Becoming Goliath Again

A tough schedule awaits a Florida State squad looking to regain its status as a perennial power

By Charlie Barnes

Did Jimbo Fisher have a 'Bobby Bowden moment' when he looked ahead at the 2018 schedule?

Bowden's plan back in 1976 was to stay at Florida State for only a few years, catch the eye of some more substantial program and then move on. He could see the future schedules, and most especially the ghastly 'Oktoberfest' of 1981, which featured away games on consecutive weekends at Nebraska, at Ohio State, at Notre Dame, at Pitt and at LSU. All this was in addition to games against Miami and Florida.

"I remember thinking to myself," Bowden chuckled, "I said, 'I wonder who's going to be coaching these guys then.'"

But he didn't leave. After the victory over LSU in Baton Rouge in October 1979, Bowden made the decision to stay and stick it out at FSU. The 1981 season was every bit the terror that it was thought to be, but the Tribe did beat Notre Dame, LSU and Ohio State all on the road, and for those remarkable achievements Bowden and the Seminoles were christened 'The Road Warriors' by the national sports media.

For the most part, fans don't remember the losses we suffered that year. They do cherish the memories of struggles against impossible odds and the iconic victories against legendary programs on the road. For a long time, Bowden has said the 1981 win over Notre Dame was his most meaningful career victory. In those days, Florida State yearned to win the respect from the goliaths of college football.

The annual post-season Football Awards Banquet was held in Jacksonville on January, 1982, with a caravan of busses bringing players over for the event. Senior quarterback Rick Stockstill choked back tears as he apologized to thousands of adoring fans for the 6-5 record.

No bowl awarded Florida State a berth that year, despite the signature victories over national powers. In those days there were far fewer bowls, and 6-5 was just not enough ante to sit at the table. But, 1981 was the last time the Seminoles would be without a bowl bid.

Coach Fisher's final record in 2017 was 5-6. Coach Odell Haggins breathed draughts of much needed oxygen into the team, winning the final two contests included the Independence Bowl.

After the Orange Bowl loss in 2001, it took 13 years for the Seminoles to become a goliath again. And when it did happen in 2013 - oh, my! That 2013 team, led by Jimbo Fisher and quarterback Jameis Winston, was a thing of wonder. Winston set FSU, ACC and freshman national passing records. The Seminoles set new FSU and ACC records in total offense; they set a new national record for total points in the season; they led the nation in pass defense and had the most touchdowns in the country while setting new FSU and ACC records.

In 1981, no one questioned that Florida State played the toughest schedule in the country. There are those - mostly the preseason magazines and professional prognosticators - who say that this Seminole 2018 schedule will once again be the toughest in the land, comparable to 1981.

Our fans don't want to hear it. Coach Taggart made such a powerful first impression that some of us have talked ourselves into believing that we will be playing for the big trophy on Jan. 7, 2019, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

The people who made their living predicting outcomes start by looking at our opening game against Virginia Tech (and trust me, the Hokies cannot wait to get here), and the night game in South Bend, Indiana, in November. Games at Syracuse, at Louisville, at N.C. State and at Miami will be challenging. And of course Clemson and Florida will come to Tallahassee to pay their respects. It has not escaped notice that both Miami and Florida seem to be much improved over previous seasons.

In just a few days from now, we open at home against an old rival, a team we've played off and on since 1955.

Virginia Tech fans make a point of being unimpressed with Florida State. They are the hill people; we are the flat-landers. This fall, our Seminoles will seek the way to become a goliath again. And come Labor Day, Virginia Tech will arrive in town with a chip on its shoulder as it looks to be the David to Florida State's Goliath.

Until 2007, Virginia Tech had never beaten a Bowden-coached team, either at West Virginia or at FSU. Its record against the Seminoles is 12-23-1 but 10 of those 12 wins over FSU came between 1955 and the arrival of Bowden. Old timers among the Hokie faithful laugh gleefully at memories of the 1964 game in Blacksburg. With the game out of reach, and in its final moments, the great Fred Biletnikoff caught a meaningless touchdown pass and then blew off his frustration by throwing the ball high up into the Hokie stands - Florida State entered that contest undefeated and proceeded to finish the year with just the one loss.

