Florida State made Ohio State coach John Cooper eat his words. And they couldn’t have tasted too good.
At a team pep rally leading up to the Sugar Bowl, the normally bland Cooper stuck out his chest and proclaimed: “We’re going to kick their (butt).”
Oh, really, John? Fourth-ranked Florida State had other ideas, as the Seminoles overwhelmed their Big Ten foe 31-14 before an announced crowd of 67,289 at the Louisiana Superdome.
Florida State (11-1) dominated the game with its passing and pass rush. Ohio State quaterbacks Joe Germaine and Stanley Jackson took more hits than a pinata at a New Year’s Eve bash. Ohio State’s two QBs were sacked six times and pressured, hurried and harassed at least a dozen more.
“Their pass rush is the best I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Cooper said.
Florida State quarterback Thad Busby, on the other hand, had plenty of time to work–and he delivered. Busby completed 22 of 33 passes for 334 yards. Split end E.G. Green caught seven balls for 176 yards and a touchdown, earning him Sugar Bowl MVP honors.
“You hear Michael Jordan say you get in a zone and the basket gets so big you can’t miss,” Green said. “That’s how I felt. They kept feeding me the ball and everything went rolling.”
Cooper’s boldness early in the week seemed unusual considering that the coach has criticized his own players for filling Michigan’s bulletin board in past years with foolish predictions.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said he didn’t think it made a difference.
“I don’t think that motivated our kids,” he said. “We brought it up, hoping it would. But John said exactly what he should have said. He was trying to get his kids fired up.”
Evidently it didn’t work, as the Buckeyes dropped to 2-7 in bowl games under Cooper.
The Seminoles, meanwhile, extended their remarkable streak of finishing in the Associated Press’ top four to 11 years and Bowden improved his bowl record to 16-4-1.
Still, Bowden couldn’t help but reflect on his team’s 32-29 loss six weeks ago to Florida, which knocked the Seminoles out of the national championship hunt. “We won everything but two minutes in the season,” he said. “If we had won those last two minutes against Florida, we’d be playing (in the Orange Bowl).”
If the Seminoles still had their minds on the Gators, you couldn’t tell. Florida State put away Thursday night’s game in the second quarter by scoring two touchdowns in three minutes.
Leading 7-3, Florida State took an 11-point lead on a two-play, 55-yard drive that lasted 26 seconds. Busby hit Green for a 46-yard completion, then weaved into the end zone from 9 yards out on a quarterback sneak.
On its next possession, Ohio State (10-3) drove to the Seminoles’ 28-yard line before Germaine, under intense pressure, lofted a pass toward the left flat. It was intercepted by rover Shevin Smith, who returned it to Ohio State’s 23.
Three plays later, fullback William McCray found the end zone on a 1-yard scamper, increasing Florida State’s lead to 21-3 just before halftime.
Cooper strayed from his usual method of alternating quarterbacks. Instead of switching Germaine and Jackson between series, he often rotated them between plays. That strategy has worked well for Florida coach Steve Spurrier. But it didn’t matter Thursday night as Florida State’s defense gave neither player any time to throw. Germaine finished with 10 completions in 26 attempts for 173 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Jackson, playing his last college game, went 6 for 10 for 34 yards.
“They got relentless pressure on us throughout the entire ballgame,” Cooper said. “Their defense is big, strong and they play lot of people.”
