Going into Saturday’s game against the Clemson Tigers, the FSU Seminoles were still in the hunt for a potential ACC championship bid, amidst the onslaught of issues on the season, but those aspirations came crumbling down.
Florida State’s misfortunes during this tumultuous year have been felt both on the field as well as off, but Saturday’s game initially got off to a promising start.
Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker threw a costly interception in the first quarter, as FSU’s Jamie Robinson returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown for a 17-6 lead.
The Seminole offense has been a silver lining and a dominant component of the Seminole campaign this season, as they entered the game leading the ACC in total offense with 444 yards per game, and third with over 30 points per game.
Unfortunately the powerful offense became stagnant after an inspired first half of play, and did not carry over to the second half against the Tiger defense.
The ever-electrifying speedster C.J. Spiller had a career-high 165 yards rushing and his 20th touchdown of at least 50 yards and Clemson took its biggest step yet toward an Atlantic Coast Conference title with a 40-24 victory over Florida State on Saturday night.
Gone are any chances of winning the ACC Atlantic Division, playing in the ACC title game or making a BCS bowl.
Compiling on to the misfortunes, Florida State’s starting quarterback Christian Ponder sustained a separated shoulder in the loss and will not be expected to play in next week’s contest against Wake Forest.
Seminole offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said that pride and a bowl game are still at stake.
“I never thought we were going to win the Atlantic anyway, I’ve just been worried about getting better “, Fisher said.
Senior linebacker Dekoda Watson said with such a young team, the goal is to just get better.
Watson said; “It’s a young team, not trying to make any excuses, but they have to learn a lot more and I know this is a feeling we don’t like.”
In order for FSU to continue a nation’s-best streak of bowl appearances, the Seminoles must win two of its final three games.
Head coach Bobby Bowden didn’t even want to address games beyond the next game on the schedule at Wake Forest .
Time will only tell what is next in the “Seminole saga.”