Looking back on a roller coaster season

By Charlie Barnes, Executive Director - Seminole Boosters

"What it was, was football."

Andy Griffith launched his career as a comedian with that famous 1950s routine about a confused North Carolina backwoods boy trying to explain a strange and wonderful game. How in the world would he explain the unlikely, even bizarre, string of events that brought Seminoles here to Phoenix for the national championship game?

Much has been made of the eerie similarities between turns of events in 1996 and 1998. In 1996, for Florida to get into the title game, several outcomes of doubtful probability had to occur. First, there had to be a huge, nearly prohibitive, upset in the Big 12 championship game. In 1996, a bad Texas team upset sleepwalking Nebraska 37-27 in St. Louis. Texas was so bad that a year later the coach was fired.

This year's Big 12 game, also in St Louis, featured underdog Texas A&M vs. top ranked Kansas State. A&M came back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter, and at the end of the second overtime, on 4th and 17, a little Aggie back scooted to the one before he was pushed out of bounds. I say he was in; happily, so did the official.

Second, Ohio State had to do something remarkable. In 1996, Ohio State upset heavily favored Arizona State. In 1998, Ohio State lost at home to unranked Michigan State.

Thanks.

But the most unlikely hero, by far, of this Florida State story is the Miami Hurricanes team that knocked off third-ranked and undefeated UCLA a week after giving up 66 points to Syracuse. It was supposed to have been the Bruins' defining moment, the game that catapulted them into the Fiesta Bowl for a shot at their first national title since 1954. The Miami Herald quoted Rose Bowl representative Mel Cohen saying this was to be "the Game of the Century for UCLA."

Cohen got it partly right. Maybe the Upset of the Century. It wasn't just that the 'Canes had lost so dreadfully to Syracuse. They had lost seven of their last eight games against ranked opponents, and eight of their last 14 games in the Orange Bowl.

And for those Seminoles among us who saw real or imagined conspiracies afoot in 1996, here's something else to chew on: present at the Miami/UCLA game, complete with camera crew and director's chair, was filmmaker Oliver Stone. The Herald said he was shooting crowd scenes for a new movie...but I don't know.

The euphoria after the game in that rattletrap old Orange Bowl was beyond measure. Miami players described themselves as David and UCLA as Goliath. I thought Miami might have a chance because of the humidity, and because Miami's been getting better, and because the 'Canes' 66 points given up at Syracuse would mislead the Bruins.

But I knew UCLA was in trouble early in the week when Coach Bob Toledo responded to a press question by blithely saying that, no, he wasn't going to run up the score on Miami even though it would improve his team's BCS standing. These Californians don't know Miami like you and I know Miami. Toledo could have been well instructed by the lyrics of Ira Gershwin: "Little David was small, but Oh My!"

Actually, Miami's not that little any more. Only six players on the two-deep chart are seniors, and Coach Butch Davis has 25 scholarships to give this spring. This win over UCLA was probably the 'Canes' most dramatic and defining victory since beating Nebraska 31-30 in the National Championship game in the Orange bowl in 1983. Are they officially back, and if so, are they the Miami of Old, or a new and improved version? You decide.

Miami trashed an opponent's championship hopes, and then danced on the carcass. Rap star Luther Campbell was absent, but L.L. Cool J. was there holding court on the sidelines. On Friday, wide receiver Reggie Wayne was arrested for beating up a trainer. After the game, Coach Butch Davis allowed that the "worst part about the win [is that it might] end up making some people in Tallahassee happy." And when 15,000 fans ran onto the field, the police bludgeoned one celebrant into submission, and turned a dog loose on another who was bitten in the leg. The Herald used the word "mayhem" in the headline. Still, Miami Police Captain Tony Rodriquez merrily announced, "Within the chaos, it really went pretty well."

You've gotta love 'em.

But maybe the quirkiest thing that put us in the Fiesta Bowl happened back in February. Gene Frenette, columnist for the Jacksonville Times-Union, says: "In the end, FSU was able to sew up a No.2 ranking because of the gamble Coach Bobby Bowden took in scheduling Texas A&M in the Kickoff Classic." Playing that 12th game, and winning it, he says, was the difference between FSU standing at 11-1 vs 10-1. Had Texas A&M won, it might be them in Phoenix today instead of us.

Hard to explain. One bitter Kansas State player looked into the camera and asked, "How does this happen?

How can we be ranked No.1 and lose in double overtime and end up in the Alamo Bowl? And the ref's call on the one-yard line that gave a touchdown to Texas A&M...what was that?"

What it was, was football.