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Florida State TE who briefly lined up facing the wrong way says it wasn't an accident

Nick Bromberg
College football and motorsports writer
Florida State tight end Tre' McKitty (6) after recovering a fumble that was nullified by the officials during an NCAA football game against Boise State on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019 in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Florida State TE Tre McKitty became internet famous Saturday when he briefly lined up facing backwards before a play. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)

Florida State TE Tre McKitty would like you to know that he didn’t line up facing the wrong direction on accident.

McKitty became the butt of a ton of Twitter jokes on Saturday during FSU’s 45-44 OT win over Louisiana-Monroe thanks to a screenshot of him facing the wrong way before the ball was snapped.

But McKitty said Tuesday that he knew he was lined up the wrong way. And that it wasn’t on accident. McKitty was lined up in the correct direction before the snap after he went in motion, but after their loss to Boise State in Week 1, many people couldn’t resist poking fun at the Seminoles.

"There is nothing wrong with me," McKitty said via Rivals’ Warchant.com. "I definitely didn't line up the wrong way on our snap. … I'm not really worried about what anyone else is saying. I know what we were doing, what we were trying to do."

New Florida State offensive coordinator Kendal Briles backed up McKitty on Tuesday too. Briles’ offense tries to get lined up as fast as possible at times to keep the defense off-balance and prevent it from substituting.

"We didn't snap the football with him turned sideways, I don't know if that's something you guys saw," Briles said with a smile. "It's a way to tempo without tempo. It's a stoppage situation, where you can not tempo. So we came off the sideline. It's a thing we do offensively. Guys can line up wherever they want. I don't care. Just get to your spot where you need to get to.”

It was certainly untraditional. And the result ended up being a good one. Florida State got a first down on the play via one of running back Cam Akers’ 35 carries. Maybe Florida State players should start lining up weirdly more often. That could be the secret to upsetting No. 25 Virginia on Saturday.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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