At 8:30 p.m. on January 6th, every sports fan in America was on their couches and their eyes glued to their TV. The National Championship was finally here. The number one team in the nation, the Florida State Seminoles, would take on the number two team, the Auburn Tigers. Florida State, led by Heisman winner Jameis Winston, was a seventeen point favorite over the number two Tigers, led by running back Tre Mason and quarterback Nick Marshall. Despite the large favoritism toward the Seminoles, many in the nation knew it was going to be a great game.
The first quarter began and the Seminoles jumped to a 3-0 lead. Shortly after, Auburn came back and scored making it 7-3 with the Tigers ahead. “At this point, I knew it was going to be a great game. With both teams not giving up many points, it was bound to be a close one,” says teacher Mr. Merkle.
By the end of the half, the score was 21-10, the Tigers on top. “I definitely thought, by watching this half, Auburn had it in the bag. The way they controlled the pace, I thought there was no way Florida State would win,” says senior Jason Janda. FloridaState played their worst half of the entire season, but only trailed eleven. You could tell that Auburn had the momentum coming into the third quarter, but FloridaState wasn’t done just yet.
The Seminoles came out and got a field goal right away, making the score 21-13. Shortly after, they forced a punt by the Tigers, and FloridaState went down and scored at the beginning of the fourth. It was now 21-20, and suddenly, we had a game. Auburn got the ball and took it down for a field goal. The score was now 24-20 and the Seminoles knew they had to score this drive. And they did just that. Levonte Whitfield took the kickoff 100 yards for a kick return touchdown, making the score 27-24 with 4:31 left on the clock. This was turning out to be one of the best BCS Titles of all time.
It was Auburn’s ball now, and they meant business. Not wasting any time at all, they got the ball down to FloridaState’s 37 yard line and let Tre Mason do the rest. Breaking tackles, and juking defenders out, he took it to the house for a 37 yard touchdown run with only 1:19 remaining.
This was the most important drive of the season for the Seminoles. “I was literally shaking in my seat, not only did I want the Seminoles to win, but I wanted to brag in my brothers face how Auburn didn’t,” says senior Joe Connick. They started with the ball on their own 20 yard line. The Seminoles then let Jameis Winston do what he does best- tear the defense apart. Going 6 for 7 on the drive and having 77 yards passing, he completed a 2 yard pass to Kelvin Benjamin for a touchdown with 13 seconds remaining! “I couldn’t believe what I was watching! This was the best game I have ever watched,” says sophomore Evan Hornyak.
Auburn had one last chance but could not come out on top. The Florida State Seminoles and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, would defeat the Auburn Tigers 34-31 in the 2014 BCS National Championship game. “I said…they said..he said…they was like…you strong? So I was like…We strong then let’s go!”– Jameis Winston,” sophomore Christian Ross repeats. This title gives the Seminoles their 3rd national title. It was a great game- possibly one of the best championship games of all time- and I’m sure nobody will forget it.