The Daily Nole

FSU’s Taggart Aims for First ACC Win vs. WKU Successor

FSU athletics

Few rabid college football fans are unfamiliar with the name Bobby Petrino.

The Louisville head coach has had his highs and lows in the college football ranks, but few would fail to acknowledge his ability as a football coach. The highs include the 2006 Big East title and Orange Bowl victory during his first stint at Louisville and leading Arkansas to consecutive 10-win seasons in 2010 and 2011.

The lows include walking out on the Atlanta Falcons with three weeks to play in the 2007 NFL season. The most notable “low” was certainly the scandal that struck at Arkansas when Petrino wrecked his motorcycle while accompanied by a former Arkansas volleyball player and athletic department employee with whom Petrino acknowledged to having an affair.

What many football fans may forget is the fact that Petrino actually succeeded Florida State head coach Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky. Following the 2012 regular season, Taggart left for South Florida after coaching the Hilltoppers to their first bowl appearance as an FBS program and a 7-5 record.

Taggart is now in his fourth stop as head coach and third since leaving Western Kentucky. Like Taggart’s most recent stay at Oregon, Petrino’s stint at Western Kentucky was just one year.

In his only season, Petrino took a 7-win team and turned it into an 8-4 team with wins over Kentucky and Navy. Unlike the year prior, Western Kentucky did not receive a bowl invite and Petrino returned to Louisville for a second stint.

It will be Taggart’s successor at his alma mater and first coaching job that the FSU head coach will aim for his first ACC and road win against on Saturday as head man in Tallahassee. Although the season is young, the start to the Taggart era at Florida State has not gone as planned, but the Seminoles are coming off their best performance of the season with a 37-19 win over Northern Illinois.

Petrino himself, could be in the midst of his worst of nine total seasons at Louisville. Like FSU, the Cardinals are just 2-2 this season and coming off an embarrassing 27-3 loss to Virginia. The two wins this season have come over Indiana State and the aforementioned school where both Taggart and Petrino coached — Western Kentucky.

Louisville managed to rally from eight points down in the fourth quarter to win that one, 20-17. The Cardinals were also tied with Indiana State, 7-7, until the 3:29 mark of the third quarter in an eventual 31-7 victory. Petrino has never won fewer than eight games as Louisville head coach.

The contest on Saturday won’t be the top-10 match-up that the last meeting between the teams in Louisville was, but it will be a key game for two programs who hope for bowl-eligibility. Petrino has never missed a bowl in eight seasons as Louisville head coach. FSU has played in a bowl in every season since 1982.

For Taggart, the contest will be his first in the Bluegrass State since leaving Bowling Green, Kentucky and being promptly replaced by this week’s counterpart. Since Taggart’s first win as FSU head coach came against his predecessor’s alma mater, getting his first road win over the man who succeeded him at his own would seem fitting.

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

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