FSU Football: Noles have successful history in neutral site openers
By Jason Parker
FSU football will open the season playing not at home but also not on the road – and judging by past seasons, that should be just fine for the Seminoles.
In just over two calendar months, the FSU football team will take the field to start the 2019 season against the Boise State Broncos in a game that – for a variety of reasons we have covered plenty before – could end up being the most important opener in program history, and easily the biggest for second year head coach Willie Taggart.
Plus, it will be great for fans of the Seminoles to welcome the team back into the friendly environment of Doak Campbell Stadium – oh wait, the game is not at home. Oh well, at least it will be good to visit the Broncos’ home field for the first time ever – oh wait, the game is not technically on the road either.
For the fourth time in the last six seasons, the FSU football team will open the season in a neutral site when the teams take the field inside of TIAA Field in Jacksonville – a location the Seminoles have had plenty of success at over their history as well as when they start the season there.
Florida State Seminoles Football
11 times in the history of the Seminoles taking the field to start the season, the Noles have started off in a neutral site game – and nine of those times, they have left the field as winners that included eight straight wins over a 25 year period that included winning the 2000 season opener in the same spot they will start the 2019 season.
"1971 – vs. Southern Miss (Mobile) Win1989 – vs. Southern Miss (Jacksonville) Loss1991 – vs. BYU (Anaheim, CA) Win1993 – vs. Kansas (East Rutherford, NJ) Win1995 – vs. Duke (Orlando) Win1998 – vs. Texas A&M (East Rutherford, NJ) Win2000 – vs. BYU (Jacksonville) Win2002 – vs. Iowa State (Kansas City) Win2014 – vs. Oklahoma State (Arlington, TX) Win2016 – vs. Ole Miss (Orlando) Win2017 – vs. Alabama (Atlanta) Loss"
So, there we have it fans of the FSU football team – we don’t even have to play the game against the Broncos because the law of averages says the Seminoles have got this in the bag…right?
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Of course, we don’t know what is going to take place and if the Seminoles are going to have a much better start to Taggart’s second season than his inaugural campaign – but if it’s anything like their last opener on the First Coast, the Noles will have a much better start to this season than last.