Marcus Mariota (8) is a dangerous runner and passer. (Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports)
Fifteen years after Florida State was involved in the first BCS Championship Game when college football’s title format was revamped, the Seminoles will be a part of the new playoff format Jan. 1 when they put a two-year winning streak on the line as the underdog against No. 2-ranked Oregon.
Florida State (13-0) draws the Ducks on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., while Alabama maintained its No. 1 ranking and will play late-comer No. 4 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The winners will meet Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas, at Cowboys Stadium for the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship game.
“When you get two teams of this caliber and this magnitude, I don’t think it matters where you play,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said Monday. “It’s about two good teams. We’ve won 18 straight away from Tallahassee. If you’re at this venue, you’ve learned to deal with things.”
Oregon fans could outnumber FSU supporters 2-to-1 Thursday. But that won’t win the game.
“At this point, there are no underdogs,” Oregon’s Mark Helfrich said.
The game pits the past two Heisman Trophy winners, Florida State’s Jameis Winston and 2014 winner Marcus Mariota, and teams that win with offense. For Florida State, the season was defined by close calls.
“I don’t know if you can ever practice for Oregon’s speed,” Fisher said. “We are fast, but they do it at such a high level and efficiency. They are unbelievably explosive in what they do.”
Helfrich said reaching the CFP is another step in Oregon’s rise as a national power.
“We take pride in being the last Pac-10 champion, the first Pac-12 champion and now being in the first College Football Playoff shows how far the program has come,” he said. “You look across at Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, so to be in the same bracket is an honor. Now we will go back to work and look forward to a tremendous challenge. Playing in the Rose Bowl is every kid’s dream and our guys will be fired up and prepared for it.”
Oregon has won eight straight games — all by double digits — to reach the CFP while Florida State’s last four victories were all been by single digits. The Ducks and Seminoles have been near the top of the polls all season and now have finally reached the playoff as expected.
“Florida State, like us, have put themselves in the position of being the hunted,” Helfrich said. “Everyone wants to knock them off and they have won 29 straight games. Everyone comes and brings their ‘A’ game and prepares like heck so to come back and win that many in a row is the sign of a winning program. They are a bunch of winners and their quarterback has obviously been extremely productive.”
There was some discussion about whether FSU — owners of the nation’s longest winning streak at 29 straight games following its ACC title win against Georgia Tech, 37-35 — might possibly be left out of the playoff altogether after their latest narrow victory.
“Where you’re ranked right now doesn’t matter,” Fisher said. “Every team in this playoff is a great team. We’re in the playoff, that’s all that matters.”
The game returns Florida State to the site of their greatest moment during the five-year Fisher era that took place almost exactly one year ago when the Seminoles rallied in the final two minutes to beat Auburn 34-31 and capture the final BCS title before the format changed this season.
Now, they’re a part of the new championship format. And if you ask FSU safety Jalen Ramsey, it doesn’t matter what team is in the Seminoles’ path.
“You put us up against any of those teams, we’d stay undefeated,” said Ramsey, who had six tackles in the win against Georgia Tech.
Mariota’s overall body of work, however, is statistically more impressive than Winston’s this season, especially considering Mariota’s also just as much of a threat with his legs as he is with his arm.
Mariota has passed for 3,783 yards, 38 touchdowns and thrown just two interceptions, while also rushing for 669 yards and 14 more scores. Winston, meanwhile, is close to Mariota in passing yards with 3,559 — although Winston has played one less game — but there’s a drop-off everywhere else: Winston has just 24 TD passes and a career-high 17 interceptions.
Seminoles
–QB Jameis Winston has had quite the up-and-down two-year career at Florida State, yet he’s still standing, still playing and — most importantly for FSU’s football program — still winning. The victory over Georgia Tech made him 27-0 in his career as a starter at FSU, but while his rise in interceptions (17 through 13 games compared to just 10 total in 14 games last year) this season and general decline in his gaudy Heisman stats from a season ago likely won’t earn him an invite to this year’s ceremony, there’s no doubt he remains one of the best — and most impactful — players in the country. Winston has passed for 3,559 yards and 24 touchdowns, and he’s still in the FBS Top 25 in both overall passing yards, yards per game and passing efficiency. His off-the-field issues — the petty theft of seafood during the offseason; obscene gesture in the student union that got him suspended for a game; and ongoing university-led code-of-conduct hearing stemming from a 2012 sexual assault allegation — cannot be overlooked. And despite all his successes, his public image and NFL Draft stock have all take a beating during his sophomore season. But when you’re 13-0 and playing for a national title, don’t even think about calling this a “Sophomore Slump” for Winston, who has handled the highs and lows of his brief time in the spotlight about as well as any 20-year-old college student with a full course load and additional pressures the average student OR student-athlete can even begin to fathom. Football, as Winston has often said, is his “sanctuary.” Case in point, Winston took part in two days of undoubtedly stressful COC hearings Tuesday and Wednesday — then went out Saturday and had far-and-away his best game of the season against Georgia Tech: 21-of-30, 309 yards, 3 TDs — and 0 interceptions. But he refused to take much of the credit, if any of it, after the game. “Well, I’m just blessed to have a great Seminole family. My (past) week has been great,” Winston said when asked how he was able to focus so intensely after what had to be a distracting week. “Ending with another ACC Championship. Like Coach Fisher always talks about, we’re just a great family, and I love those guys, and I love Seminole Nation.”
