struggled to get things started and sustained. We weren't good enough. I think we had five-plus drops, which has been very uncharacteristic of what this team has done. A couple missed opportunities where we had space and either a throw or a run or just some bad missed opportunities. We had some penalties that showed up that cost us. We weren't good enough on our conversion downs. Things that we've been really good at throughout the course of the year did not show up tonight.

I know it's not from a lack of want-to or work. These guys have been putting it in, and unfortunately it did not show up in making enough plays this evening. Ultimately, it comes down to all of us, everybody that's part of the program. It's just sickening to come up short in this game with all the preparation that's gone into it."

On if he thinks the team can bounce back:

"I do. As I said, I believe in this team. I believe in the playmakers we have. I believe in the guys that we have. It sucks to lose the games that we've lost, but I know the work and investment they're putting in, and I know as a staff what we're doing. But we've got to get the job done."