All hope is not lost just yet for fans of Florida State football who are eager to see their team restored as a college football powerhouse. Although in recent years the program has had some setbacks, the Seminole’s overtime game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish shows that this may be the year that the team brings itself back to its former glory. With the addition of UCF transfer McKenzie Milton, the desperation of FSU players and coaches to prove their program’s success, and their wish to honor former Coach Bobby Bowden, Florida State football is trying to exceed expectations this year.
Last season was head coach Mike Norvell’s first year with the team. Willie Taggart was the previous coach for the 2018 and part of the 2019 season but was fired with four games left in his 2019 season and the year ended 6-7. In 2020, Norvell ended his first season with a record of 3-6, the worst record for Florida State since 1975.
For the past three years, the Seminoles have had consecutive losing records that hadn’t occurred for the team since 1976, Bobby Bowden’s first year as head coach. Bobby Bowden is credited for building the Florida State football program and led the team to five national championships.
In August, Bowden passed away at age 91 and his memorial service was held at Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee. FSU football promised to honor him during their games all season with paintings on the field and patches on players’ jerseys. But it would seem that the Noles’s fight-to-the-finish in the fourth quarter this past week may have honored Bowden’s legacy the best.
The odds were stacked against Florida State as they entered the field against the Irish, who went 10-2 the year before. The game kickoff was at 7 p.m. in Tallahassee and Notre Dame struck early on a touchdown by Michael Mayer only two minutes into the game. However, by the end of the first quarter, the Noles were tied 7-7 with the Irish and soon were winning 14-7 well before the first half was over. It didn’t last long though as Notre Dame’s field goal would bring the score to 14-10 and by halftime Notre Dame was back in the lead with a 17-14 score. By the fourth quarter, Florida State had thrown three interceptions and was now losing 38-20.
Here’s where McKenzie Milton comes in.
McKenzie Milton is a new Nole, having transferred from the University of Central Florida this year to play as a quarterback for FSU. While at UCF, he led the team to an undefeated season where they won the AAC championship. In 2018, he dislocated his knee while playing in UCF’s rival game against the University of South Florida and had to undergo multiple surgeries. Last December, he announced his decision to transfer to Florida State so that Dillion Gabriel could continue to be the quarterback at UCF.
Milton hasn’t played in a game at all since his injury in 2018, so Coach Mike Norvell started sophomore Jordan Travis as the quarterback to give each player time to prove themselves on the field. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Travis’s time was up.
With only nine minutes left in the game, McKenzie completed five passes for 48 yards and brought the Seminoles to 38-35 with a touchdown by freshman Treshaun Ward. Then, kicker Ryan Fitzgerald tied the game in the last minute of the 4th quarter by making a 43-yard field goal and sending the game into overtime. In the last quarter of the game, FSU had scored 18 more points and cut their deficit entirely.
Unfortunately, the fourth quarter redemption arc ended as overtime began. Fitzgerald missed a 37-yard field goal while ND kicker, Jonathan Doerer, made it at 41 yards, bringing the score to 38-41 and winning the game in overtime for Notre Dame.
Although they didn’t win, unranked Florida State put up a huge fight in their first game against Notre Dame, who is ranked at No. nine. The momentum from the close Notre Dame game may just be the push that FSU needs to produce a winning season and put the program back on the track to greatness.
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