Posted by NoleCC

This past year was a tough one, both for the Noles and for me personally. This is the first “Bowl Season” I can remember in a long time that I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the games. I’ve checked the scores, checked my Yahoo! pool with the boys from Block-C.com, but overall I just haven’t paid much attention to the actual games. Why? Other things popped up in life and college football had to take a back seat. Maybe that’s why this is the first Gut Reaction Prediction in a while that my Gut is like “Dude, I really dunno what to tell you.” Normally THE GUT has strong feelings about a game, but the 2010 Gator Bowl is different.

For The Couch Burners West Virginia Mountaineers:

Look, they’re pretty good. They’re also inconsistent at times. I’ve watched 3-4 games involving them this season and at times they look like world beaters, and at other times they look confused like their head coach, Bill Stewart. That’s not to say Stewart is actually confused, it’s just an expression on his face. Same thing with the Mountaineers, at times they just look confused, but then they pull it together. This happens not only week-to-week but quarter-to-quarter for them. The loss to Cincinnati was a close one, the USF loss I can’t explain and the Auburn loss is very blah in my opinion, since the Auburn Tigers were highly overrated. That said, they’re fast and their offense will be able to do a lot of damage against the Seminoles defense. It’s also very easy for the Mountaineers (although favored to win) to take on the “World vs. Us” mentality. Jacksonville will be loaded up with Seminole fans clad in Garnet and Gold to cheer on Bobby Bowden in his final game as FSU Head Coach.

For the Florida State Seminoles:

Christian Ponder is still hurt, which means that E.J. Manuel will have to win the game for the Noles. Manuel has healed his sore throwing arm, so hopefully he’ll have some more pop on his throws for the Gator Bowl. Other than that it’s the same old, same old. The FSU line should be solid, but will FSU run the ball or throw it? Who knows what Jimbo Fisher plans to attack, because every time I guess I’m wrong. That’s probably because Jimbo knows a lot more about what to call than I do. The Seminole defense is the big issue here. They’re horrid, they’ve been horrid all season aside from the BYU game. In person they’re even more horrid. Yep, it’s a big fat awful-fest on that side of the ball, so the Noles will have to score, score, score if they want a win.

The big story though is that Bobby Bowden is retiring, and I use that term loosing based on what I’ve read. It’s Bowden’s last this and that, and many of the pundits claim that the Noles will be “Up” for Bowden and will somehow will themselves to victory in this one based on that fact alone. I view it another way. The Noles don’t seem to play well in gimmick games (think blackout / whiteout / whateverout) and all of the hoopla surrounding the Gator Bowl and Bowden’s retirement make this a gimmick game. Oh yeah, and that home field advantage for the Noles in Jacksonville this year? Just remember the Noles were .500 at home this year.

Prediction:

Here are a few…

• TV Coverage will mention no less than 50 times that this is Bowden’s last game.
• TV Coverage will continue to mention it even if WVU is dominating the Noles.
• There will be a couple of closeups on Jimbo Fisher, the new FSU Head Coach.
• At some point Tebow will be mentioned… just once, because it’s in all television contracts.

Okay in all seriousness, I don’t know what to make of this game. I think it could be a blowout either way or close either way. I think West Virginia is the better team in this game, and they SHOULD win the ball game. Part of me thinks the Noles are going to go out there and dominate based on emotion alone, but the realist knows that the defense isn’t going to miraculously be better and E.J. Manuel is yet at the level of Ponder, which is what the 2009 Noles needed to win games and score on every possession. I think the Couch Burners take this one, which isn’t surprising for Bobby Bowden who’s been dubbed by many the “Unluckiest Coach.” The media will be talking about what a sad story it is, and I’ll be looking forward to FSU Softball season. My best guess?

Mountaineers 24 Noles 17