Florida State’s astonishing 29 game winning streak finally came to an end against an outstanding Oregon team Thursday at the Rose Bowl. In that streak Florida State won a national title, beat top 15 teams from Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Auburn. They won 3 ACC Titles, and an Orange Bowl. The 2013 team which stopped the SEC’s 7 year title steak, will be remembered as one of the great college football teams of all time. It was just a matter of time before the streak came to end.
Obviously FSU wanted a better performance against Oregon, but once things started rolling downhill it was over. You may be able to turn the ball over multiple times against a team like Florida, but Oregon will take advantage and make you pay. Are the Ducks 39 points better than Florida State? No, but they are certainly better in 2014. It happens sometimes. That’s football. The fact is Florida State was a top 10 team, but probably was never really a national title caliber team. They earned their spot in the playoff, but there were too many issues on defense to complete the job. We saw these issues all year long during ACC play. It was a testament to FSU that they just refused to lose for as long as they did.
Should Florida State be concerned for the future?
I don’t think so. Oregon is clearly an elite team, that Florida State simply couldn’t play with at the Rose Bowl. The Noles are still recruiting as well as anyone in the country. QB Jameis Winston is probably gone. TE Nick O’Leary and WR Rashad Greene are gone. Florida State will have some holes to fill. I think there will be too many to make another national title run next year, but they are certainly capable of winning the ACC Atlantic and the ACC again.
Florida State may drop off slightly next year, but they have reached a level like Alabama where a down season is a couple of regular season losses. I expect Florida State to make another national title run within 3 years.
One last thought – does this say anything about the ACC? Well certainly the rest of the ACC is still playing catchup to the Noles, The good news is the ACC is clearly more than a 1 team conference. Clemson and Georgia Tech looked great during bowl season finishing top 15 seasons, but even with the loss today the road to ACC title still runs through Tallahassee.
If Jimbo Fisher senses any complacency in his program he can always just pull the Rose Bowl tape out. It was a rough day for Florida State, but they will be back.
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