I’m not an alum like Danny Kanell. I’m not the Voice of the Voiceless like Booger McFarland has become. And I’m sure you are all tired of the whining and crying from Seminole Nation. Well guess what, after a 63-3 bowl loss, this lifelong Florida St. fan has some thoughts.
Before talking about that joke of a bowl game, let’s go back 4 weeks ago to the announcement of the four teams in the CFP. I, like the rest of the internet, could see the writing on the wall as soon as Texas was shown as the 3-seed. Alabama was going to be 4. My heart sank. You can say all you want that Florida St. was “not the same” after Jordan Travis got hurt. And that can be true to a degree. With Travis on the field, the offense was efficient with big play potential, exactly what you would want in a National Title contender. And while it took a while to find their footing in the Florida game, you could see that offense still had those same elements. They just had to change. Tate Rodamaker wasn’t Jordan Travis, but Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson were still playmakers at receiver and Lawrence Toafili and Trey Benson were still weapons in the backfield. The offense just had to change to be successful. They did and they were.
Obviously the ACC Championship game is what everyone wants to look at. Rodamaker was out with a concussion (that would not have kept him out of a game a month later) and third-string QB Brock Glenn stepped in. Ask Ohio St. fans what their team looks like with a third-string quarterback. So FSU had to evolve once again, leaning on their defense, a unit that has been outstanding all year long. And as a result, they beat Louisville to win the ACC Championship. Was that the same team that beat LSU Week One? Absolutely not. But go back and watch the game against Clemson. That game had some poor quarterback play and the defense had to make plays to win. Yet they did. It’s almost like….they were a different team. Huh.
So the four teams in the playoffs are announced and committee chair Boo Corrigan comes on television and talks about how Florida St. was “not the same team” after the injury to Jordan Travis. Ok, fine. No they weren’t. So then why were they ranked #5 ahead of a Georgia team that has been dominating college football for the better part of the past 3 years? At that point, it became a no-win situation for a team that had done nothing BUT WIN all year long. It wouldn’t have mattered who we played in the bowl game, the opt outs and transfers were coming. So say we were paired up with Liberty. They could have beaten what was left of the Florida St. team and everyone would have said “See? Florida St. couldn’t beat a G5 team. They didn’t deserve to be in the playoff anyway.” Ole Miss, Oregon and maybe even Missouri would’ve trucked this version of Florida St. Maybe we match up well with offensively challenged Penn St. or Ohio St., who had the same attrition we did. But who do we get paired with? A Georgia team that mercilessly beat TCU the last time we saw them in a bowl game.
Sweet.
So that brings us to Saturday’s 63-3 loss, a game I punished myself by watching with a Georgia grad. Let me say something to the people who want to dunk on FSU for that performance. NOBODY ASSOCIATED WITH FLORIDA STATE GAVE A SINGLE SOLITARY DAMN ABOUT THAT GAME. God bless the players that suited up, but they were lambs led to slaughter. In no way, shape or form does that game suggest they didn’t deserve to make the playoff. Coleman, Wilson, Benson, Toafili, Jared Verse, Patrick Payton and everyone else who decided to opt out or transfer did everything they could in the regular season to be able to play for a national championship. And a 12-person committee decided it wasn’t enough. Ok, fine. But what did they have to gain by playing in the bowl game? Anyone who watched the Gator Bowl saw future NFL player Will Shipley get carted off with a potentially serious injury that could end up costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars. That could have happened to anybody. The players who chose not to play were completely justified in doing so.
Looking at the situation from a bigger picture, why should Florida St. even stay in the ACC? It’s not even the ACC’s fault really, but a statement was clearly made. The ACC is looked at as fifth in a Power 5 world where the top four play for a national championship. I understand that the playoff is moving to 12 next year, but college football from here on out is about the Big 10 and the SEC and they want to be a part of that. If they aren’t wanted by those two conference then so be it, that’s up for them to decide.
Should Florida State have gotten in above Alabama based on the totality of the season? Absolutely. Would they have lost to Michigan? Maybe. Then you know what, all the FSU haters can take their pound of flesh. But they were never given the chance. I know things are going to change, but this year showed just how broken the 4-team playoff system was. It just so happened that Florida St. – my team – is the one who was made an example out of. And it sucks.
