Clark column: Seminoles storm back to maybe save a season

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LOUISVILLE -- I'll be honest with you, fine folks. I thought the game was over.

When Louisville scored to go up 21-7 at halftime, and then Florida State went 3-and-out on the first series of the second half Saturday afternoon, I thought it was a wrap.

So much so that I went ahead and put a headline on this column.

It read: Is this rock bottom?

Because that's what it felt like. Not just that Florida State was going to lose to a mediocre Louisville team, but because of the way it looked like the Seminoles were going to lose.

From my vantage point, early in the third quarter, this one had all the makings of another blowout loss. I genuinely thought the 'Noles were on their way to a 30-point defeat.

And I couldn't imagine this season getting worse than that.

But you know what?

These dudes went out and proved me -- and probably most of you -- wrong. Really, really wrong. They made me change that headline. They made me shake my head in disbelief as they celebrated one of the more stunning FSU victories in recent years: Florida State 28, Louisville 24.

I don't know if this means FSU (3-2, 1-2 ACC) will put together a winning streak. I don't know if it means Florida State will even get to a bowl.

But I do think the way this team found itself, the way Tamorrion Terry and Tre' McKitty made plays when it mattered, the way seniors like Nyqwan Murray and A.J. Westbrook came up with game-changing plays in the fourth quarter, I do think that's something to build on.

"Man, what a win," Florida State head coach Willie Taggart said to open up his postgame press conference. "I think our football team took another step today. It was really good to see how resilient those guys were to go out and fight to the end and make winning plays. ...

"I think our football team took another step in the right direction. We're nowhere where we need to be, but we're headed that way."

This Florida State football team needed a win like this.

This program desperately needed a win like this.

Everyone that watches Florida State football week in and week out needed a win like this. And we can all thank Bobby Petrino and his quarterback, Jawon Pass, who inexplicably decided to throw the ball when they should have been running out the clock in the final minutes.

Westbrook was throwing on the backpack a few moments later. And the Seminoles, after it was all over, were celebrating with their fans in a corner of the end zone.