Florida State beats Michigan in crazy Orange Bowl finish
Florida State beat Michigan in the Orange Bowl in one of the best football games of the 2016 college football season. How did it happen?
The Florida State Seminoles seemed to be in control of the Capital One Orange Bowl from the opening possession of the game, but it took a wild finish for them to hang on to a 33-32 victory over Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines.
It was certainly one of the more memorable bowl games in recent memory, and a heck of an effort by both teams.
Dalvin Cook was masterful in this game, rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, catching another three passes for 62 yards, putting on display his versatile skills for NFL scouts.
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Cook was exceptional, and wide receiver Nyqwan Murray caught just two passes but they were both for touchdowns. The first touchdown was a 92-yard bomb from quarterback Deondre Francois, and the second was a perfectly placed ball to put the Seminoles ahead by three points with less than 40 seconds remaining.
Michigan didn’t have Heisman finalist and defensive stud Jabrill Peppers for this game after a hamstring injury flared up in the pre-game, but ironically, Michigan’s comeback started with a defensive touchdown when they were down 20-9. They were down 27-15 in the fourth quarter before the Wolverines came roaring back to take a 30-27 lead.
Every ounce o momentum had swung in Michigan’s favor, but the Seminoles got the ball down the field for the aforementioned touchdown pass to Nyqwan Murray.
Just as important as anyone in this game for Florida State was defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker, who finished the way he started the season with a lot of time spent behind the line of scrimmage. Walker had four tackles for loss in this game and a sack, dominating at the line of scrimmage and proving his own worth to NFL scouts.
The fourth quarter of this game will be one of the most talked about in regards to the college football season. If you’re a pure football fan, this was about as good as it gets.
The heartbreak for Michigan, however, never ends…
I guess it’s better than the Crying Jordan treatment…