Could That Have Been Any Better?

Tony Washington
IS The Hulk!

Mariota and the rest of the Ducks refuted
the popular myth among the FSU Rank that
Oregon was soft.

"Hello Mr. Winston. My name is Chris Seisay.
I'm the redshirt freshman cornerback you
were planning to pick on today."
From the Oregonian: No Florida State receiver eclipsed 100 yards. [Top FSU receiver Rashaad] Greene, mostly covered by [Tony] Hill but occasionally Seisay, had six catches for 59 yards. The longest Florida State completion was 29 yards. 

Winston crushed.







Running Back Thomas Tyner had a phenomenal game.
He came back from injuries to run for 124 yards and 2 TD's.
He and . . . . .
 

4th string RB Keni Benoit, who mopped up
in the fourth quarter, both wore Florida State
players like capes as they showcased Oregon's speed.

 

Ahh, that's a shame.
Charles Nelson's cape fell off.

There is so much to say about this game, one could write volumes. Yet all that comes to my mind is,

"Wow".
"Holy Moly".
"Did you see that?!?"

I'm wanting to get into Florida State's mind, a sad and scary place indeed. In the weeks before the game, Coach Jimbo, Jameis and the rest of the gang all kept yammerin' and yakkin'.  "29 points" this, "Undefeated" that, and "We've been here before."

I got the feeling they were hoping someone would say, "OK you've done enough already. Here's your Rose Bowl trophy."

While they were puffing their chests and saying all the right things at Disneyland and leading up to the game, I just had this feeling that they looked across at Oregon, thought about how they had been pulling rabbits out all season to preserve their win streak. And . . . .

They knew.

They knew it in the back of their minds.

It was over. All over.

They weren't facing the second and third best ACC teams. This wasn't a paper Notre Dame. This was a stratosphere of a next level. A heavyweight. A killer of giant killers.

Victory cigars on
the SI cover to
counteract its
voodooness.

After the game, I lit my victory cigar (Thank you, big brother, for sending them.), rounded up my posse and headed out through the neighborhood to wave the colors, play the fight song via iTunes through a bluetooth speaker and shout "GO DUCKS!" to anyone listening.

We stopped at Oregonian sports writer Ken Goe's house. And Goe made an interesting observation as he was hooking up his garden hose to spray us out of his yard. 

The grandboys with
Ken Goe, who refused
to sign a release for
this picture.

He said, "At halftime, Florida State had Oregon right where they wanted them." Down by only 5. They had just picked Mariota for only his third time. They would receive the ball first in the second half. Momentum was clearly on their side.

It was time for the Seminoles to take charge and pull out another trademark comeback win. They must have felt really good coming out of the tunnel for the second half.

What was different this time? Oregon's defense is a truly unheralded juggernaut in the second half of games. Also, Oregon's offensive pace routinely has a devastating effect on opposing defenses as the game goes on.

As the game went on, Florida State saw what they couldn't believe; felt what they couldn't admit. Not only was the game slipping away from them, it was free falling.

This was a score off of FSU's second turnover in the third quarter. What was fascinating was it was Oregon's second play of that series. The time from the
whistle ending the first play to the snap on this play? 12 seconds. FSU, to a man,
insisted after the game that Oregon's super fast pace had no impact on them. But on this play, they thought it was going to be another screen pass to the wideout. Oregon made it look that way and had been doing that play all day. But just as importantly,
they did not give FSU time to think and plan for other options. They had no time to communicate. 

Oregon's defense forced a turnover. Oregon's offense scored. Winston yelled at his teammates. Oregon forced another turnover. Oregon scored. Winston yelled at his coach. Jimbo refuted whether it was actual "yelling". But we know this, whatever it was, Winston was losing it, emotionally, literally, every way.


Winston: "Oh my! Oh Dear! Auntie Em, it's a twister, it's a TWISTER! Help. Help. 
 OH, JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL!!!!"

FUMBLLLLLE!!

FUMBLLLLLE!!

INTERCEPTIOOOOON!!

FUMBLLLLLE!!

Is it still Christmas? Because Florida State just keeps giving us gifts!!!

WHATEVER JAMEIS . . . .
Then came the after-party. The Oregonian's John Canzano wrote a great piece that measured the difference between the two Heisman quarterbacks. I got tired of hearing people say how they were "similar". They couldn't be more different.

That was obvious enough in the game. It became crystal clear in the post-game interviews. The following is an excerpt from the article showing Jameis Winston in total denial that Oregon had "honestly" beaten them.

 But here's what Winston said: "This game could have went either way, if you want to be -- if everybody in this room just want to be real with themselves, this game could have went either way. We turned the ball over a lot. We beat ourself. Just be real with yourself right now. We beat ourself."

"Tonight was unfortunate," Winston said. "It wasn't just they were stopping us. Their offense did great. Their defense was great. But we were never stopped at all." [I'm . . . . . I'm speechless.]
"It was never over," he said. "Honestly, it was never over. We just got beat, turned the ball over too many times. But it still ain't over. We can go play again, honest."
[And then when Winston looked at the crowd and noticed everybody just slack jawed and staring at him, he added, "29 WINS!"]

Here is the video of the post game interview if you can't believe he actually said that, or his grammar was that poor. In this video they cut to Coach Gumbo and asked him one question about whether or not Oregon's pace had any impact on his team. Again, total denial. I highly suggest he reviews the film and sees it for himself. They were not making plays on the Ducks because they were not given enough time to read and react.



SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!
OREGON DID WHAAAAAAT?!?!?!?
You've probably seen this already as it has gone viral. Because he was busy beating Alabama, Ohio State's coach Urban Meyer hadn't yet heard the final score of Oregon's win over FSU . . .

