Bobby Bowden Goes Out a Winner

The second best head coach in the history of college football was definitely going to be the only storyline from the great 2010 Gator Bowl. Bowden, the Florida State head coach, has had 34 seasons of coaching and achieved 388 victories in Florida State. Gator Bowl saw him turn Florida State into a national competitor from college football after winning two national championships. He had a fairytale career but it ended in a rather low tone after a 6-6 tie. Bowden had coached Mountaineers of West Virginia for half a dozen seasons and it is ironical that he was scheduled to face them in his very last game.

In his last game, he left the college football fans with something to remember as his team, the Seminoles, managed to overcome an evident deficit to win at 33-21.

This particular game did not seem, even the very least, promising for Seminoles at the beginning. West Virginia gave them a 14-3 lead by the time the first quarter was concluded. Jarret Brown was the first to give West Virginia its virtual victory through a 31 yard touchdown. Florida State negotiated a field goal which was answered with a second touchdown by West Virginia. Noel Devine concluded the scores of West Virginia by a 70 yard rush to the Seminoles yard line and gave a yard plunge, settling at 14-3. It was a great score, after sixteen attempts of a touchdown and rushing 168 yards. No one would have denied that the game offered the thrill of its delightful suspense.

While it certainly looked like a disaster in Bowden’s final game at that point, Florida State was able to recover in order to avoid Bowden’s first losing season since 1976. The Seminoles used another field goal and a 12 yard touchdown run by Jermaine Thomas to close the gap to 14-13 by halftime. The Seminoles then continued their dominance of the middle quarters with 10 more points in the third quarter, all while pitching a shutout defensively in both the second and third quarters. Those 20 points during that time period allowed Florida State to take firm control of the game. It was Thomas that added Florida State’s second touchdown with 3:50 left in the third quarter. His 19 yard run capped a brief 3 play, 55 yard drive and put the Seminoles in front 23-14 after three periods.

West Virginia’s Mountaineers came up with a great drive that allowed them a score in the final period’s first play. Ryan Clarke tried to close the gap but only managed to give a 23-21 using a 5 yard run. However, the Seminoles quarterback, Manuel, answered using 81 yard drive to return Florida State to its comfortable lead. Manuel then finished with 2 yard drive. Florida State secured the win in the forth quarter by a field goal.

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