FSU DT Cory Durden talks teammate’s ejection, losing him for first half vs. Clemson

Florida State pass-rusher Janarius Robinson was having himself a nice game until his would-be sack of NC State quarterback Bailey Hockman found him on the wrong side of a targeting penalty and ultimately ejected from the game.

Because the ejection came in the second half, Robinson is now set to miss the first half against Clemson in two weeks.

The player that was on the other end of the Hockman sandwich, Corey Durden, spoke about how tough the loss of Robinson will be, especially with the attrition the defensive line has already seen with the year-long loss of Joshua Kaindoh due to injury.

“It’s tough, he’s a big part of our defense, but that’s what we preach at Florida State—next man up,” Durden said. “We expect the next man up, no drop off.”

After losing Robinson for the rest of the game, Durden said the ejection injected life into the stadium and the defense as Robinson hyped up the fans as he left the field.

“Especially with the fans reaction—nobody likes calls like that,” Durden said. “At the end of the day, it’s football. But, I feel like it definitely picked us up.”

Durden himself was called for unnecessary roughness on the quarterback, who took plenty of punishment on the night at the hands of the FSU defense, but he’s not going to question the referees’ decision.

“Football is an aggressive game. You just have to play aggressive. At the end of the day, that’s the refs job, so you can’t question it,” Durden said with a grin.

Durden’s full interview can be found below.