TheoloJeep

My History as a Seminole Fan — Part Twelve: The Weight of No. 1

There is something different about being the team everyone is chasing.

In 2013, Florida State had surprised the country.

By the end of that season, nobody was surprised anymore.

We were No. 1.

We were national champions.

And in 2014, we had to prove we belonged there.

That changes things.

Defending the Crown

Florida State entered the 2014 season ranked No. 1 in the country.

For the first time since 2000, the Seminoles were beginning a season as the defending national champions.

And this time, there was no rebuilding.

No wondering whether the program was headed in the right direction.

No waiting for the next breakthrough.

The expectation was simple:

Do it again.

Jameis Winston was back.

So were many of the players who had helped Florida State win the championship the year before.

The talent was obvious.

But so was the pressure.

The season opened against Oklahoma State in Arlington, Texas.

Florida State won 37–31.

It wasn’t the kind of blowout we had become accustomed to seeing in 2013.

But it was a win.

Then came The Citadel.

Then Clemson.

Then NC State.

And the Seminoles kept winning.

But something had changed.

The games weren’t as easy.

The margins weren’t as comfortable.

Teams weren’t sneaking up on Florida State anymore.

They were coming after us.

The Games Got Weird

The 2014 Seminoles became incredibly good at finding ways to win.

Against Clemson, Florida State trailed late before coming back to win 23–17 in overtime.

At NC State, Florida State found itself down 24–7 in the second half.

Then Winston led the comeback.

The Seminoles won 56–41.

At Louisville, Florida State trailed 26–21 with less than four minutes remaining.

Another comeback.

Another win.

The final score:

42–31.

Then came Miami.

Florida State fell behind 16–0.

Sixteen to nothing.

Against Miami.

And somehow, once again, the Seminoles came back.

Florida State won 30–26.

It was becoming almost unbelievable.

The Seminoles weren’t dominating everybody the way they had in 2013.

They were surviving.

And winning.

And surviving again.

Week after week, I found myself watching games wondering how in the world we were going to get out of the latest mess.

And then, somehow, we did.

The Streak

The wins kept piling up.

Boston College.

Virginia.

Notre Dame.

Florida.

Georgia Tech.

Florida State finished the regular season 13–0.

Thirteen wins.

No losses.

Again.

For the second consecutive year, Florida State had gone undefeated through the regular season.

But this time, there was something different waiting for us.

The BCS was gone.

There was no debate over which bowl would host the national championship game.

There was a new system.

The College Football Playoff.

Four teams.

Two semifinal games.

One national championship.

And Florida State was in it.

No. 3 Oregon.

No. 4 Ohio State.

No. 2 Alabama.

And No. 1 Florida State.

The Seminoles were going back to Pasadena.

Back to the Rose Bowl.

Back to the place where Jameis Winston had delivered the national championship twelve months earlier.

Except this time, it wasn’t Auburn waiting on the other side.

It was Oregon.

The Weight of No. 1

By this point, Jameis Winston had become much more than the young quarterback who had shocked college football in 2013.

He was the face of Florida State.

And with that came controversy, criticism, and enormous expectations.

Every game seemed to become a referendum on him.

Every mistake became a national story.

Every comeback became another piece of the legend.

Florida State kept winning.

But it didn’t always look pretty.

And I think that’s one of the things I remember most about 2014.

It wasn’t the same feeling as 2013.

In 2013, every week felt like watching something being built.

In 2014, every week felt like watching something being defended.

The target was on our backs.

Everyone wanted to knock off Florida State.

Everyone wanted to be the team that ended the streak.

And somehow, the Seminoles kept finding a way.

Until Pasadena.

The Rose Bowl

I don’t know that I was prepared for what happened next.

Oregon was fast.

Really fast.

And from the beginning, Florida State looked like a team that had finally run out of answers.

The Ducks scored.

Then scored again.

Then again.

Florida State never found its footing.

By halftime, Oregon led 18–13.

It wasn’t over.

But it felt different.

Then the second half happened.

And Oregon pulled away.

The final score was 59–20.

Florida State’s undefeated streak was over.

The national championship was gone.

The defending champions had been eliminated from the first College Football Playoff.

And just like that, the season was finished.

13–1.

It was the first loss Florida State had experienced in more than two years.

The first time since 2012 that I had watched the Seminoles walk off the field having simply been beaten.

And as strange as it sounds, I think that was part of what made 2014 memorable.

Because 2013 had reminded me what it felt like to be on top.

2014 reminded me that staying there is something else entirely.

Still Watching

There was no championship celebration this time.

No Kelvin Benjamin touchdown.

No confetti.

No perfect record.

Instead, there was a loss.

A big one.

A painful one.

And eventually, Jameis Winston was gone.

He left for the NFL after two seasons as Florida State’s starting quarterback, having won a national championship and a Heisman Trophy.

The Seminoles were still one of the best programs in the country.

But the era was changing again.

And I had learned something over all those years of watching Florida State.

The players change.

The coaches change.

The uniforms change.

The stadium changes.

Even the way the game itself is played changes.

But somehow, I keep finding myself in the same place.

Watching.

That’s what I had done since 1989.

I watched through the glory years.

I watched through the Lost Decade.

I watched the rebuild.

I watched Florida State become national champions again.

And now I had watched the defending champions lose their first College Football Playoff game.

It wasn’t the ending I wanted.

But it was another chapter.

And I was still watching.