Glimpses of Greatness

There were glimpses of greatness.

In a battle of titans, Florida State faced the Michigan Wolverines, coached by favorite son Jim Harbaugh, in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Michigan was favored by a touchdown.

But did the odds makers really know the Seminoles? Hardly.

There is little question the Seminoles underachieved in 2016, taking half the season to get hold of a defensive unit that lacked early discipline and focus.

Florida State went to work fast, taking the opening possession down for a touchdown, culminated by a short run by the phenomenal Dalvin Cook.

3, 2 1 Touchdown FSU, Dalvin Cook!

Florida State had stopped Michigan early, but Nyqwan Murray muffed a punt, giving the Wolverines the ball inside the FSU five, but the Seminoles were able to hold Michigan to a field goal. Murray made up for the blunder quickly, scoring on a 92 yard bomb from Deondre Francois (the longest passing touchdown in Orange Bowl history) which helped FSU build a 20-6 halftime lead.

The game should have been over, and looking around the stadium at the faces of the large contingent of those in blue, it was. However, that would not be the case.

Michigan was tough, and they stuck with their game plan.  It had some effectiveness.

QB Wilton Speight leads the Wolverines

Florida State redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois, beyond demonstrating significant toughness, did not make the mistakes in 2016 one might expect from his lack of experience, but he made a big one on this night, throwing an ill fated late pass deep in our own territory which was picked and returned for a touchdown. The error put Michigan right back in the ball game, cutting the score to 20-15 FSU.

Then, Dalvin Cook went to work, racing 71 yards to set up another FSU score.  FSU 27 Michigan 15.

Michigan fought back, with perhaps their best drive, getting a touchdown pass to cut it to 27-22. The Wolverines stopped FSU, and then put together a scoring drive capped by a 29 yard run by tailback Chris Evans.  Out of seemingly  nowhere, Michigan led 30-27.

With less than two minutes left, things looked bleak for FSU.

When Keith Gavin accepted the kickoff, he appeared to not know where he was on the field, and decided to run the kickoff back. It seemed a poor decision, but defenders seemed somewhat frozen by his action, allowing him to race 66 yards before being stopped.

Francois hit Cook for 21 yards, and then fired a 12 yard score to Nyqwan Murray, giving FSU the 33-30 lead. The PAT would exponentially increase the odds of victory, forcing Michigan to score a touchdown with little time to work. But the Wolverines blocked the PAT, returning it for 2 points, cutting the lead to 33-32.

FSU WR Nyqwan Murray

Florida State held Michigan on downs and won the football game.

Dalvin Cook was brilliant as usual, and Nyqwan Murray more than atoned for his early fumble blunder with two major touchdown grabs. Defensively, LB Matthew Thomas (15 tackles, 9 solo) shined, and DE DeMarcus Walker was nothing short of outstanding, with 4.5 tackles for loss.

The Seminoles looked like a playoff team at times on this evening, but made a boatload of errors which prohibit teams from reaching lofty goals like that.

It was an exciting game, although is should not have been.  It was a stellar crowd, which included former Dolphin great Dan Marino, current Pitt Panther James Conner, Dolphin broadcaster "Hammerin" Hank Goldberg and Kansas City Royal first basemen and Miami native Eric Hosmer.

Dalvin Cook is off to the NFL, but Florida State has a veteran team returning in 2107, with approximately 37 of 44 on the two deep coming back. Talent abounds, and given improvement in focus, FSU has the look of a playoff team.

Always a pleasure to run with King Orange in Miami. I attended my first Orange Bowl in 1972, and this was my fifteenth contest. The game gave us all another glimpse of the greatness that could have been for FSU in 2016.