The No. 18 Houston Cougars are in a big-time bowl game and they are making the most of it. Head coach Tom Herman isn’t leaving anything in the playbook against No. 9 Florida State at the Peach Bowl, as he broke out a sweet trick play in the middle of the second quarter.
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Florida State was without quarterback Everett Golson, the Notre Dame transfer who began the season as the starter but was away from the team for personal reasons. Cougars quarterback Greg Ward Jr. answered with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Chance Allen, who was left uncovered as Florida State sent safety Jalen Ramsey on a blitz. Maguire was carted into the locker room but returned to the field after two Florida State possessions in the second quarter.
“And we didn’t make enough plays on offense”.
By comparison, Herman said Houston’s undersized safeties Adrian McDonald (5-11, 205) and Trevon Stewart (5-10, 195) “have got to check the line at the roller coaster to see if they can get on”.
FSU could break off big plays to start drives yet had nothing to show for it. Then quarterback Maguire sustained an injury to his foot or ankle, and he was gone for almost half of the second quarter.
Ward was on the money through the air against the Seminoles, but his bread and butter came on the ground, as it has all season. The Cougars ran a season-high 99 plays and totaled 448 yards with Ward and backup Kyle Postma under center. The third quarter had exactly one score in it, and it came from the Seminoles. The 2012 team lost on the road to underdog NC State – similar to how FSU fell to Georgia Tech this season – and then later was defeated by a superior Florida squad, much like how Clemson downed FSU in November.
None of Maguire’s interceptions led directly to a Houston score. The Seminoles had 16 yards on 23 attempts, including three quarterback sacks, and Dalvin Cook was held to a season low 33 yards. By the second half, the Cougars had removed Cook from the equation by creating such a lead that FSU had to throw on almost every down. He kept the Florida State defense off-balance by leading the Cougars’ fast-tempo, no-huddle attack.
Ward completed 25 of 41 passes with one touchdown and one interception. The junior defensive end from Sandalwood High said he will talk with his parents and Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher in the next few weeks before making a decision whether to make himself available for the NFL Draft. “They just beat us on blocks”. These squandered opportunities prevented Florida State from breaking out of the early deficit.
Maguire later hit touchdown passes to Travis Rudolph and Jesus Wilson to cut the lead to seven points each time.
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Houston’s defense also forced five turnovers, including four interceptions of Sean Maguire (22 of 44, 392 yards, two TDs, four INTs). “But I was very proud of (Maguire.) I’m sure he’s going to say there were some plays he wanted back”.
