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David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — Florida State quarterback Brock Glenn said the Seminoles should “absolutely” be considered national champions if they end the season as the only undefeated Power Five team in college football.
Glenn said the prospect of raising a banner has been discussed among players, and he said the Seminoles remain focused on finishing out an undefeated season in spite of a playoff snub and a host of bowl game opt-outs.
“The Orange Bowl is an awesome bowl, one of the best in the country, and we have a great opportunity in front of us playing Georgia,” Glenn said Thursday. “It’s still a big game for us, and we’re taking it serious. We’re focused on the guys we have here to help us win the game.”
Glenn was Florida State’s third-string quarterback for much of the season before being vaulted into the starting role after an injury to Jordan Travis and the transfer of backup Tate Rodemaker.
Florida State is 13-0 but was left out of the College Football Playoff due to Travis’ season-ending injury. The Seminoles’ opponent Saturday in the Capital One Orange Bowl is two-time defending champion Georgia, which was knocked out of the playoff with an SEC title game loss to Alabama.
Florida State was leapfrogged by two one-loss teams in the playoff committee’s final rankings, setting up the possibility that the Seminoles would be the last undefeated team from a Power Five league still standing if No. 1 Michigan (13-0) and No. 2 Washington (13-0) both lose in the College Football Playoff.
That’s a tantalizing prospect for some Seminoles.
“It’s only right,” linebacker Kalen DeLoach said. “Nothing else needs to be said if we’re the only undefeated team.”
There’s plenty of precedent from the pre-playoff era, when teams split championships, claimed championships or celebrated titles awarded by entities outside the premier polls.
UCF finished the 2017 season with a 13-0 record after a stunning upset of Auburn in the Peach Bowl and subsequently claimed a national championship despite being left out of the College Football Playoff, which was won that season by a one-loss Alabama team.
On the other hand, some Florida State players were a bit more circumspect about the notion of throwing a parade for a championship the rest of the country isn’t likely to consider official.
“That’s tough,” defensive lineman Braden Fiske said. “I don’t know. Would it be phony? That’s weird. Would it be cool? Sure. But would it be a little bit cooler to actually be in [the playoff] and feel that confetti drop?”
Nearly a month has passed since the committee dropped Florida State out of the top four in its final rankings after the Seminoles’ 16-6 victory over Louisville in the ACC championship game, arguing that the Seminoles were not good enough to win a national championship without Travis.
That decision still stings, DeLoach said, but it’s also motivation for Florida State’s game against Georgia.
“I think about it every day,” he said. “These guys put in so much work. I only want the best for us. To go out there for 13 games straight and do what we do — there was nothing else we could’ve done. So we’re definitely going to take advantage of this opportunity to make it one more.”
Even a handful of Georgia players, who had their own arguments for a spot in the playoff, said they understood Florida State’s frustration.
“You put a lot of stress on to one player when a team is 80 to 130 players,” Georgia defensive back Kamari Lassiter said. “The committee made their decision and they thought it was the best one. Who am I to say they’re wrong? But it’s tough.”
How much the frustration played a part on a bevy of Florida State opt outs remains a point of debate, but the bottom line is the Seminoles will be without at least 19 players who had significant roles during the season, including tailback Trey Benson, wide receivers Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson, tight end Jaheim Bell, edge rusher Jared Verse and safety Akeem Dent.
Travis and tailback Lawrance Toafili are among key players who will miss the Orange Bowl due to injuries.
Those who will play in the game said there were no hard feelings toward anyone who opted out, but DeLoach said skipping this last step toward an undefeated season was simply never a consideration for him.
“You only get so many opportunities to put that uniform on, and I want to make sure I take advantage of all my opportunities,” DeLoach said. “When it’s all said and done, I’m going to really wish I could put that uniform back on again, so I want to just go out there with my brothers. We’ve been through so much, and to go out there for one more game, it’s going to mean the word to me.”