Paul Finebaum on Florida State's last-second loss: 'It was embarrassing'

Just one week removed from a near-miracle victory over Notre Dame, the Florida State Seminoles emerge from Week 2 losers of two-straight, with the second game somehow ending in crazier fashion than the first — and according to ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum, the Seminoles should be embarrassed with the ending.

“I was tempted to go with USC [loss], but there’s no way anyone can not go with what happened in Tallahassee,” Finebaum on Sunday morning said on SportsCenter, when asked the worst loss of the week. “We’re talking about six days removed from a Disney movie when [Florida State quarterback] McKenzie Milton came in and nearly pulled the game off against Notre Dame in overtime.”

In Week 1, Seminoles honored legendary coach Bobby Bowden with a pregame ceremony. And with the No. 9 Fighting Irish in Tallahassee, fans filled Doak Campbell Stadium like it was the early 2000s. Former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton made his first appearance since his major leg injury and helped force overtime, as Florida State nearly knocked off the top-10 team.

Just one week later, the Seminoles lost in impossible fashion. Florida State was winning 17-14 with nearly no time left on the clock, before Jacksonville State ran a last-second hail mary play as time expired.

“And what happened on the final play of the game? This is not exactly a textbook of how to teach defense and effort,” Finebaum said of Florida State’s loss.

Down three with under 20 seconds remaining, Jacksonville State, an FCS school, ran four vertical play that worked perfectly. Jacksonville State quarterback Zerrick Cooper found Damond Philyaw-Johnson down the right sideline on a 59-yard touchdown pass as Jacksonville State picked up a walk off 20-17 win at Doak Campbell Stadium. Philyaw-Johnson, a Duke transfer, made a quick juke move on a Florida State defender and a teammate made a key block to secure the touchdown.

“It was embarrassing. It was inexplicable,” Finebaum said. “Don’t forget Florida State was a 27-point favorite. It’s the first time Florida State has lost to an FCS team since the late 50s.”

Milton, Florida State’s quarterback, echoed Finebaum’s thoughts.

Milton was named Florida State’s starter moments before kickoff, but the man with one of the most improbable stories in all of football didn’t play well. In the game, Milton completed 18 of 31 passes, throwing for 158 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

“It’s embarrassing,” Milton said of Florida State after two straight heartbreaking losses. “We’ve got to own that. That’s who we are. We lost to Jacksonville State. We’re 0-2, so all we can do is look forward.

“If we keep putting ourselves in positions like that, we’ll probably lose every game.”