Date: January, 6th
Location: Rose Bowl. Pasadena, CA.
Time: 8 PM EST
Background Information:
High powered. Dominant. Perfect. Those are three words to describe the 2013 Florida State team. Florida State started the year by casually beating all 4 of their opponents by a average of 36.2 Points. Florida State’s first two “tests” were 63 and 37 point wins over #25 Maryland and #3 Clemson. FSU only scored less than 40 once the rest of the way and put up 41 points on #7 Miami (Fl.) and 80 on Idaho. Florida State was 2nd in the nation in Offense (51.6, behind Baylor) and #1 in total defense by a wide margin (12.1 PPG). Florida State won the ACC title game by 38 and Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy. Florida State looked to be completely unstoppable, but if there was one team that could compete with the Seminoles, it’s the miracle kids from Auburn. Auburn had an offense of their own as they showed it off later in the year. Auburn dropped a early season game against #6 LSU 35-21. After that, Auburn didn’t score below 30 the rest of the season and put up more than 40 in every game except for two. The miracles began on November, 16th when Nick Marshall heaved a deep ball against Georgia with 36 seconds that would tip off a Georgia defenders hands and land into Richardo Louis and he would walk into the end zone to give Auburn the lead and eventually the win. The next game for Auburn would be the infamous Kick 6 victory over #1 Alabama in the iron bowl. Auburn didn’t need a miracle to beat Missouri in the SEC championship game. They just needed 59 points in the highest scoring SEC Championship game in its history. If there’s any team that can hang with Florida State, it’s Auburn and oh boy they did.
The National Championship Game:
After a relatively quiet first quarter, Auburn would explode into a 18 point lead with a Nick Marshall 4 yard run. Jameis Winston had taken 3 sacks and FSU had only 3 points with roughly 3 minutes left to go into the half. Jimbo Fisher would make a call that would flip the momentum in the game with a Fake Punt Run that ended up giving the Seminoles a first down. FSU would march right down the field and score on a 3 yard run from Devonta Freeman. Similar to the first, the third quarter was all about the defense as the only points scored was a 41 yard FG from Roberto Aguayo (his second of the game). Winston would find FB Chad Abram down the sideline 11 yards for a TD to cut once was a 18 point deficit down to just 1. Auburn would go 69 yards on 13 plays to kick a FG from Cody Parkey. That 4 point lead wouldn’t last as Levonte Whitfield took the kickoff 100 yards for the Seminoles and gave FSU the lead for the first time all night with 4:31 left in the game 27-24. HB Tre Mason would come alive with a beast-mode esque run from 37 yards out to put Auburn ahead with 1:19 to go. The Heisman winner needed a Heisman like drive to cap off the perfect season and of course, the National Championship. On 2nd and 2, Winston would hit WR Rashad Greene as Greene would break free and run all the way to the Auburn 23 yard line. In one of the most iconic lpays in FSU histoy with 13 seconds left to go, Jameis Winston would hit Kelvin Benjamin on a slant route that was covered by CB Chris Davis for the go ahead score for FSU. Knowing Auburn in 2013, they already had 2 miracle plays on the season that got them to the Natty. Auburn didn’t have another miracle left in the tank as FSU wins one of the most exciting National Championship games of the decade.
Key players from Florida State: QB Jameis Winston, HB Devonta Freeman, WR Kelvin Benjamin, WR Rashad Greene, LB Telvin Smith, DB Jalen Ramsey, LB Timmy Jernigan, DE Mario Edwards Jr., K Roberto Aguayo.
Key players from Auburn: QB Nick Marshall, FB Jay Prosch, HB Tre Mason, WR Sammie Coates, CB Chris Davis, K Cody Parkey.
How each team would do next season:
Florida State:
Florida State would use this momentum to continue their long winning streak as they finished the regular season a perfect 12-0 and beat Georgia Tech in the ACC title game to clinch their berth into the inaugural College Football Playoff. Those 12 wins included Oklahoma State, #22 Clemson, #5 Notre Dame, and #12 Georgia Tech. The problem against FSU was the lack of dominance in the games they were suppose to win handily. They gave up 41 to North Carolina State and won each of their last 3 games prior to GT by a touchdown or less. A lot of people assumed that although they aren’t dominant, they did just enough by being undefeated. In the National Semi-Final, Oregon would expose FSU as they shut down the offense and put up 59 points in a Rose Bowl route.
Auburn:
Similar to FSU, Auburn started 2014 out extremely impressive. Auburn defeated a tough hardnosed #20 Kansas State on the road and smashed #15 LSU 41-7. Auburn dropped a tough game to #3 Mississippi State, but was able to bounce back by beating #7 Ole Miss. And then the Tigers completely collapsed down the stretch with winning only one of their final 5 games (Samford). Auburn is still a powerhouse to this day, but hasn’t been near the top since 2013 on a magical season that consisted of 2 miracle plays to get them to the national championship. They were one miracle play away from making it a 2nd national championship.
12 Best games in the Past 12 Years:
6: Appalachian State vs. Michigan 2007
Image Credit: https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/jameis-winston-comes-through-when-it-matters-most-for-noles/ http://sportswire.usatoday.com/2014/01/10/kelvin-benjamin-florida-state-nfl-draft-wide-receiver/ http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Tre+Mason/Florida+State+v+Auburn/bcAiPrzWqy8
