Instant Analysis: Virginia Tech-Florida State

While Joe Paterno and Penn State have climbed the college football heights this season, another celebrated senior citizen has been quietly rebuilding the Florida State Seminoles. Saturday in Tallahassee, Bobby Bowden’s low-key restoration project finally acquired a high-profile push against an opponent with a proud pedigree.

Don’t look now, but after a series of sad-sack seasons in the South, Florida State has a football team that once again finds itself in the thick of the ACC race. The Noles upped their overall record to 6-1, 3-1 in the conference, after taking down a Virginia Tech team that’s been a mainstay at the top of the standings ever since the Hokies entered the ACC earlier this decade. Being able to beat back Frank Beamer has to rate as a particularly pleasing result for Bobby Bowden, but what also has to have the living legend smiling is the way in which this particular victory was achieved.

Two things stand out in the immediate aftermath of Florida State’s terrific triumph. First of all, the Noles simply aren’t committing the turnovers that have dogged them over the past few seasons, not to mention this year’s one ACC setback against Wake Forest. When Florida State lost to the Demon Deacons on Sept. 20, Bowden grimaced in pain as his offense drowned in a sea of turnovers, seven to be exact. After their first three games of 2008, the Noles seemed headed for the same offensive agonies that had plagued previous campaigns. Little over one month ago, the most exasperating stretch of Bowden’s enormously successful FSU career gave all appearances of continuing. Saturday, though, the delighted patrons at Doak Campbell Stadium got to see why the vibe surrounding their revived program has so noticeably changed.

Virginia Tech has consistently won in the Frank Beamer era by grabbing turnovers and blocking kicks. On Saturday, however, Florida State’s offense and special teams simply didn’t flinch in the face of the Hokies’ pressure.

Seminole quarterback Christian Ponder wasn’t spectacular in this contest, but unlike his predecessors under center, the signal caller delivered an effective performance marked by its ball security and pronounced poise. By refusing to gift-wrap any scores for Virginia Tech, Florida State’s field general literally gave the Hokies no points to Ponder. That fact alone helped the cause for the home team.

In addition to ball security, however, another key component aided Bobby Bowden’s cause against Virginia Tech. The old man’s march to the top of the ACC standings received an assist from the phase of football that has haunted the elder Bowden in his decades on the sidelines. Yes, it’s not a misprint: In a surprising year of revival, the Seminoles have flourished because of field goal kicking, found in the fine form being displayed by Graham Gano.

Florida State is riding a four-game winning streak for many reasons, but Gano’s crunch-time kicking has to rate at the very top of the list. After all the games the Seminoles have coughed up and kicked away over the past two decades, the ability to find a dependable placekicker has made an enormous difference in Tallahassee. Truckloads of triples that sailed wide right in previous years are now being collected without fail, and these accumulations of small-size scores are adding up in FSU’s favor. The value of field goals was never more apparent than on Saturday.

One of the key points in this contest came in the second quarter. Virginia Tech’s Dustin Keys missed from 43 yards, while Gano hit a 50-yarder. The Hokies gave points away—much as the Noles had done in previous seasons—while Florida State stole them, in a classic case of role reversal. Despite being decidedly outplayed in the second stanza, the Noles—partly because of their advantage in the kicking game—stayed closer than they had a right to expect. When Ponder and the Noles’ offense produced two third-quarter touchdowns, FSU found itself with a two-possession lead instead of a one-possession lead as a result.

Gano wasn’t done making a difference, however. His dagger from 46 yards with just over two minutes left in regulation gave his team a two-score margin, essentially salting the game away. On a day when Florida State’s punishing defense knocked out Tech’s two starting quarterbacks—Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon—the biggest key for Bobby Bowden’s boys still came down to the kicking position. The Seminoles were solid in every respect, and their offense played its part, but at the end of the day, their kicking game proved to be crucial, more so than anything else.

Gano’s latest exploits against Virginia Tech sustained two streaks that have to be leaving Seminole fans in a state of giddy disbelief. First of all, Gano’s 50-yard bomb gave him a four-game run with field goals of 50 yards or longer. Secondly, this perfect day at the office (three for three on field goal attempts) has Gano sitting at 13 straight made field goals. This kind of consistency was needed for the Noles to overcome Miami. It was needed to hold off N.C. State the previous week in Raleigh. Saturday against a highly-credentialed Hokie squad from Blacksburg, Graham Gano’s kicking quality proved to be necessary—and decisive—once again.

Bobby Bowden has been kicked in the pants, quite literally, in a brilliant career laced with a few stomach-punch setbacks. In 2008, however, the Florida State icon is seeing Graham Gano turn history on its head, and long field goals into a winning formula for a resurgent team that’s making its old man feel that much younger.