Florida State in jeopardy of snapping nation’s longest bowl streak
With their worst start to a season in nearly two decades, Florida State is in jeopardy of doing something it hasn’t done in 35 years. Miss a bowl game.
Louisville beat Florida State 31-28 to snap a nine-game losing streak at Doak Campbell Stadium. The loss dropped the Seminoles to 2-4 on the season, the worst start since Bobby Bowden’s final season in 2009 and this marks the first time they’ve lost three straight home games since 1974. Suddenly, it’s not a sure thing that the preseason No. 3 team in the country will even make a bowl game.
How stunning would that be?
Florida State has the nation’s longest active bowl streak of 35 straight bowl appearances and there aren’t four guaranteed wins left on the schedule.
Up next for Florida State is a Friday night road affair with a 4-4 Boston College team that’s averaged 43 points per game the last two weeks in wins over a 5-1 Virginia team and the Lousiville team that just beat Florida State in their own place. Playing on Friday night is already a tall order and going on the road against an improved team with a ton of confidence is no sure thing. Two weeks ago saw Clemson go on the road to Syracuse on a Friday night and was upset. Don’t underestimate the Friday night road conference game.
In two weeks, Florida State hosts Syracuse that already has a win over Clemson last week and nearly upset Miami on Saturday. Quarterback Erick Dungey is one of the most underrated players in the country that not many people outside the ACC know about, but operating Dino Babers’ offense has made him a budding star. He’d give the Orange a significant edge at the most important position and could pose a challenging threat for a talented, albeit beatable defense.
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The big showdown many expected to be the ACC Game of the Year in the preseason with Florida State traveling to Clemson doesn’t hold much excitement now. Florida State will be playing the role of spoiler with Clemson needing to win out to return to the College Football Playoff. Quarterback Kelly Bryant should be fully-healed by then from his ankle injury and the concussion that knocked him out of the game vs. Georgia Tech.
At least, Delaware State is a guaranteed win for Florida State in the last home game of the year.
The regular season ends with a trip to Gainesville to take on Florida who has yet to score a touchdown against their in-state rivals in the two years Jim McElwain has been the head coach. Florida hasn’t fared much better than Florida State this year and continue to have their share of offensive woes so this game has the chance to be an ugly watch. The final score could be 13-9.
So where does that leave Florida State on their quest for bowl eligibility?
The most likely outcome is for Florida State to beat both Boston College and Syracuse and the win over Delaware State to get to five wins. Clemson is not losing to this Florida State team so that means the regular season finale could determine if Florida State extends their bowl streak to 36 years. That game should hold significance for Florida too who could need a win to get bowl-eligible too.
In a year of injuries, lowered expectations and championship dreams dashed, a win over Florida to keep the bowl streak alive while simultaneously keeping them out of a bowl game would provide a glimmer of a silver lining in an otherwise challenging season that hasn’t produced many things to be proud about.
36 straight bowl appearances would do just that.