FSU came up short in its first attempt at a Rose Bowl victory Thursday, dropping a 59-20 contest to the Oregon Ducks in Pasadena. The ‘Noles exchanged blows with the Ducks early, but numerous costly Seminole errors doomed Florida State and sent Oregon to the championship game of the first-ever College Football Playoff.
This one was very back-and-forth in the first half. After winning the toss and deferring, FSU forced a three-and-out on Oregon’s first possession, then promptly drove down the field. After seemingly stopping the ‘Noles, a Ducks’ penalty gave the Seminoles new red-zone life, but FSU could only come up with a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead.
The drive served as a microcosm for FSU’s performance throughout the night: one filled with missed opportunities.
After Oregon went up 8-3 on its next possession, Florida State authored an extremely ugly possession. A fumbled kickoff return that was fortunately recovered. A missed block. A dropped pass. And a 27-yard punt.
But the defense, as it’s done so often this year, held when it had to, turning Oregon over on downs. Again, the ‘Noles drove down the field at will, but couldn’t punch it in on a fourth-and-goal from the Ducks’ one.
FSU looked to have it back on the following Oregon possession, but Jalen Ramsey dropped an easy pick, and the Ducks came away with a field goal to make it 11-3.
Florida State again worked its way into the red zone, but after a horrible missed call when Nick O’Leary was interfered with in the end zone, the Seminoles settled for three to make it 11-6. Oregon then went right down the field on FSU to make it 18-6. To their credit, the ‘Noles scored when they had to, on a touchdown run by Karlos Williams, and the score was 18-13. When Nate Andrews picked Marcus Mariota before halftime, the Seminoles looked in line to cut the lead some more, but an uncharacteristic Rashad Greene drop forced a 54-yard Roberto Aguayo field goal attempt– and it bounded off the upright.
Still, for as many points as FSU left off the board, it went into halftime down just five. And the ‘Noles got the ball back to start the second half.
Things looked great in the Seminoles’ first second-half possession. They were in rhythm, and driving nicely. A big Dalvin Cook fumble changed that, though, and led to a 25-13 Oregon advantage.
More from Chop Chat
- FSU football: Q&A with Clemson experts at Rubbing The Rock 2023
- FSU football: 3 reasons Noles beat Clemson, two reasons they lose
- FSU football: QB Brock Glenn out with an injury for ‘a few weeks’
- FSU football: Which TV announcers will call Clemson game?
- FSU football: Is Jared Verse ready to make an impact versus Clemson?
But FSU again showed the resiliency it had all season, scoring on a Jameis Winston touchdown toss to Travis Rudolph to bring it to 25-20.
One possession. One play needed.
One play that would’t come.
Because then things snowballed. FSU fumbles. An FSU interception.
An inability to stop Oregon’s offense and the aforementioned turnovers (the ‘Noles finished with an insurmountable five) turned this one into a Ducks’ blowout. FSU fell apart late, allowed 34-straight points, and Oregon waltzed its way to the title game behind 639 yards of total offense.
A Florida State team that has found a way to win all year found plenty of ways to lose this one. Credit Oregon, an excellent football team, but it’s difficult to say that the Ducks got FSU’s best shot.