The Seminoles Will Be Unconquered

Gus Malzahn and Jimbo Fisher

I see Brother Phil and Brother Jon have added their take to Monday’s BCS National Championship Game so I feel compelled to add my take.

My day job requires me to stay in tune with college football particularly with the ACC and the SEC each week so I’ve seen Auburn and Florida State on a regular basis.

To say Auburn got to the BCS National Championship Game strictly on luck is disrespect to what the Tigers accomplished this season.

Sure Ricardo Louis was in the right place at the right time when the ball deflected off Georgia’s Josh Harvey-Clemons’ shoulder pad and into his arms for the game winning touchdown.

And then Chris Davis takes an Alabama missed field goal the length of the field on the final play to win the Iron Bowl with each providing Auburn radio play-by-play voice Rod Bramblett the greatest resume reel in the business.

The point is Auburn put themselves in a position to win those games with in my mind the best running game in college football and an offensive line that has done a hell of a job run blocking.

When the season began you knew Florida State was loaded with talent and speed.  The wild card was whether redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston would live up to the hype.

Well leading the Seminoles to a 13-0 record, an ACC title and winning the Heisman Trophy means yes he did, and then some.

You thought Florida State would have been challenged by Clemson at Death Valley.  The Seminoles whooped the Tigers 51-14.

That sums up Florida State’s season, the Seminoles play at a much higher level than there opponents.

Yet I agree with Brother Jon that this will be a much closer game because of Auburn’s ability to run the ball, they’re the best in the nation at it.

Back on September 28^th Florida State defeated Boston College 48-34 in what was the Seminoles closest game. 

Andre Williams rushed for 159 yards and the Eagles as a team rushed for 210 yards, the most Florida State gave up all year.

B.C. ended up 13^th in the country rushing and Andre Williams enjoyed an over 2,000 yard season and led the nation in rushing.

Tre Mason and Nick Marshall will be the best backs Florida State has faced since the Boston College game.

That will keep the game close.

What is going to put Florida State over the top will be Jameis Winston’s ability to make plays.  He’s that good.

If you’re a Florida State fan though, you won’t be comfortable until the game is over but the Crystal Ball will return to Tallahassee.

Tallahassee: All The Pressure Is On You...

Last time out, we sat here and talked to you about how impactful Georgia kids have been in Auburn's remarkable run- and will continue to be so for quite some time as long as guys like Rodney Garner and Dell McGee are on the sidelines helping out Gus Malzahn...

Same applies for Florida State as they have made their run to the Rose Bowl...

In a conversation I had with Lowndes play-by-play voice Wes James on the GPB Sports "Football Fridays in Georgia" podcast earlier in the season, Wes talked about one of the best athletes he's ever seen in Telvin "The Terminator" Smith- who went from Lowndes to Tally and is a mean dude in their linebacking corps...

Revisit it hyah...

Smith is one of 8 kids on the current roster that are from Georgia- most from south Georgia- that are this/close to winning a national title...

Once again, following on a theme...
This may not sit well in Athens and places in the state they came from...

I saw Florida State coaches at the Georgia Dome looking at talent at the Football Championships last month- and they'll get their share of them if they can close the deal...which a national title can do very easily...

On the field, once again, I will re-emphasize that in the game coming up tomorrow the yards Florida State gets will have virtually no correlation with their effectiveness. Same goes for Auburn...

I have reminded people, in today's football, all the yards you get on offense (or, conversely, give up on defense) simply DO NOT MATTER... if you don't put the ball in the end zone, all the effort to get into a scoring situation (or allowing a scoring situation) will either be for naught (or get you a shut out)...

Auburn is playing with house money- even more so after the Alabama fold in the Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma. There is no way, now, that Auburn (who is not going to finish below the Tide in any way in any poll- barring a blowout of monumental proportions at the Rose Bowl) will end up any worse than #4.

The Tigers will give up yards- it's their way...

Just look at games against Texas A&M on the road and Missouri in the Ess-E-Cee title game...
You see what that got them...
((HT: SEC on CBS))


But they'll also get yards... it'll take them a while to figure out what they can do and what they can't against one of the fastest defenses they've played all year.

Any Florida State fan who thinks this game will spiral out of control one way or the other- especially in their favor- is sadly mistaken and dealing in false bravado. Duke hung with you too, if you remember, a few weeks back...

Remember... the Rose Bowl also swapped out their natural grass after the Michigan State-Stanford game, so the teams will be playing on a new surface... and it'll take both squads a while to get adjusted.

If FSU loses, it's another step in the "Well, you're not like what you were in the 1990's"- and you still can't close the deal. If FSU wins, all the talk will be about the 1990's and how this could be the beginning of another run like the Bowden years...

If Auburn wins, it was simply meant to be and the talk will be about dolphins, unicorns, and harmonic karmic events.
If Auburn loses, it'll be one of the biggest "atta-boys" in the modern college football era...

Here's Florida State getting ready for the title game- as one... as they always have...
((HT: WTVM-TV))
WTVM.com-Columbus, GA News Weather

So, look for something closer than you think...

It's only your college destiny that hangs in the balance...