In a season of dominating wins, the Florida State Seminoles flipped the script on the “team of destiny” Auburn Tigers to win the final BCS National Championship, 34-31.
Redshirt freshman and Heisman-winning FSU quarterback Jameis Winston got the ball with a little more than a minute to play trailing 31-27. The ‘Noles, which hadn’t played a high-pressure, close game all season, marched down the field before a 2-yard touchdown pass from Winston to receiver Kelvin Benjamin with fewer than 20 seconds left won the game for FSU.
The key two-minute drill drive followed a 37-yard touchdown run by Heisman finalist and Auburn runningback Tre Mason to put his Tigers ahead 31-27 with 1:19 to play. Mason was responsible for 195 yards on the ground on 34 carries with two total touchdowns.
The Tigers, 12-point underdogs coming into the night, got off to a 21-3 start behind early struggles from the Seminoles’ offense and good field position from the Auburn special teams.
But FSU scored a touchdown prior to halftime to bring the game back into reach, and the ‘Nole defense, with an interception from cornerback P.J. Williams and strong play from defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, prevented an offensive explosion from the potent Tigers’ rushing attack. Auburn rushed for only 232 yards on 4.4 yards per carry after rushing for more than 500 yards as a team in the SEC Championship game against Missouri.
The ‘Noles pulled ahead briefly to 27-24 in the fourth on a 100-yard kick-return touchdown from freshman speedster Levonte Whitfield, an Orlando native, with fewer than five minutes to play in the game.
The Seminoles’ title win broke a streak of seven straight championships in the SEC and four straight in the state of Alabama. It also marked the largest comeback—18 points—to win a title game in BCS Championship history.
After a season of wild plays and magical finishes in Auburn, a little magic from FSU was the final memory of this college football season.