–RB Dalvin Cook, who broke FSU’s freshman single-game record with 177 yards against Georgia Tech, is the Seminoles’ “trump” card this year, Fisher says. But imagine for a moment if the Seminoles’ coaching staff had realized a wee bit sooner just how good the true freshman actually is? Those struggle wins all years may have just turned into the blowouts oddsmakers predicted, instead of nailbiters. Cook started the season No. 3 on the depth chart behind senior starter Karlos Williams and sophomore Mario Pender, all while the Seminoles’ running game — ranked outside the Top 100 in the FBS most of the season — struggled mightily all year. But it wasn’t until Cook’s game-saving runs against Louisville in Week 10 that Fisher finally began to realize that Cook isn’t just a gamer — he’s a game-changer. With Williams ruled out against Georgia Tech ahead of time following a concussion against Florida the week earlier, Cook didn’t just carry the load — he carried every load. Pender, Cook’s backup for the game, never saw the field and never got a single carry. FSU rushed for 178 yards as a team, and Cook accounted for all but one of those with Winston rushing for just a yard in the win. By Week 15’s post-game, however, Fisher was well aware of how Cook — who leads the team in rushing with 905 yards and 8 TDs — has impacted FSU’s season. “This guy is a special guy, he really is,” Fisher said of Cook, the former Mr. Football in Florida and No. 2 RB prospect in the nation. “You broke over 900 yards, already had a chance to be a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman and the balance he’s bringing our team now and the big-play ability, the capabilities and what he does catching the ball out of the backfield, picking up blitzes. As a freshman to come in and pick up our offense and the multiplicity of blitzes and protections and all the things that go on in the routes — this isn’t easy.”
–DT Eddie Goldman, the No. 2 NFL Draft defensive line prospect according to NFLDraftScout.com, is the most important player the Seminoles have on defense this year. But he’s only one to watch because of his right ankle injury he suffered in the first half — then missed the rest of the game — against Georgia Tech. Goldman, who was seen boarding FSU’s team bus with crutches under his arm, is FSU’s top run-stopper and the Seminoles wouldn’t even be in the mix for the national title right now if not for his game-saving forced fumble in the waning moments against Clemson. And against a team like Oregon, which averages 308 yards a game (11th-best in FBS) on the ground, having Goldman back will be crucial to FSU’s success. Granted, the Seminoles still won, but they surrendered 331 yards rushing and 35 points to Georgia Tech. They need Goldman back badly.
Ducks
–Oregon QB Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy after he completed 68.3 percent of his passes for 3,773 yards and 38 touchdowns while running for 669 yards and 14 scores. He is 35-4 as Oregon’s starter and became the first quarterback in FBS history to throw a touchdown pass in his first 39 college games. He has 53 total touchdowns, including one touchdown reception, to set the Pac-12 Conference record for one season. His importance to the Ducks was evident last season when he was injured late in the season and Oregon lost twice. He stayed healthy this season and led Oregon to eight straight wins to close out the regular season and reach the CFP semifinals.
–Oregon RB Royce Freeman came on strong during the second half of his true freshman season with the Ducks, running for at least 98 yards in each of his last eight games after not hitting that mark in any of his first five games.
His 1,322 rushing yards are a freshman record for the Ducks and the second most for a freshman in Pac-12 history. Freeman has also rushed for 16 touchdowns this season. He began the season in tandem with Thomas Tyner in Oregon’s backfield but emerged as the feature back and has at least 15 rushes in each of the past 10 games.
–WR/RB Byron Marshall was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Ducks last season, but was moved primarily to wide receiver this year when injuries hit that position.
He leads the team with 61 catches for 814 yards and has five touchdowns through the air while also running for 383 yards and a touchdowns. He had only 14 catches in his first two seasons with the Ducks, but now ranks seventh in single-season school history in receptions.
His transformation to receiver was a huge boost for the Ducks, who lost receiver Bralon Addison for the season with a torn ACL and watched veteran Keanon Lowe battle injuries all season.
–CB Troy Hill will have to play extremely well after stud shutdown corner Ifo Ekpre-Olomu was lost for the year at the beginning of bowl practices. FSU’s has talent galore at receiver and the Ducks can ill afford to let Winston and company get rolling in the passing game.
–S Erick Dargan leads the Ducks with six interceptions this season in his first year as a starter. He has 12 career interceptions to tie for ninth in school history.
Dargan is also the top tackler on the team with 82, including 2.5 for loss. He is tied for second on the team with 11 passes defended and has forced a fumble and recovered one.
Dargan will be a key veteran in a secondary that needs to slow down FSU quarterback Jameis Winston in the Rose Bowl.
BOWL HISTORY: Oregon is 12-15 in bowl games. The Ducks have won three straight bowl games, including the 2013 Fiesta Bowl and 2012 Rose Bowl. Oregon has reached a bowl game in 10 straight seasons and will play in its third Rose Bowl during that stretch.
FSU is in the college football postseason for the 33rd straight season, which is the longest active streak in the nation. The Seminoles are 27-14-2 in postseason bowl games, including six straight wins. Oregon and Florida State have never met before this game.
