For just the fourth time ever and third time in a bowl game, Heisman Trophy winners will square off as Jameis Winston and defending national champion Florida State take on Marcus Mariota and the second-ranked Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The New Year’s Day contest will be the first official semifinal in college football history as the Seminoles look to defend their national championship and put their 29-game winning streak on the line.
For each team, the biggest challenges look to lie on defense. Despite having a pair of All-ACC defensive linemen in Mario Edwards Jr. and Eddie Goldman, 13-0 Florida State ranked just 107th in the nation with 17 total sacks.
Winning the battle up front will be vital for third-ranked FSU as it faces Mariota, the Heisman Trophy winner, who has enjoyed one of the best seasons ever by a quarterback. Mariota accounted for over 4,400 total yards, 52 total touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Mariota will look to test a talented Florida State secondary led by sophomore safety Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey does just about everything for FSU while cornerbacks P.J. Williams and Ronald Darby are very good in man coverage.
Junior wide receiver Byron Marshall leads the 12-1 Ducks with over 800 yards receiving while freshman Devon Allen has a team-high seven touchdown receptions. Tight end Pharaoh Brown had six touchdown grabs on the year before going down with an injury. Brown would have been a very tough cover for the Florida State linebacking corps of Matthew Thomas, Reggie Northrup and Terrance Smith.
As potent as the Ducks are through the air, they’re by no means one-dimensional. This season, 230-pound freshman running back Royce Freeman has rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns, which led the Pac-12.
Florida State has a very talented freshman tailback in its own right as Dalvin Cook sits just 95 rushing yards shy of 1,000 for the season. Over the last two games, Cook has compiled 321 yards on the ground. and leads the team, averaging 5.8 yards-per-carry.
The biggest challenge for Oregon however, may be slowing down Florida State’s former Heisman winning quarterback. Though Winston has struggled this season with interceptions, he put forward another All-ACC season passing for over 3,500 yards and 24 touchdowns.
The talented corps of Florida State pass-catchers is led by a pair of seniors in wide receiver Rashad Greene and tight end Nick O’Leary. Greene is FSU’s all-time leading receiver and the first Seminole ever to lead the team in receiving in four straight seasons. O’Leary finished with over 600 yards and six touchdowns while becoming the first Seminole ever to win the Mackey Award.
The Florida State passing attack will be facing an Oregon team that ranks just 103rd in the country against the pass and will be without its best player in Pasadena. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, an All-American senior cornerback and Thorpe Award finalist, suffered a horrific knee injury during practice this month and will miss the remainder of the season.
With Ekpre-Olomu out, senior safety Erick Dargan will headline the Oregon secondary. Dargan led the Ducks and the Pac-12 with six interceptions this season. With 82 total stops, Dargan is also the team’s leading tackler.
Pass protection for Florida State has been much better in recent weeks since the Seminoles moved All-American Cam Erving from tackle to center and inserted freshman Roderick Johnson into the lineup at left tackle. The best of the bunch for FSU may be Consensus All-American guard Tre’ Jackson.
Oregon will look to build upon its 34 sacks this season, which ranks in the top 30 nationally. Junior linebacker Christian French leads the team with 6.5 sacks this year while Torrodney Prevot and DeForest Buckner each have four.
Each team has dynamic players in the kicking game. Florida State All-American kicker Roberto Aguayo is a stellar 46-for-49 in his career on field goal attempts. Oregon freshman Charles Nelson is averaging better than 15 yards-per-punt-return with two of his 11 returns going for scores this season.
The Rose Bowl match-up between Florida State and Oregon will be the first ever meeting between the schools. FSU is a perfect 4-0 in bowls under head coach Jimbo Fisher and comes into the contest with the nation’s longest bowl winning streak at six. Last season, the Seminoles rallied from 18 points down to top Auburn 34-31 in the final BCS National Championship.
Oregon has won its last three bowl games which includes a 30-7 victory over Texas last season in the Alamo Bowl — its first bowl under Mark Helfrich.
Thursday’s game in Pasadena is slated to kick off after 5:00 P.M. eastern time and will air nationally on ESPN. The winner will face the winner of the Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Ohio State for the national championship on January 12th.
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