FSU Football: Star players skipping Sun Bowl continues alarming trend

FSU football will be without some of their most high profile players – including maybe their best player overall – when they face Arizona State this month.

If you’re a fan of the FSU football team – well, first of all, thanks for sticking around – you are eagerly awaiting the team’s return to the Sun Bowl on the final day of this month to face off against Arizona State. It’s not because you want us back in El Paso, but more because the last three seasons are almost over.

It started with the tumultuous end of the era of our last national title winning coach followed by the 21 games coached under Willie Taggart with five games coached by interim leader Odell Haggins in between that have all lead to another season of at least six losses that could see a second straight losing season if the Sun Devils come out on top.

For the Seminoles, the road to a win in the Sun Bowl for the first time in their three appearances in the game will be even tougher considering the news earlier this week that some of the team’s best players are not going to be on the field for the game.

Florida State Seminoles Football

While the biggest name not taking part in the game is running back Cam Akers – who got another 1,000 yard season for FSU football and clearly upped his draft stock – other names like linebacker Dontavious Jackson and quarterback Alex Hornibrook are among those who won’t suit up for the Noles come December 31st.

Look, I am not going to sit here for a second and tell you that these players should be forced to suit up for FSU football at this point – each has met their criteria to play college football before they can go to the next level and I fully support the idea of not harming your chance to go make millions playing pro football.

That being said, the FSU alum in me and diehard fan of the Seminoles is disappointed to see another in the growing trend that comes with bowl games that are considered not important because they aren’t the College Football Playoff games that season. It’s something we saw with Derwin James, who skipped the Independence Bowl a couple years ago.

It’s a thing across college football of late – but it’s the first time that it has hit the Seminoles in droves. In 2016, running back Dalvin Cook could have skipped the Orange Bowl against Michigan but instead showed up to have a MVP performance in his final game with the Seminoles.

Would I like to see Akers, Jackson, Hornibrook and whoever else skips the Sun Bowl instead be on the field? Of course. Do I blame them at this point? Not at all.

After all, this is what college football’s postseason has become – and you can blame the College Football Playoff for it happening more and more.