TAKE ONE: Bowls really do matter
Over the past few weeks, several college football pundits pushed the notion that non-playoff bowls are meaningless. Sorry, but you are dead wrong – bowls really do matter.
Need evidence that non-playoff bowls are still relevant? All you have to do is look at last Friday night’s Orange Bowl. It clearly mattered to the fans as evidenced by the fact that the game sold out within days of tickets going on sale. The FSU-Michigan matchup also clearly mattered to college football fans everywhere, as the game drew over 11.7 million viewers on ESPN.
In case you are wondering, the 11.7 million viewers for the Orange Bowl far exceeded the ratings for both of the 12/31 playoff bowl games. The two playoff games averaged 10.4 million viewers. The best was the Alabama-Washington game, which drew just 10.9 million.
And was there any doubt that the Orange Bowl mattered to the players? The game was a hard-fought contest that went back and forth down the stretch with great effort given from both sides. After the game, the Seminole players hugged, jumped up and down, threw oranges and even tackled each other in celebration (see photo below). It sure looked like the game mattered to them.
That being said, there’s no denying that many in the media were squarely focused on the four-team college football playoff and spent little time discussing the rest of postseason bowls. That was especially true for outlets like ESPN, which have a vested interest in the weekly rankings show and the playoff games. But no matter how many times they repeat the same tired refrain, it won’t diminish the tremendous effort the players gave last Friday night, or how the game played out and what it could mean for FSU in the future.
TAKE TWO: Sack Attack
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After racking up another four sacks against Michigan, FSU finished with 51 total on the season. That’s 19 more than 2015 and a whopping 34 more than the meager 17 FSU finished with in 2014. It’s also the best mark during the Jimbo Fisher era.
Here’s a look at total team sacks from 2010-16:
1. 2016 – 51 (DeMarcus Walker 16)
2. 2011 – 40 (Brandon Jenkins 8)
3. 2012 – 36 (Bjoern Werner 13)
4. 2013 – 35 (Lamarcus Joyner 5.5)
5. 2015 – 32 (DeMarcus Walker 10.5)
6. 2010 – 26 (Dekoda Watson 6.5)
7. 2014 – 17 (Eddie Goldman 4)
With one sack against Michigan, Demarcus Walker finished with 16 total for the 2016 season. That ties him with Andre Wadsworth in the FSU record books for the second most sacks in a single season. Walker’s 28.5 career sacks puts him in third place all-time behind Reinard Wilson (35.5) and Peter Boulware (34).
Not surprisingly, FSU finished No. 1 in the nation in total team sacks.
TAKE THREE: ACC IS college football’s best conference
A couple years ago, you would have been laughed out of a sports bar or run off your favorite message board had you suggested that the Atlantic Coast Conference was superior to the Southeastern Conference in football. Now, it’s not even close – the ACC is vastly superior to the SEC and is arguably the best college football conference, period.
By the season’s end, many in the media reluctantly conceded that the SEC was no longer the top dog in college football. After that, it didn’t take long for everyone to anoint the Big10 as the new king of the castle. That proclamation was made despite the fact that the ACC had a nearly identical non-conference record.
Bowl season changed all that, and now it’s not even debatable.
The ACC has run roughshod through the college bowls, posting an impressive 8-3 record. Any doubt about which conference is superior was resolved over the weekend when the ACC’s top programs knocked off the highest-ranked, and most traditional power powers, from the B1G. Florida State came out on top of No. 6 Michigan, 33-32, in the Orange Bowl, and Clemson flat out destroyed No. 3 Ohio State, 31-0.
Overall, the ACC is now 17-9 versus non-conference competition. That’s far and away the best record of any conference. The next closest Power 5 conference is the Big 10 at 9—9.
TAKE FOUR: New year’s resolutions for FSU football
If I’m Jimbo Fisher, here are my five New Year’s resolutions for the football team for 2017:
1. For Roderick Johnson to return for his senior season and to see more consistency out of the offensive line. The line, which had seven different starting combinations in 2016, was wildly inconsistent all season. Heading into next fall, you can’t afford to lose Deondre Francois, and that means giving him much better pass-protection. The offense also won’t have Dalvin Cook to come to the rescue when things are going badly.
2. Better play out of the special teams. It’s amazing that awful performances in the kicking game didn’t cost FSU either the Florida or Michigan games. Whether it was poor kicks, botched punts or fumbled returns, FSU’s special teams were a huge liability down the stretch. The good news is that freshmen started at both kicker and punter, so you would expect both to be improved with more experience.
3. For Deondre Francois to stay healthy ALL season (see No. 1). With the graduation of Sean Maguire, FSU may not have a viable backup quarterback in 2017. A promising season and a potential national championship run could come to a screeching halt should Francois go down with an injury.
4. Younger receivers to step up. With the graduations of Kermit Whitfield and Jesus Wilson, and the possible early departure of Travis Rudolph, there might not be any real veteran receivers on the roster in 2017. That means players like Keith Gavin, George Campbell and Da'Vante Phillips will need to grow up quickly.
5. FSU to close out the recruiting class with a commitment from five-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson. Recent defensive end commitment Josh Kaindoh showed he’s worth of every one of his five stars at the recently completed Under Armour event. Meanwhile, Wilson also showed why he’s considered the top defensive prospect in the country at the UA practices. Should the two standout defensive linemen come together in Tallahassee, it could be a miserable few years for offenses in the ACC.
TAKE FIVE: Stat Wrap – Bowl season
* Now that bowl season is nearly wrapped up, Florida State ranks in the top 25 in the following categories: Total offense (25), total defense (23), rushing defense (23), third-down conversion defense (17), red-zone offense (1), time of possession (16), and team sacks (1).
* In the not-so-good category, FSU ranks No. 120 in net punting, No. 106 in sacks allowed (2.75 per game), No. 118 in penalties per game (7.7) and No. 124 in penalty yards (72.9).
- Senior defensive end DeMarcus Walker is No. 2 the nation in sacks with 16 (leader is BC’s Harold Landry with 16.5).
- Sophomore cornerback Tarvarus McFadden is tied for No. 1 in interceptions with eight.
- Junior tailback Dalvin Cook is No. 5 nationally in rushing yards with 1,765 yards (No. 2 among P5 schools). That sets a new single-season rushing mark at FSU, breaking his record from last season.