The Hokies are a stout and hearty clan. Tucked into the deep folds of western Virginia's mountains, their campus is remote and gorgeous. The distinctive collegiate-gothic buildings clad in native limestone, their strong military tradition and fanatically loyal fans make them similar in culture and style to Texas A&M. They have absolutely been an asset to ACC football fortunes and we were lucky to have included them into the conference in 2003, albeit over the intense objections of their most despised in-state rival.

Virginia Tech was long a wanderer in search of an appropriate home. Between 1990 and 2003, the Hokies officially held sequential membership in four different conferences (some count five).

By contrast, our FSU alumni grew up in a state of 20 million people with deep wellsprings of top football talent who grew up outdoors and almost all of whom are fast. Our Seminole alumni like to joke about remembering their childhoods "back when Florida only had two NFL teams." Our state is the glamour capital of the south, the launching pad to the stars and the nation's gateway to the exotic southern hemisphere. We have Mickey Mouse and Universal Studios and more professional baseball, basketball, soccer and hockey teams than you would think could fully occupy our interest.

This is astonishing: Since 1983, nearly one third of all national college football championships have been won by the combined forces of Florida State, Florida and Miami, and each of those teams can boast of multiple Heisman quarterbacks.

Such is the frenzied passion for championships in Florida that the Central Florida Knights awarded themselves the title last season after going undefeated and beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl. And why not? If the voters refuse to put UCF on the ballot for Homecoming Queen, then let them fashion their own crown and put up its own decorations.

In the style of UCF's claim to a 2017 national championship, the Virginia Tech Hokies now officially claim "the longest bowl game streak in the country recognized by the NCAA." They claim to have participated in 25 consecutive bowls beginning in 1993. But of course the real longest bowl streak belongs to the Seminoles, beginning 11 years earlier in 1982.

Our game against the Hokies in the 1999 national championship in New Orleans was Virginia Tech's Gettysburg; the high water mark of their program's long history (start date: 1892). They don't like us and they never have. It is an intentional thumb in FSU's eye that the Virginia Tech Wikipedia page lists who consider to be their six major football rivals, a list that includes tiny Virginia Military Institute but not Florida State.

Let no doubts cloud your mind. When they come to Tallahassee, nothing would please the Hokies and their people more than to deliver a triumphant punch in the nose to the Seminoles and to head coach Taggart in his first outing.

If you churn through the pre-season magazines, the general prediction seems to be an 8-4 season for the Seminoles. Writers tend to gasp when they look at our schedule, and there are a few unkind sneers about recent "gaps in recruiting" that Taggart will have to address over time. Most pre-season rankings spot us behind the usual suspects: Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame and even Florida. And even Virginia Tech.

The Roanoke Times is high on the Hokies. They reprinted an analysis of the coming matchup by Ian Boyd of SBNation.com. "The Hokies will be catching the Seminoles at the right time," he writes. "Willie Taggart's overhaul of Florida State offers big potential, but the experienced Hokies (may be too much) foe week one of year one … This is going to be a slugfest, with both teams figuring each other out. But given how new everything will be at Florida State, Virginia Tech has the advantage."

Yes. Having once been a goliath, we yearn to experience anew the glories so familiar in our memories. Not many programs can reach that elevated status, and even fewer can ever recover what was once lost.

It's difficult, but not impossible to become a goliath. Our Seminoles certainly sustained it in the 1990s when we were the 'Team of the Decade.' Lately, Alabama is making a pretty impressive run and you can name a few others who always seem to hover around the top of the pyramid.

Coach Taggart has certainly been impressive out of the gate, but there is a learning curve for even the best coaches. Taggart is not yet familiar with the conference, and he will want to install his own system manned by the talent he identifies to fit his needs.

All that takes time and this 2018 schedule is anything but hospitable.

But we Seminoles know where we want to go and what we want to be. We've been here before. So, saddle up Seminoles and gird yourselves for the first step in becoming Goliath again. The journey back is about to start.