FSU Football: Top 5 wins during Jimbo Fisher era
By Jason Parker
No. 5 – December 30, 2016 vs. Michigan (W 33-32)
As the 2016 season entered the month of November, FSU football sat with a record of 5-3 and hopes of a college football playoff appearance that was in sight at the start of the year were now a distant memory. Then, four straight wins gave the Seminoles some hope – and another spot in a New Years Six Bowl where they were underdogs against a Wolverines team who also had high hopes earlier in the year.
Florida State Seminoles Football
Playing inside of Hard Rock Stadium – where they hadn’t lost a game since the 2005 season – fthings couldn’t have started better for the Noles in their 10th all time appearance in this bowl game. Miami native Dalvin Cook got things started with a touchdown and the defense was able to keep Michigan at just a field goal following a turnover.
Florida State outscored Michigan 13-3 the rest of the half, including an amazing 92-yard touchdown reception by Nyqwan Murray that was the longest in the bowl’s 80+ game history.
For most of the third and fourth quarters, the Seminoles learned how the other half lives as Michigan went on a 21-7 run to take a three-point lead with less than two minutes to go. That’s when the magic happened in the form of Keith Gavin deciding to take the kickoff out of the end zone, finding some holes and getting the ball inside the 40-yard line.
A solid run by Dalvin Cook, who had over 200 total yards to win MVP honors in what would be his final game – got FSU football inside the red zone, where just plays later Deondre Francois found Murray again for the score and the lead.
Much like the season for both teams, this win wouldn’t be easy as Michigan blocked the ensuing extra point – Florida State’s first miss since 2012 – and returned it to cut the lead to one point. FSU’s defense would buckle down and stop Michigan on fourth down to hold on for the wiin – giving the 2016 season a successful ending after a rough start as Fisher coached the Noles to another double digit win season.