FUN FACT
This is the first true official NCAA top division playoff national football championship.
In 1939, the NCAA held it's first official national basketball championship.
The players: Ohio State vs. Oregon. Oregon won that game 46-33. Sounds like a pretty good football score too.

ONE FIRST THOUGHT ON THE NEXT STEP
This is a new experience in college football. And the Ducks and Buckeyes have to figure out some new guidelines as they are the first teams to win a bowl to only prepare for another bowl.
Case in point. Did you see all the Duck players passing around the Rose Bowl trophy and kissing it like moms on a new baby?

Thomas Tyner

100 Rose Bowls before, who cared? But they got a bigger game in a week. And this is the cold and flu season!

Am I the only one who worried about them germing up that thing?

More important wisdom later.
--KB

I know you are, but 29 . . . I know you are, but 29 . . .

I've got a new drinking game for y'all to play.
Google Florida State, Oregon, Rose Bowl, Jameis Winston, etc. Search through all the media -- blogs, articles, videos . . . Every time a player, coach, reporter or blogger from Florida State utters "29 wins", take a drink. They say "undefeated" less often, so take two drinks.

You'll be drunk in half an hour. A couple of lines I found . . .

"I really don't understand that," FSU sophomore cornerback Jalen Ramsey said [on being 9-point underdogs to the Ducks]. "We're the ones who won 29 in a row. What are we scared of?"
Take a drink.

"The only undefeated team in the country," [FSU Coach Jimbo Fisher] frequently reminds questioners.

Take two drinks.

 

The following article from the Orlando Sentinel explains how FSU is needing to reach deep to find some extra inspiration to prepare them for the Rose Bowl. False self-pity appears to be the go-to motivation.
 

FSU relaxed for Rose Bowl, using role as underdog and villain for motivation

By Brendan Sonnone

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Jameis Winston shook hands with Mickey Mouse, posed for a picture alongside Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and then, as he has so many times before, found himself surrounded by dozens of reporters.

Marcus Mariota poses with a silly cartoony character
and Mickey Mouse.

All the while, Winston could only think of one thing.

 

 "The main thing I'm trying to do is get me a smoked turkey leg, put some hot sauce on that bad boy and eat it," Winston said Saturday at Disney California Adventure Park. "I'm hungry."

[Are you gonna pay for it this time?]
 

No. 3 FSU (13-0) faces No. 2 Oregon (12-1) in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, with the winner advancing to the national championship. For some, the magnitude of this stage could spark nerve. But for Winston, along with his teammates, there is comfort in familiarity.

 

Winston, coach Jimbo Fisher and several other FSU players spoke to media members for the first time since arriving in California. While this is a different set of players, a different season and a different opponent, FSU is no stranger to playing big games in the Rose Bowl.

 

"Just being in California again, the kids knowing what to expect, how the routine of things is going to go, any time you can do something a second time definitively helps," said Fisher, who guided FSU to a win over Auburn in the Rose Bowl last season to claim the third national title in school history. "The more you're in those atmosphere and environments, it's critical."

 

Fisher points to last season's experience playing in the title game in Rose Bowl Stadium, as well as playing in the Orange Bowl the previous season, as reasons he expects his team to be unfazed by outside distractions this week.

 

"Learning on how to adapt to media on a media day, practice on a practice day, how to get ready for the game; the more often you're in those situations, the better you handle them," Fisher said. "And we've been in them quite a few times.

 [Oh by the way, Oregon has played in the Rose Bowl before. Nearly the entire coaching staff had the experience of playing in the National Championship. Half these players were in the BCS Fiesta Bowl. Nearly all of them played in last year's Holiday Bowl.
So ya, they also know how to follow the itinerary and set their alarm clocks, meet in the lobby at a certain time and remember where the buses are parked to go to Disneyland.  What exactly is the big deal, Jimbo?]
 

"It's business as usual. They're mature, they know what it takes, and they've proven it 29 games in a row." [Take a drink.]

 

However, two aspects of the Rose Bowl will be different for FSU this season. First, the Seminoles enter the game as the underdog, with some oddsmakers favoring Oregon by as much as 9.5 points when the betting line first came out. It is the first time FSU has been an underdog in 50 games, according to ESPN.

 

Second, FSU has become detested by what seems like a majority of college football fans. In the span of their 29-game win streak, [Just in case you didn't catch it the first time, this Orlando reporter mentioned it again. Take a drink.] the Seminoles have become villains in the eyes of numerous fan bases. Part of that is a product of winning.
Yes it's true. Haters are hating Florida State simply because they win.
\/
\/
\/



And that is why the Indian cries.

But FSU has also been portrayed as a program that will win at all costs. Winston, who was accused of sexual assault but not charged, is the poster child for the criticism.



"Leave the poor kid alone.
He's a victim, just like me."

 "That's having a chip on our shoulder," Winston said. "When you haven't lost a game in a long time, you can get bored. The fact that so many people are motivating you to not get a loss, we need it."

Balancing fun - like spending the day at Disneyland - along with game preparation and media obligations can be a challenge. But FSU is in familiar territory and, as Winston puts it, has enough motivation to remain focused. [So playing Oregon isn't motivation enough for them? I must say, for the sake of sparing them from their boredom, these bastards really need a good beating.]

 

"Last year, I think we just shocked everybody with how we beat everybody and pulled off that national championship game," Winston said. "This year, everyone came prepared to put a [loss] in our column. We did it; another [undefeated] regular season, another ACC championship. [He apparently didn't actually say it, but it was implied. Split the difference, take one drink.]
 

"And we're not done yet." Ya. We'll see about that.

More later,
--KB