Freshman quarterback Deondre Francois found sophomore wide receiver Nyqwan Murray in the corner of the end zone to give Florida State the go-ahead touchdown and the 33-32 win in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami Florida.
No. 10 Florida State (10-3, 5-3 ACC) came out hot hitting Michigan in the mouth early. Junior running back Dalvin Cook found the end zone from two-yards out giving the ‘Noles the early 7-0 lead and the momentum.
Nywan Murray did his best to give No. 6 Michigan (10-3, 7-2 Big Ten) the momentum back after the Wolverines opening possession stalled out. Murray the fumbling the ensuing Kenny Allen punt on the Florida State 1-yard line.
The Florida State defense answered the call once again, shutting the UM offense down for zero gained yards and forcing them to settle for an early 19-yard field goal.
Murray would recover from his early blunder in a big way. Entering the game with just three touchdown receptions on the season, Murray would not only come up with the eventual game winner, but also had a 92-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter extending the ‘Noles lead to 17-3 and setting a new Orange Bowl record for the longest touchdown reception in Orange Bowl history.
Murray finished the game with 104 receiving yards finding the promise land on his two lone catches.
Freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo connected on two field goals, one from 38-yards out and the other good from 42-yards out sending Florida State into the half with a commanding 20-6 advantage.
The momentum that Florida State built up in the first half was short lived entering the last half of the 2016 season.
The Wolverines outplayed and outscored the ‘Noles 9-0 in the third quarter. Kenny Allen added his third field goal of the night with 9:36 to play in the third quarter. Deondre Francois decided the game was not exciting enough, with just under a minute to play before the fourth quarter Michigan’s own Mike McCray intercepted Francois’ pass intended for Dalvin Cook and returned it for the touchdown. UM would fail to convert on the two-point conversion.
The final quarter of play was full of excitement for both fan bases. Francois answered his pick-six with a three-yard touchdown run giving the ‘Noles the 27-15 lead with 11:38 remaining in play.
Speight found Khalid Hill from eight-yards out making it 27-22, then UM’s own Chris Evans decided he was going to do it himself and capped of a five play 61-yard drive with a touchdown run from 30-yards out. The Wolverines were successful on the two-point conversion and pushing out front 30-27 with 1:57 to play
Francois-to-Murray, the two players that coughed the ball up earlier in the game were not to be denied in the closing minutes. On 3rd and 9 Francois hit Murray for what would be the game winning touchdown.
The big question entering the Orange Bowl, would Florida State’s offense get shutdown by one of the best defenses in the country?
The Wolverines gave up a season high 33 points in the loss to the Seminoles on Friday night.
On average, Michigan was giving up 136 passing yards a game, Francois racked up 160 of his 222 total yards in the first quarter alone.
Florida State finished the 2016 season strong, winning its last five battles, while Michigan dropped their third in the last five contest. Both teams will now regroup and start preparations for the 2017 season. Both Michigan and Florida State will open the season in a neutral site matchup on September 2nd.
Florida State will kick off its ’17 season in Atlanta Georgia against Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
Michigan will face yet another Florida opponent, they open the season versus the Florida Gators in Texas on September 2nd. The Wolverines beat the Gators in the 2015 Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl 41-7.
