2011 Florida State Seminoles Football: Florida State @ Florida

Some things need to be seen in order to be believed. Saturday night’s game in The Swamp between the Florida State Seminoles and the Florida Gators is one of them.

In a horribly played game that set back the sport of football by at least three decades if not more, Florida State crawled past Florida to win back-to-back editions of this Sunshine State rivalry. Florida had ruled the roost during former coach Urban Meyer’s tenure in Gainesville, but on the same weekend when Meyer made the move to Ohio State University, the Gators definitely wished that their former boss could have been on the sideline, coaching up the team that has fallen to a 6-6 record.

Florida State has not had a fully successful season in its own right. The Seminoles, under head coach Jimbo Fisher, lost four games this season, a far cry from the 11-1 record which was expected of this team by many pigskin pundits back in late August. Fisher’s coaching and FSU’s propensity to litter the stat sheet with mistakes both brought about stomach-punch losses which have cast a pall over the Seminole program. However, this win over Florida – giving FSU two-year sweeps of both Florida and the University of Miami – will do much to soothe hurt feelings and quiet alarmist sentiments in the Florida panhandle region.

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Yet, one must just as readily acknowledge that while Florida State did take care of business against Florida, it certainly didn’t do so with any flair, polish or distinction. This was as ugly as ugly gets on the gridiron, and the only thing which made the evening beautiful for Florida State is that it managed to win on the scoreboard.

It’s hard to believe, but Florida State – with only 95 total yards (yes, for the WHOLE GAME) and just 30 rushing yards – was the victor on Saturday in a road night game. Yes, Florida State – just 2 of 15 on third downs and guilty of nine penalties for 85 yards – was the winning team. Yes, Florida State – despite having an offense that did not score a point for the last 44 minutes and 24 seconds of competition, still prevailed… and by two touchdowns, no less, in a game that was even less competitive than the final 14-point margin suggested. FSU went up 21-0 in the fourth quarter on a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown by Terrance Parks, sealing a comfortable win in which its starting quarterback, E.J. Manuel, completed only six passes in 13 attempts.

Naturally, Florida State was able to win because it did something special on defense. Florida’s offense is poor, but FSU had to snag four interceptions from two Gator quarterbacks to make this win possible. Had the Seminoles not created a nightmare evening for Florida trigger man John Brantley (three interceptions) and backup signal caller Jacoby Brissett (one interception), they might not have scored anything, thereby allowing the Gators to stay in the conversation. Fortunately, Florida State was able to take the loot and run; a night of dynamic defense allowed the Seminoles to salvage a part of their season despite a level of offensive output that was… well, offensive in a different sense.

Florida State Seminoles @ Florida Gators Football Recap