After winning both the conference title game and the regular season 13-0, many Seminoles players and supporters weren’t expecting Florida State to defeat Georgia in the Orange Bowl on Saturday. There were many opt-outs available for injuries, transfers, and draft declarations.
The players had every right to do so after being left out of the College Football Playoffs; the team that dominated the Orange Bowl was nothing like the one that finished 13-0. They moved on to whatever was next in response to the rejection.
However, a lot of college football fans, the media, and prominent figures were upset about this. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo of ESPN was among the most recent figures to comment on Florida State.
“How about Florida State on Saturday afternoon,” Russo said. “…Florida State had a chance for redemption, to prove to the world that they belong because they were playing Georgia in the Orange Bowl — Georgia, two-time National Champ — Georgia. So what does Florida State and its players do? 29 players opted out of that game for a variety of reasons.”
Again, college-age athletes will naturally do what they feel is best for them in a completely voluntary sport. The players responded in kind to the way the College Football Playoff committee handled the Seminoles, acting as though the games didn’t matter.
“So, they go to the Orange Bowl on Saturday before New Year’s where people are paying their hard-earned money to go to Fort Lauderdale to go watch that game, and they show up like they don’t even care and they lost 63 to three,” Russo continued. “And Georgia, who has won two championships in a row, shows up and Kirby Smart gets his guys to play.”
But Georgia had a lot to prove, too. They were defeated by Alabama in the SEC Championship. They sought to show that they were a top-four squad despite having only one loss. They were capable of doing so and in good health. Florida State was aware that it would not be able to field a team that was comparable.
“Florida State, that spent three weeks moaning and groaning about how they got royally screwed, they show up at that game in the Orange Bowl in front of all those fans and they lose 63 to three to a bunch of amateurs after they moaned and groaned about how they were messed up,” Russo claimed. “Oh, that is such an unbelievable disgrace! I could not believe what they did on Saturday. Seminoles, you are a disgrace to college football.”
Florida State is a disgrace to college football, according to Russo, but the Seminoles have every right to say that college football shamed them. It’s difficult to think that a Power Five league’s unbeaten conference winner will ever miss the playoffs. The four-team playoffs shouldn’t have allowed this to happen, but the new 12-team playoff format helps.
If the Seminoles had advanced further in the playoffs, who knows who might have played? Perhaps their defense would have succeeded once more. Quinn Ewers and Jalen Milroe’s statistics weren’t particularly striking or amazing. If it had been a close game, Brock Glenn or Tate Rodemaker would not have been as good, but the numbers would have been comparable and the story would have been amazing.
Be the first to comment