No. 4 - 2010 Football Season
Final Record: 10-4
Preseason/Final Ranking: No. 20 / No. 16 (Coaches Poll)
Bowl Game: Defeated South Carolina, 27-16, (Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl)
ACC Finish: 6-2 (No. 1 in Atlantic Division). Loss to Va. Tech, 44-33, in the ACC Championship game.
Versus rivals: 3-0
Win streak: Five (9/18 – 10/16)
Key players: K Dustin Hopkins, OL Rodney Hudson, DE Brandon Jenkins, QB Christian Ponder, CB Xavier Rhodes
Season Wrap
The Jimbo Fisher era kicked off in 2010. It was quite a change for the Seminole football program after the forced retirement of coaching legend Bobby Bowden following the 2009 season. Bowden was the ‘Noles’ head football coach going all the way back to 1976, and he won two national championships during his 34-year tenure.
It didn’t take long for FSU’s new head coach to experience the highs and lows of college football. In week two of that season, the ‘Noles were blown out, 47-17, in a road tilt at Oklahoma. However, FSU would bounce back and go on to win the next five games, including a dominating 45-17 win at No. 13 Miami.
Following heartbreaking midseason losses to N.C. State and North Carolina, the Seminoles bounced back again and defeated rivals Clemson and Florida in the final month of the season. The 2010 campaign was capped off with an upset victory over South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The bowl victory gave FSU its 10th win, which was the first time the Seminoles posted double-digit wins since 2003.
