A week after securing the SEC East crown with an emotional goal line stand in Baton Rouge the Florida State Seminoles put the Florida Gators back in their place on Saturday.
For a fourth straight season the Seminoles (9-3) hoisted and paraded around the field with a Gator head and celebrated a win over the Florida Gators (8-3).
“Give them all the credit in the world. He’s put a hell of a program together,” McElwain said of the job Jimbo Fisher has done at FSU. “He’s got really good players and they play the game the way it should be. My hats off to what they’ve done here and what he’s built.”
Jimbo Fisher improved to 6-1 against the Gators in his career and the Florida State seniors finished out a perfect 8-0 career against the Gators and the Miami Hurricanes, the first senior class in school history to accomplish the feat.
“Those seniors, to never have lost to Miami and never have lost to Florida, that’s never happened in this school’s history. Think about that. All the great players to ever sit in those chairs in front of you, to be able to achieve what they achieved and to have never lost to Miami or never lose to Florida, that’s something they can always take with you,” Fisher said. “That’s what you play for. That’s what it’s about. Their legacy and what it means.”
Dalvin Cook led all players with 160 rushing yards. The junior, and one time Florida commit, has gashed Florida throughout his career. In three games against the team he spent nine months committed to Cook has 76 carries for 480 yards (6.32 per carry) and three scores. In what was likely his last game at Doak Campbell Stadium Cook had 179 all-purpose yards.
Cook got the scoring going with a 17-yard scamper in the first quarter. FSU made it a 10-point lead when Ricky Aguayo drilled a 22-yard field goal at the beginning of the second quarter. Florida used a pair of Eddy Pineiro field goals to trim the lead, making it seem, if only for a minute, that Florida had an opportunity to come back in the game. Deondre Francois’ 46-yard strike to Travis Rudolph made only the die hard, orange and blue glasses wearing keep hoping. When Freddie Stevenson, a fullback, scored from 27-yards out, eviscerating any belief that Florida had at coming back now down 24-6.
The offense, which outside of one play against LSU didn’t give any signs of life, was once again absent. Austin Appleby spent most of his night scrambling for his life. Appleby was sacked six times, four of them on third down and two that resulted in fumbles leading to FSU touchdowns.
“When you’re able to stand in there and dig your back foot and you really can see through your progression … that’s my job,” Appleby said. “That’s why I’m here to stand in there. It takes guts to play quarterback, especially at this level with the pass rush. And that was an elite pass rush. They’re leading the country for a reason, so hats off to them.”
The final score was an indication of where the two programs are. Jimbo Fisher has had seven years to build what we saw on Saturday but the fact is that the Fisher’s teams have outscored McElwain 58-15 in two meetings. This game won’t help Florida on the recruiting trail, it won’t make fans feel good about the direction of the program and it certainly won’t make this week of preparing for Alabama, undefeated No. 1 in the country Alabama, any easier.
The Florida Gators may be the best team in the SEC East but they’re running a distant second in their own state and that’s a bitter pill to swallow.