In one of the more dramatic finishes of the BCS era, Kelvin Benjamin’s 2-yard touchdown grab against Auburn gave Florida State its first national championship in 14 years. After what some consider a lost decade, Florida State’s rise back to the top of college football was a long, arduous journey. The Seminoles endured three six-loss seasons, an academic cheating scandal and the forcing out of a legend that built the program.
In what will be a 10-part series, we take a look back on events that led to Florida State’s resurgence back to the top of the college football world. After finishing in the top 5 every year from 1987 until 2000, the Seminoles went 13 years without winning a major bowl game. The countdown’s order is mostly chronological rather than in terms of importance. The series began with the hiring of Jimbo Fisher and will resume with a look at how the Seminoles sent Bobby Bowden out a winner and built momentum for the beginning of the Fisher era.
While Florida State has certainly returned to national prominence under head coach Jimbo Fisher, one could argue that FSU’s resurgence actually began at the very end of the Bowden era. In what was perhaps Bowden’s worst team at Florida State, the 2009 squad overcame a 2-4 start to keep the nation’s longest bowl streak alive and preserve a streak of 33 straight winning seasons.
Not since Bowden’s first season at Florida State back in 1976 had the Seminoles had a losing season. 2009 however, was shaping up to be that.
Florida State had to score in the game’s final minute just to beat FCS Jacksonville State and after a 54-28 victory over a top-10 BYU team, FSU lost three straight contests including an embarrassing 17-7 defeat at home to a South Florida squad led by a freshman quarterback making his first career start. Losses to USF, Boston College and Georgia Tech had the Seminoles sitting at 2-4 and the nation’s longest bowl streak in jeopardy.
The Seminoles rallied for ACC victories over North Carolina and N.C. State, but at Clemson, FSU suffered what looked to be a crippling blow. In a 40-24 loss at a place known as Death Valley, Florida State lost quarterback Christian Ponder for the season to a separated shoulder.
Ponder was in the midst of an outstanding season, but that November 7th night against the Tigers was an evening to forget. After throwing his fourth interception of the game, Ponder suffered the season-ending shoulder injury while making a tackle. With a 4-5 record, Florida State was forced to turn to a freshman quarterback named E.J. Manuel.
Against Wake Forest on November 14th, Manuel shined in his starting debut. In a 41-28 FSU victory, Manuel completed 15 of his 20 pass attempts for 220 yards and a score.
The Seminoles were now 5-5 and with top-ranked Florida looming, the following week at home against Maryland presented FSU with a must-win opportunity to keep the longest bowl streak in the country intact.
Compared to his first start, Manuel’s second outing did not go nearly as smoothly. Against a Maryland team that entered the contest with just two wins, Manuel was intercepted three times and in the game’s final minutes, Florida State trailed 26-21.
Manuel was able to put his struggles aside and persevere in a dramatic finish. After a big punt return from Greg Reid set FSU up with excellent field position, Manuel was able to use his arm and legs to move the Seminoles inside the red zone.
With 32 seconds to play, Lonnie Pryor’s second rushing touchdown on the day gave the ‘Noles a 29-26 victory and a 6-5 record. Florida State was headed to a bowl for the 28th straight season, but the following week was one to forget for Seminole fans.
After top-ranked Florida delivered a 37-10 pounding to Florida State in the regular season finale, boosters and trustees had decided that Bowden’s tenure in Tallahassee needed to come to an end. Later that week, Bowden was forced out after 34 years.
The final game of the Bowden era took place in Jacksonville as FSU met one of the legend’s former schools — West Virginia — in the Gator Bowl. On what was certainly an emotional day, the Seminoles rallied for their legendary coach.
After the Mountaineers raced to a 14-3 lead, the first losing season for Florida State in 33 years looked imminent. But thanks to a pair of Jermaine Thomas touchdowns, a couple of field goals from Dustin Hopkins and an enthused defense, FSU scored the game’s next 20 points before collecting a 33-21 victory over the nation’s 16th-ranked team.
The victory clinched a 33rd straight winning season, sent Bowden out a winner and began the Fisher era on a positive note. While 7-6 was hardly the finish that Florida State fans had hoped for prior to the season, it perhaps showed that the Seminoles weren’t as far away as they had seemed.
The 2009 season will hardly be remembered as one of the great ones in Florida State history, but it was certainly one of perseverance. Had FSU failed to make a bowl or finished with a losing record that year, the uphill climb could have been much steeper. Fisher took the torch from Bowden and landed a top 10 recruiting class prior to the start of 2010. In his first season, Fisher delivered FSU its first 10-win campaign in seven years. The rest is history.
Although the Seminoles have returned to the top of the college football landscape, the 5-2 finish to the 2009 season definitely got the ball rolling back in the right direction for Florida State. Had Bowden’s final team rolled over and died following a 2-4 start, Florida State may still be in the process of getting back to where it is today.
