Willie Taggart’s debut as Florida State coach couldn’t have gone much worse, and now he’s accusing his opponents of engaging in some unsporting activity that helped bring about that result.
Taggart told the ACC coaches call that he believes Virginia Tech players faked injuries after big Seminole plays to slow down their tempo in what ultimately turned into a 24-3 Hokie victory on Monday night.
“It happened too often so it’s hard not to,” Taggart said, via Andrea Adelson of ESPN. “It is what it is. I guess it’s part of football now.”
For his part, Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente simply said that the heat and humidity in Florida caused frequent cramping among Hokie players.
Florida State fans certainly spotted some things and booed loudly when Virginia Tech players went down, and one particular instance attracted some attention on Twitter during the game.
Thoughts and prayers go out to this Virginia Tech player on this absolutely devastating injury #VTvsFSU pic.twitter.com/SI4Z6sPaOg
— NOTSportsCenter (@NOTSportsCenter) September 4, 2018
Accusations of feigning injury to impact tempo aren’t new in either college or the NFL, and it definitely does happen, though in most cases it’s very difficult to prove. Taggart certainly thinks it was ongoing, and while Fuente downplayed it, he didn’t really explicitly deny it.
