MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Florida State Seminoles told anyone that would listen how much they disliked being left out of the College Football Playoff. Their fans, players, boosters and even their administration felt the CFP committee screwed them out of the top four. It didn’t matter to the Georgia Bulldogs as they feasted on the Seminoles at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The 63-3 beat down was the largest margin of victory in the history of the Orange Bowl.
Kendall Milton was the MVP of the Orange Bowl. He had 104 rushing yards and two key touchdowns in the first half.
“I think a lot of coaches relax at the end of the year, and they say, ‘well, this game doesn’t matter. This game is not important,’ And there’s nothing that’s not going to be important in our place,” explained Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. “There’s not going to be a day that we walk out on that field, that Kamari Lassiter is not walking through saying ‘it’s not important.’ There’s not going to be a day that Kendall Milton is not doing blitz pickup, saying ‘that is not important.’ And I think that standard has translated into success. And I think that’s a big part of the culture that’s been created.
Carson Beck finished the game with 203 yards and two touchdowns. Backups Gunnar Stockton and Jackson Muschamp also saw playing time in a game that became a laugher midway through the second quarter.
This game will be remembered for the scoreline and the fact the Seminoles had thirty-one players that were injured, opted out of playing in the Orange Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft, or decided to transfer after being left out of the College Football Playoff. FSU boosters and fans complained and sued the Atlantic Coast Conference regarding their payout of media rights. Florida Governor Ron Desantis even lobbed complaints to the CFP and ESPN because prior to this season, no undefeated Power Five conference champion has ever been left out of the CFP until now.
“I told them in the locker room this game will not define the season,” said FSU head coach Mike Norvell. “But from now until forever, they’re going to walk into Doak Campbell stadium and they’re going to see that 2023 ACC championship and they’re going to know that they were 13-0 and unconquered throughout that time.
“And you know, we faced adversity tonight we faced our challenges, obviously didn’t play to the level of what we’re capable of. But we’re going to learn from it. We’re going to continue to move forward. And when it comes to bowl season, when it comes to choices that people make, obviously there’s a lot of people out there that will have their opinion. But I do think that the expand to Playoff and opportunities for teams that earn it.”
The Seminoles’ plight did not fall on deaf ears. Smart had a swift response.
“Maybe this will be a bad soundbite; but it needs to be fixed,” Smart explained. “It’s very unfortunate that team that has a good football team and a good football program … they are in the position they’re in. And everybody can say it’s their fault and solve their own problem. All right.
And if I could say that we had our guys and they didn’t have their guys, I can listen to all that. But college football has got to decide what they want. And I know things are changing. And I think it’s the things are going to change next year. And you know what, there’s going to still be bowl games outside of those. People got to decide what they want and what they really want to get out of it. Because it’s really unfortunate for those kids on that sideline that had to play in that game that didn’t have their full arsenal. And it affected the game 100%.”
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