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Florida State

Mike Norvell addresses emotional penalty on Lawayne McCoy in Clemson game

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs11/11/25grant_grubbs_
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell reacts to the conversation with the referee during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. (Stan Szeto-Imagn Images)
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell reacts to the conversation with the referee during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. (Stan Szeto-Imagn Images)

Mistakes plagued Florida State in its 24-10 loss to Clemson on Saturday. Perhaps no blunder was more consequential than Lawayne McCoy‘s back-to-back penalties in the fourth quarter.

After struggling to find a rhythm on offense all game, Florida State’s offense was finally marching down the field in the fourth quarter. The Seminoles trailed 24-7 at the time, and were in desperate need of a touchdown.

Alas, the Seminoles were knocked back from the 14-yard line to the 29-yard line after McCoy was called for an offensive pass interference. Just two plays later, McCoy exchanged blows with Clemson cornerback Corian Gipson after the whistle and was called for a personal foul, costing FSU another 15 yards.

Despite McCoy’s consecutive errors, Florida State kept him in the game. On the following play, McCoy caught a 10-yard pass and was tackled at the 28-yard line.

FSU kicked in a field goal to cut Clemson’s lead to 24-10. Neither team scored again. On Monday, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell explained why he didn’t bench McCoy for his costly penalties.

“I happened to be watching that one. We had two guys that were punching, hand fighting, two guys throw a punch, swing, whatever you want to call that, one guy gets called for it,” Norvell said. “You can go back and watch as many plays as you want to play. And that’s where: Control your emotions. You have to be in control of you. If we don’t swing, maybe we [don’t] get the penalty moving forward.

“You put yourself in jeopardy. Obviously, that was a call that the official made. We’ve got to be in control of us. That’s a young player, second-year, highly emotional game, Lawayne plays his butt off. When he does have the ball, doesn’t have the ball, he’s really putting everything he has out there. And there’s a couple of plays really in that sequence that were negative for us.”

While Lawayne McCoy didn’t do FSU any favors with his mistakes, penalties haven’t been the root of the Seminoles’ problems this season. The team has only committed 52 penalties in the 2025 campaign, tied for the third-least in the ACC.

Of course, with a 4-5 record and 1-5 mark in conference play, Florida State has plenty of other issues. On Saturday, Mike Norvell and Co. will look to bounce back as they square off against Virginia Tech at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on the ACC Network.