Florida State senior linebacker Nigel Bradham hoists a prop "gator head" above his own head Nov. 26 following the Seminoles' 21-7 win over rival Florida in Gainesville. In a year when FSU was expected to do much more, the state championship was its most memorable moment. (Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel)
Now that the 2011 season is officially over for the Florida State football program, we can begin to look back at the year that was and pull from it what we can. There are so many reasons, so many factors that went into play to lead the Seminoles to their mostly unexpected 9-4 mark, absence from the ACC Championship and appearance in a non-BCS bowl.
On the flip side, there are also factors that led to the year being as strong as it was. A come-from-behind Champs Sports Bowl win over a tough Notre Dame program and a close, late-game win over rival Miami almost didn?t exist. Had both ended in losses, the Seminoles would have finished at 7-6 and answering even more questions than they are right now.
As is often the case, from year-to-year, there are always singular plays or groups of plays that can certainly change a season for better or worse. There often are those individual moments that can make a year live triumphantly on, or that can make it remembered for far greater, more melancholy reasons. For the Seminoles, 2011 likely won?t be a year that gets written as legend; it won?t go down in the record books next to ?93 and ?99. But successful season or not, like any other season, there were moments in 2011 that made it stand out more than any other year in Tallahassee.
In the last few days on the Chopping Block, we?ve been taking a look at the top 5 moments from the FSU season. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts or make your own lists. Today, we top it off with No. 1 ? beating the rivals.
No. 1 ? Beating the rivals
We?ll keep this one pretty brief.
In a year that was defined more by what FSU didn?t have ? i.e. key players lost due to injury, actual losses themselves, a lost top-5 ranking, etc ? ? there was probably no moment in which more joy was experienced by the Seminoles than in the early-night hours of Nov. 26.
After losing four games and failing to accomplish their chief goal, receiving an ACC Championship game berth, the Seminoles were left to secure one final objective. They wanted to win the state championship.
For the uniformed, the ?state championship? refers to years when the Seminoles play any Florida universities, but most specifically when they play their biggest rivals, in-state foes Miami and Florida. FSU won the state championship in 2010, and was looking to solidify the mark for a second-straight year.
Winning 21-7, they did just that.
FSU's defense hounded Miami quarterback Jacory Harris all of the Hurricanes' game against the Seminoles. With the 23-19 win over Miami and a 21-7 victory over Florida later in the year, the Seminoles earned the coveted "state championship" for a second straight year. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Two weeks after holding on to beat Miami in the final game of a five-game winning streak, the Seminoles traveled to Gainesville to finish the state championship deal.
With little to lose, the defense played its best game.
Florida?s rushing game was stifled. The Gators only advanced the ball 54 yards on a whopping 33 team carries.
The passing game fared no better. Gators quarterbacks John Brantley and Jacoby Brissett combined to throw four interceptions, including two that were picked off by Seminoles cornerback Greg Reid. One resulted in an early FSU score. A third interception caught by senior cornerback Mike Harris and returned 89 yards to near the Seminoles? goal line, led to another touchdown. FSU?s final touchdown came in the second half, when senior safety Terrance Parks jumped in front of a Brissett pass and sprinted in for the 29-yard score.
Up front, the Seminoles? defensive line out-pushed and out-maneuvered the Gators? offensive line to pick up two sacks and a slew of quarterback hurries. One of the hits Brantley took at the end of the second quarter was enough to run him from the game with a concussion. The player who incidentally hit him with his own helmet, defensive end Brandon Jenkins, also had concussion-like symptoms following the play.
The head blows were a story line in the game. Multiple players on each side left the game with concussion-like symptoms, others left with other big injuries. As rivalry games typically are, this one was indeed a physical contest.
Against the rival Hurricanes two weeks earlier, the Seminoles banged around with another strong, but occasionally porous offensive line. After using several key special teams plays ? a 66-yard punt by punter Shawn Powell, an 83-yard Greg Reid punt return for touchdown, another Powell punt that landed right on the Miami 1-yard line, a game-ending onsides kick catch by true freshman Nick O?Leary ? the Seminoles held on for a 23-19 home win.
They knew it was just the first half of the state championship, but at that time, the conference race was technically more important. With a distant, outside chance at still earning a conference championship game berth with a win against Virginia the following week, the Seminoles were still preoccupied with the ACC.
But a Clemson game-winning field goal over Wake Forest just before the FSU-Virginia kickoff effectively iced the Seminoles? ACC title hopes. At that point, it was all about beating the Cavaliers and getting to eight wins ahead of the final half of the state title race against the SEC?s Gators.
That win over the Cavs wouldn?t happen. A lack of offensive punch by the Seminoles, combined by a missed game-winning field goal attempt by FSU kicker Dustin Hopkins, and they fell, 14-13.
So, during a year that fell below expectations, if there was one memory ? outside of the Champs Sports Bowl win over Notre Dame ? that the Seminoles will surely cherish from the 2011 campaign, it?s the memory of beating their bitter rivals.
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