FSU vs. Miami 2004

So the annual game between the Seminoles and the Blowhards of Miami happened last night, and boy, it was one terrible game. I was raised a diehard Seminole fan, but after attending GT my love for the Noles greatly diminished. How much? Last night's overtime loss to Miami in the Orange Bowl would've probably killed me 6 years ago, but last night I just shrugged it off - much as I did last weekend when Wake Forest failed to beat Clemson in overtime. I would've liked to have seen the outcome go the other way, but it didn't.

The game was a pretty awful one from start to finish. At halftime, I stated my concern with FSU's lack of any semblance of offense in the 1st half (27 pass yds, 11 rush yds) and that the puny 10-0 lead the Seminoles had [thanks for the 67 yd fumble recovery, Antonio Cromartie - represent Lincoln High!] was far from safe from a Hurricanes offense that although they failed to score in the 1st half, was definitely the better offense on the field. FSU's defense had moments of sheer brilliance, but in the end it came down to the line tiring out against Miami's brusing, huge O-Line and FSU's defensive backs being unable to stop Miami's quick recieving corps. The screen pass to Moss to score regulation's final touchdown and drive the game into OT was a brilliant call, and when I saw Berlin dump the ball down to him, I knew he was in for a big gain.


Frank Gore scampers to the endzone to ice Miami's victory in overtime. Dammit, I really hate these guys.

Speaking of Berlin, both he and the awful Chris Rix stunk up the field. The QB play in this game was absolutely horrendous. Rix, who in my opinion is the 2nd worst QB to play at FSU in the last 25 years [behind Marcus Outzen, but my friend Matt Cooper argues "at least Outzen beat Florida"] was just pitiful on the field. He makes horrible decisions, throws off his back foot in some stupid side-arm throw far too often, and for a 5th year senior who's supposed to be well skilled in reading defenses, he can't pick up a blitz to save his goddamned life. He makes a habit of performing dangerous in-game rushing moves, as well as his typical 5-6 passes where he just seemingly closes his eyes and tosses it up into the secondary, hoping the ball doesn't get picked off. Against Wake Forest or Duke, these plays usually end up with FSU's recievers being able to outrun the coverage and catch the long strike touchdown. Against Miami and other schools with good covering cornerbacks, it's a probable INT. Chris Rix is an awful quarterback, and the fact that the equally bad Jeff Bowden was calling his plays made things just as bad. Bowden's impecable need to throw a 3 or 4 yard pass when it was 3rd and 8 just blows my mind. GT did that for years, and it just always made my brain bleed.


Chris Rix, after throwing 2 INTs and losing the game for FSU. Distraught? No way! Too concerned with looking pretty for that!

Chris Rix was inconsistent from start to finish, and every time he decides to tuck it in and run with the ball, you can hear every FSU fan's heart skip a beat. Why? Because he does stupid shit like this:


Chris Rix's 5 yard jump for a first down in the second half. Possibly the dumbest play I've ever seen.

FSU and Miami both played pitifully, but I thought Miami was by far and away the better team on the field. FSU's stupidity and ineptitude during the overtime period showed on the first drive, committing a holding infraction on the first play, then calling a REVERSE against Miami's speedy, constantly blitzing defense left the Noles at 2nd and 28 from the 47 yard line. Across Midfield. How does that even happen? How does a team manage to fuck-up so badly in overtime? Congrats to Miami on a well deserved win, but your day's coming on October 2nd when you roll into Bobby Dodd, you silly Canes.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject of college football - I'd like to congratulate Troy State and Boise State for both pulling off huge games this past week. For Troy to play their first team from a BCS conference ever at home, let alone a ranked team, and for them to go out and drub #19 Mizzou the way they did was incredible. I'm sure they were partying in the streets of Troy, Alabama until the break of dawn, and it was well deserved. First stunning Marshall last week, then beating #19 Missouri at home - next up for the men of Troy are games at New Mexico State and South Carolina with a game at LSU later in the year. Best of luck to them. And when the hell did they stop being "Troy State" and become just "Troy"? I didn't get that memo.

Congrats to Boise State for beating their first Pac-10 team at home. It was really just a matter of time, as BSU is a program on the rise trapped in a horrible conference. The Broncos pulled off some magic last night, turning a 14-3 Oregon State lead into a 53-34 crushing. Way to go Broncos, you pulled off some magic on that strange blue field of yours.