Orange Bowl Win Salvages 2016, Creates Momentum for 2017

The No. 6 Wolverines came to the Orange Bowl week focused entirely on football, mimicking the success of last year’s bowl season. Allen kicked a 28-yard field goal, trimming Florida State’s lead to 17-6, but the Seminoles stretched their lead on a 38-yard field goal by Aguayo with 4:49 left in the first half.

November turned into a month to forget for the Wolverines.

The potential problem for hosts in the College Football Playoff rotation, like Miami’s Orange Bowl game, is you face a letdown when you don’t host a semifinal every third year.

And then it became a classic, with two lead changes in the final 125 seconds.

Ultimately, of course, no matter the competing teams that visit, the Orange Bowl is what it has been, uninterrupted since 1935: A positive advertisement for Miami. The Wolverines couldn’t run the ball, and Michigan’s stifling defense looked out of whack. As good as FSU’s Dalvin Cook has been at running back, it is hard to envision him having a huge game running the football given the success that Michigan’s rushing defense has had this season.

“Best game of my life”, Cook said.

He bypassed the National Football League draft last year to play his final season for the Wolverines and accomplish goals he and the team hadn’t reached during his first three years. That was a very tall order considering the 1983 Cornhusker team was being called the greatest of all time and appeared unbeatable. Bryce Love took over for the absent Christian McCaffrey in the Stanford backfield, running for 119 yards and catching a 49-yard touchdown pass for the Cardinal. He also missed the bulk of his freshman year with a knee injury.

Peppers said he would have played in this game “100 percent” had it been on Saturday. Wide Receiver Amara Darboh is the go-to-guy in the MI offense.

Then Michigan went on its run.

At the time, Francois had hit only seven of 24 passes for 189 yards. Whoever drafts him will be the luckiest team in the world. It was Florida State’s first win in a bowl game since 2013. Listed as the No. 11 team in the College Football Playoff rankings, the Seminoles suffered losses this year against No. 13-ranked Louisville, North Carolina and the playoff-bound No. 2 Clemson Tigers. At least briefly, until Florida State star tailback Dalvin Cook ripped it away with a 71-yard run.

On offense, Francois, the ACC’s Rookie of the Year, will return as will Murray, who twice beat All-American cornerback Jourdan Lewis for touchdowns on Friday. He also added four scores on the ground.

The Seminoles’ goal-line defense once again held MI out of the end zone in the second quarter, forcing MI head coach Jim Harbaugh to send out the kicking unit.

The junior is more than just a steady, reliable player at the running back position, though: he’s one of the most explosive players in the nation.

The Wolverines had no answer for DeMarcus Walker, a 6-foot-3 and 280-pound defensive lineman who dominated. Still, the breakdowns that led to the explosion plays were an unusual failure for a unit that tied for the fewest plays allowed of 10 or more yards. Fellow defensive end Brian Burns was second on the team with 9.5 sacks.