The Quack Attacked

'Noles swarmed by Oregon at The Rose Bowl

The Florida State Seminoles returned to The Rose Bowl, the historic venue where the Seminoles defeated Auburn for the National Championship a year ago, to face the high flying Oregon Ducks in a semifinal contest of the first ever College Football Playoff.   FSU was riding a 29 game winning streak, tied for fifth best since WWII.

Although the Seminoles were 9 point underdogs, FSU had failed to play anywhere near their best game, and given the talent level, there were high hopes that on this day, the Seminoles would click on all cylinders. It was not to be, as Oregon devastated the Noles in a third quarter barrage, never looking back en route to a stunning 59-20 victory.

The Seminoles opened the scoring on the day, taking a 3-0 lead, but it became apparent there were red zone issues for FSU.  Offensively, Oregon was almost immediately effective, and it became obvious FSU would have to outscore the Ducks if they were going to secure a victory.

Florida State suffered some miscues, along with a horrendous no interference call, and a missed field goal to potentially leave 14 points on the field, but was only behind 18-13 at the half.  The Seminoles came out of the half moving right down the field, until Dalvin Cook fumbled.  Oregon, who has made teams pay for turnovers all season, drove the field to score a touchdown.  FSU matched that score, but then fumbled again after some large gains, and from there, it was all Oregon.

The Seminoles had a mind boggling 4 turnovers in the third quarter, and it is hard to beat just about anybody doing that.  Even without the turnovers and generating over 525 yards of offense, Florida State never exhibited the ability to stop Marcus Mariota and the high octane offense of the Ducks.  The Quack Attack was as advertised.

Certainly, this team underachieved all season, and could be considered fortunate to have finished the regular season undefeated with an opportunity to play in the first College Football Playoff.  While the loss to Oregon is most disappointing, and we will always wonder why this team struggled so while finishing an undefeated regular season, there is nothing to hang our heads about.

As someone stated, this group of seniors took FSU from the Russell Athletic Bowl to a National Championship, a historic winning streak and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Coach Jimbo Fisher has built the Seminoles to last, and while a slight drop off is anticipated next fall as the Seminoles must replace most of the offensive line, a record breaking wideout, an award winning tight end and potentially developing a new quarterback, the future is very bright.

Congratulations Seminoles on another great season; ACC and State of Florida Champs once again!