The Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles beat the Auburn Tigers 34-31 in the last Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship game to finish the season 14-0. FSU quarterback Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman Trophy as a redshirt freshman, threw the winning 2-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with only 13 seconds remaining in the game, to celebrate his 20th birthday in spectacular fashion.
FSU was playing catch-up for most of the game, falling behind as much as 21-3 in the 2nd quarter. The Seminoles scored a late touchdown on a 3-yard run by Devonta Freeman to cut the lead to 21-10 at halftime. This drive including a fake punt from their own side of the field, that seemed to finally jump start the FSU offense. The only score of the 3rd quarter was a 41-yard field goal by Seminole kicker Roberto Aguayo, which cut the Auburn lead to 21-13.
In the 4th quarter, the Seminoles scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Winston to Chad Abram. FSU considered going for a 2-point conversion to tie the game, but an unsportsmanlike penalty after the touchdown, pushed the conversion back to the 18-yard line, so they settled for the 1-point kick, and were still trailing 21-20, with 10:55 left in the 4th quarter.
Auburn added a 22-yard field goal by Cody Parker to push their lead to 24-20, with just 4:42 remaining. Then on the ensuing kickoff, Seminole Levonte Whitfield went 100 yards for a touchdown, to give FSU their first lead since it was 3-0 in the 1st quarter. If you’ve seen the Auburn games against Georgia or Alabama, you knew they had plenty of time to come back, and they did. The Tigers went 75 yards and regained the lead 31-27 on a 37-yard touchdown run by Heisman Trophy Finalist Tre Mason.
Taking the lead was great for Auburn, but there was still 1:19 left on the clock. The Seminoles drove 80 yards in 7 plays, culminating with the touchdown to Benjamin. Winston finished with 237 yards passing, and both of his passing touchdowns in the 4th quarter. FSU ended up being the only favored team to win in the 5 BCS games, in the 16th and last year of the BCS.
The Seminoles were also the first team in a BCS National Championship Game to win after trailing at halftime, and they were down by 11. They also came back from the biggest deficit in a BCS title game, and became the highest scoring team in college football history. This was the 3rd national title for the Seminoles, also winning in 1993 and 1999 under then head coach Bobby Bowden, who was their honorary captain tonight. Jimbo Fisher won his first national title, since taking over for Bowden in 2010.
Next year will begin the first year of the 4-team playoff for the National Championship. The much maligned BCS era has now come to an end. I’m glad this game was a lot better than the 13-point spread that FSU was favored by. Both of these teams are sure to be very successful again next year, with the Seminoles most likely the preseason #1 as Winston will return to a loaded team on offense and defense.
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