Seminoles and Gators Lose Bowl Games

It's been a nice 24 hours in college football for Miami fans. Both of the Canes' in-state rivals fell in their respective bowl games to end the season. Granted, at least they went to bowl games, right?

Anyway, I have to give credit to Florida State for putting up a fight against Kentucky in the Music City Bowl. UK has a talented quarterback and were one of the two teams to top LSU this season, so it was going to be a challenge even before FSU had to play without 30+ players. Even after all the bad press due to the embarrassing academic scandal, the players still went out there and gave it a shot in a bowl game that Florida State traditionally would be ashamed to play in.

The Seminoles are in a tough spot. Like the Canes, they have had a string of disappointing seasons and are looking at a top 5 recruiting class that includes a potential savior at quarterback, EJ Manuel. However, they don't have the stability at the head coaching position. How long is Bobby going to stick around? Who is going to replace him if Jimbo leaves? I'd say at this point Miami has a better chance of getting back to the top in the immediate future than FSU does.

However, I do want FSU to become relevant again. I hate them, but there is a certain respect between players of the programs, and I want to look forward to an October matchup where both teams are in the top 10 and Miami can ruin FSU's season rather than just be one of several losses for the Seminoles.

The Gators also deserve some credit for their performance today, at least offensively. Tebow was pretty much held in check on the ground and seeing him suffer makes me happy. Heisman winners often tend to do poorly in their bowl games, but Tebow's performance was up and down at worst. I've seen other winners do far worse in their games (Troy Smith, Chris Weinke) so he probably shouldn't be too disappointed.

Michigan's offense was simply too much, even when they were fumbling twice inside the 5. In hindsight, the game probably shouldn't have been too close. Instead, Michigan struggled to contain Percy Harvin on defense and had to hold on to win the Capital One Bowl, 41-35.

What I took from this game was a potential blueprint for Miami to beat the Gators next season. Get pressure on Tebow. Make sure you hit the guy and force him to throw bad passes. He is a great player but not the best passing quarterback just yet. Maybe we will spy Allen Bailey on him. As for Harvin, I think his conditioning has to be in question. He was hurt this year and was tired today in the 4th. If you can rough him up and force him to expend lots of energy, you can eliminate him from the game.

In the end though, you still have to outscore Florida. They'll get their points on the board. We need Marve to be effective in getting the ball down the field and scoring touchdowns. Not field goals. Touchdowns. Randy Shannon has almost 9 months to prepare for the biggest game of his coaching career. A loss is unacceptable.

By the way, please don't hesitate to help me out on a quick poll on the right side of the page.