FSU Football: Orange Bowl Win Salvages 2016, Creates Momentum for 2017

The 2016 season didn’t culminate in a national championship for Florida State as many had hoped, but the finale was the grand nonetheless.

Against sixth-ranked Michigan in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Friday night, the Seminoles rallied for a 33-32 victory to finish with at least 10 wins for a fifth straight year and probably a fourth top-10 final ranking in a 5-year span. Deondre Francois’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Nyqwan Murray with 36 seconds remaining served as the game-winner before Carlos Becker’s first career interception sealed it.

As thrilling as FSU’s Orange Bowl victory was, it was more of a continuation of the way the Seminoles closed the season. After falling to Clemson at home on Oct. 29, FSU sat at just 5-3 with seemingly little left to play for. Rather than pack it in, FSU won four straight to close the regular season, got help to reach a New Year’s Six bowl and ultimately silenced its critics in Miami.

Beating a football team with as much tradition as Michigan is always sweet, but when you look at how close the Wolverines were to a spot in the College Football Playoff, Friday’s contest showed that Florida State is still among the nation’s elite.

Michigan may have had two losses coming into the Orange Bowl, but they had come by just a combined four points and both occurred on the final play of the game. On Nov. 12, Michigan fell at Iowa 14-13 as the Hawkeyes hit a field goal as time expired. The regular season for Michigan concluded with a 30-27 double-overtime loss at playoff-bound Ohio State as the Buckeyes scored the game-winning touchdown just one play after it appeared that Michigan had come up with a fourth down stop to seal the victory.

Linebacker Jabrill Peppers being unable to go for Michigan and the loss of tight end Jake Butt in the first half certainly hurt the Wolverines, but FSU was far more banged up coming into the contest.

Statistically, FSU dominated. The Seminoles outgained the Wolverines, 371-252. Florida State put up more points on Michigan than any team this season and held the Wolverines to a season-low 89 yards rushing. Only miscues kept Michigan in the game.

All things considered, FSU still managed to beat a team that was one play away from the College Football Playoff despite having its quarterback complete just a third of his pass attempts (Francois was 9-for-27). On top of that, 11 of Michigan’s 32 points came off of FSU miscues. A Murray muffed punt gave Michigan the ball at the FSU 1-yard-line which led to a field goal; Mike McCray returned an ill-advised Francois interception for a touchdown and Josh Metellus returned a blocked PAT for two points to make it a 1-point game in the final minute.

Even on a night where so much went wrong for Florida State, the Seminoles were clearly better than one of the nation’s best teams on a neutral field. Compare the way FSU played on Friday night against the sixth-ranked Wolverines to how poorly it played early on against the likes of Louisville and North Carolina and the difference is night and day.

FSU will have to say goodbye to defensive end DeMarcus Walker, who recorded 16 sacks on the season. The same is probably true for running back Dalvin Cook, who finished with 207 total yards Friday and topped his own FSU single-season rushing record, but what head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles have coming back provides real hope for 2017.

Linebacker Matthew Thomas and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi both told reporters they would return for their senior years in 2017 while on the offensive side of the ball, receiver Travis Rudolph and tackle Roderick Johnson are each undecided.

In Friday’s victory, the Seminoles recorded a season-high 15 tackles for loss. 11 of those tackles for loss came from players who will return next year as did the only interception for FSU. FSU will also have the services of its most versatile and perhaps best player as safety Derwin James will be back after playing in just two games in 2016. He’ll play in the same secondary with cornerback Tarvarus McFadden, who led the nation in interceptions this year.

On offense, Francois, the ACC’s Rookie of the Year, will return as will Murray, who twice beat All-American cornerback Jourdan Lewis for touchdowns on Friday. FSU will also have young talents like receiver Auden Tate and running back Jacques Patrick. As icing on the cake, FSU will be bring in a recruiting class that currently ranks in the top 5 nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, with eight enrolling early.

Though the 2016 campaign never lived up to its full billing, Florida State made tremendous progress over the course of the year. An embarrassing 63-20 loss at Louisville early in the year and October heartbreakers at the hands of North Carolina and Clemson fell became afterthoughts late Friday as the Seminoles closed the season with five straight victories capped with a rout of rival Florida and a narrow victory over a Michigan team that was alive for a playoff berth all the way up until championship weekend.

While Florida State fell short of a berth in the College Football Playoff and failed to win the ACC for a second straight year, the notion that FSU had fallen to the nation’s second-tier fell by the wayside late Friday. Although it wasn’t the case early in the year, the Seminoles were an elite football team over the final half of the 2016 season and proved that by beating one.

Elite is also something FSU could be for the duration 2017.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson