2008 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 2008 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. It was Florida State's 17th season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

2008 Florida State Seminoles football
ACC Atlantic Division co-champion
Champs Sports Bowl champion
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionAtlantic Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 23
APNo. 21
2008 record9–4 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJimbo Fisher (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorMickey Andrews (25th season)
Base defense4–3
CaptainDrew Weatherford
Home stadiumDoak Campbell Stadium
(Capacity: 82,300)
2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Atlantic Division
Boston College xy  5 –3     9 –5  
No. 21 Florida State x  5 –3     9 –4  
Maryland  4 –4     8 –5  
Wake Forest  4 –4     8 –5  
Clemson  4 –4     7 –6  
NC State  4 –4     6 –7  
Coastal Division
No. 15 Virginia Tech xy$  5 –3     10 –4  
No. 22 Georgia Tech x  5 –3     9 –4  
North Carolina  0 –4     0 –5  
Miami  4 –4     7 –6  
Virginia  3 –5     5 –7  
Duke  1 –7     4 –8  
Championship: Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 12
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • North Carolina vacated 8 wins, including 4 ACC wins
Rankings from AP Poll

The Seminoles were without as many as 12 scholarship players for the first three games of the season because of suspensions carrying over from the previous season for violating team rules, although it has not been disclosed how many of those were involved with an academic cheating scandal at the school.[1][2] Junior wide receiver Preston Parker was suspended for the first two games of the season, after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges.[3]

Rankings
See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final 
AP NR NR NR 24 NR NR NR NR 24 16 24 20 NR 23 NR NR 21 
Coaches NR NR NR 25 NR NR NR NR 23 16 24 19 NR 24 NR NR 23 
Harris Not released NR NR NR NR 23 18 24 20 RV 23 NR NR Not released 
BCS Not released 25 15 22 19 NR 20 24 NR NR Not released

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 66:00 p.m.Western Carolina*
SUN PPVW 69–073,024
September 133:45 p.m.Chattanooga*
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
ESPNUW 46–771,596
September 207:00 p.m.No. 18 Wake ForestNo. 25
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
ESPN2L 3–1279,235
September 273:30 p.m.vs. Colorado*
ABCW 39–2146,716
October 43:30 p.m.at Miami (FL)
ABC/ESPN2W 41–3965,786
October 167:30 pmat NC State
ESPNW 26–1756,643
October 253:30 pmVirginia TechNo. 23
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
ABCW 30–2081,876
November 13:30 p.m.at Georgia TechNo. 16
ABCL 28–3153,528
November 83:30 p.m.ClemsonNo. 24
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)
ABCW 41–2777,013
November 158:00 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 19
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
ABCL 17–2779,792
November 227:45 p.m.at No. 23 Maryland
ESPNW 37–351,620
November 293:30 p.m.No. 4 Florida*No. 24
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)
ABC/ESPN2L 15–4583,237
December 274:30 p.m.vs. Wisconsin*
ESPNW 42–1352,692
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Recruits
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
A.J. Alexander
ATH		 Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 4.4 Jan 28, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Travis Arnold
DB		 Madison, Florida Madison HS 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 4.6 Jul 20, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Nigel Bradham
LB		 Crawfordville, Florida Wakulla HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 230 lb (100 kg) 4.6 Apr 15, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 82
Nigel Carr
LB		 Jacksonville, Florida First Coast HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 4.5 Apr 15, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 82
Avis Commack
WR		 Jacksonville, Florida First Coast HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 4.5 May 24, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Andrew Datko
OL		 Fort Lauderdale, Florida St. Thomas Aquinas HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 285 lb (129 kg) 5.3 Oct 29, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Everett Dawkins
DE		 Duncan, South Carolina Byrnes HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 142 lb (64 kg) 4.7 Nov 17, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Garrett Faircloth
OL		 Jacksonville, Florida Bolles HS 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 260 lb (120 kg) N/A Jan 24, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Jarmon Fortson
ATH		 Columbus, Georgia Carver HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 4.6 Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Josh Gehres
WR		 Tallahassee, Florida Lincoln HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.5 Jan 28, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 73
Anthony Hill
DT		 Pensacola, Florida Pensacola HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 300 lb (140 kg) 4.9 Feb 16, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Ed Imeokparia
ATH		 Blairstown, New Jersey Blair Academy HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 4.4 Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Carlton Jones
RB		 Tampa, Florida Middleton HS 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 215 lb (98 kg) N/A Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Jabaris Little
TE		 Tallahassee, Florida Lincoln HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 4.6 May 23, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 75
Kyle Long
OL		 Charlottesville, Virginia St. Anne's-Belfield HS 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 280 lb (130 kg) 5.0 May 5, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 81
E.J. Manuel
QB		 Virginia Beach, Virginia Bayside HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 4.6 Jun 27, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 82
Anthony McCloud
DT		 Thomasville, Georgia Thomas County Central HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 295 lb (134 kg) N/A Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Moses McCray
DT		 Tampa, Florida Hillsborough HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 268 lb (122 kg) 4.9 May 2, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Nick Moody
LB		 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Roman Catholic HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 4.5 Apr 17, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Terrance Parks
DB		 Fairburn, Georgia Creekside HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.4 Jul 19, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 83
Tavares Pressley
RB		 Torrance, California El Camino College 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 4.4 Nov 27, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Bo Reliford
TE		 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Dillard HS 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 4.8 May 30, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Zebrie Sanders
OL		 Clayton, Ohio Northmont HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 273 lb (124 kg) 5.3 Jan 20, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Rhonne Sanderson
OL		 Tampa, Florida Plant HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 280 lb (130 kg) N/A Jan 29, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 75
Debrale Smiley
RB		 Thomasville, Georgia Thomas County Central HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 4.7 Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Blake Snider
OL		 Heflin, AL Cleburne County HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 282 lb (128 kg) N/A Feb 4, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
David Spurlock
OL		 Murfreesboro, Tennessee Riverdale HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 280 lb (130 kg) N/A Dec 9, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Toshmon Stevens
DE		 Crescent City, Florida Crescent City HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.6 Jul 31, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Corey Surrency
WR		 Torrance, California El Camino College 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 4.5 Oct 21, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Jermaine Thomas
RB		 Jacksonville, Florida First Coast HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.4 Apr 23, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 83
Joe Tonga
OL		 Walnut, California Mt. San Antonio College 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 304 lb (138 kg) 5.4 Aug 4, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Markus White
DE		 El Dorado, Kansas Butler Community College 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 4.5 Dec 10, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Vincent Williams
LB		 Davenport, Florida Ridge HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 4.8 Apr 18, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Florida State 2008 Football Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  • "2008 Florida State Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  • "2008 Player Commitments – Florida State". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  • "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2011-01-21.

    Game capsules

    Western Carolina

    Pregame Line: Lines are not released when an FCS team plays an FBS team.

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Western Carolina 0 0 0 0 0
    Florida State 7 21 27 14 69

    The start of the game was delayed almost an hour and a half due to lightning in the area, and then almost another hour during the 1st quarter. The first player to touch the ball for FSU, to start the 2008 season, was Tony Carter who promptly returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown and the game's first score. Sophomore Christian Ponder started his first game at quarterback. Ponder completed 11 of 17 passes for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns. At the start of the second drive in the second half (when FSU was up 35–0), sophomore D'Vontrey Richardson came into the game. Richardson went 5 for 6 through the air with one touchdown and also had two rushing touchdowns, one for over 50 yards. With several players serving suspensions due to the school wide "academic scandal" (several students and athletes were caught sharing answers in an online music class), the Seminoles had 28 freshman play in the game. Two of those freshman had touchdowns in the victory over the Catamounts.[4]

    University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

    Pregame Line: Lines are not released when an FCS team plays an FBS team.

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Tennessee-Ch 7 0 0 0 7
    Florida State 21 9 9 7 46

    In his second start as a collegiate athlete, Christian Ponder threw for 183 yards and three first-half touchdowns before being relieved by D'vontrey Richardson in the 3rd quarter. Richardson threw for 117 yards with one touchdown. Richardson also had a 55-yard rushing touchdown, the longest scoring run for a quarterback in the school's history. The previous record was held by Richardson himself, set in the previous week with a 52-yard touchdown run. Junior Wide Receiver, Corey Surrency, led Florida State in receiving with 87 yards and two touchdowns on just three receptions. Florida State's defense allowed their first score of the season after a 62-yard passing touchdown thrown by Chattanooga quarterback Tony Pastore. This was also the first score by Chattanooga against Florida State all-time, dating back to 1984, the only previous meeting between the two schools in which the Seminoles won in a shutout by 37 points.[5]

    #18 Wake Forest

    Pregame Line: Florida State −4

    1 2 3 4 Total
    #18 Wake Forest 3 0 6 3 12
    #25 Florida State 0 0 3 0 3

    Defense, kicking game help No. 18 Wake Forest clip No. 24 (AP Poll) Florida State

    Colorado

    Pregame Line: Florida State −6

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Colorado 7 0 0 14 21
    Florida State 7 12 6 14 39

    This game was played in Jacksonville, Florida with Florida State as the home team. This was Bobby Bowden's 500th Career Game.

    Bowden gets Florida State past Colorado in 500th game

    @ Miami

    Pregame Line: Miami −2.5

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Florida State 7 17 10 7 41
    Miami 0 3 19 17 39

    FSU dumps Miami behind Smith's career-best four TDs

    @ N.C. State

    Pregame Line: Pick 'em

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Florida State 0 6 7 13 26
    N.C. State 3 7 0 7 17

    Florida State rides Ponder, Smith past N.C. State

    Virginia Tech

    Pregame Line: Florida State −6

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Virginia Tech 10 3 0 7 20
    #25 Florida State 0 10 14 6 30

    Carr sets up two TDs in third quarter as No. 25 FSU rallies

    @ Georgia Tech

    Pregame Line: Georgia Tech −1.5

    1 2 3 4 Total
    #15 Florida State 10 10 0 8 28
    Georgia Tech 3 21 7 0 31

    Georgia Tech snaps 0–12 skid against Florida State

    Clemson

    Pregame Line: Florida State −7

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Clemson 10 7 3 7 27
    #22 Florida State 10 10 7 14 41

    FSU bowl eligible for 27th straight season on Bowden's birthday

    Boston College

    Pregame Line: Florida State −7

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Boston College 14 0 10 3 27
    #19 Florida State 0 10 0 7 17

    One day prior to the game, Florida State suspended Wide Receivers Taiwan Easterling, Bert Reed, Corey Surrency, Cameron Wade and Richard Goodman for their roles in an on-campus altercation with members of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at Florida State's student union.[6][7]

    Boston College upends No. 19 Florida State day after five wideouts suspended

    @ #25 Maryland

    Pregame Line: Maryland −1

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Florida State 0 21 3 13 37
    #25 Maryland 0 0 3 0 3

    Myron Rolle, Florida State's starting safety, was interviewed in Birmingham, Alabama at noon for the Rhodes Scholarship. At 5:00, he received the call that he was accepted. He flew in a private jet to Washington, D.C. and had a police escort take him to the game in College Park, Maryland. He arrived at the stadium around 8:30pm (with 11:55 left in the 2nd quarter). He dressed out in the locker room and walked onto the field to the roar of the Florida State visitor section with 6:23 left in the 2nd quarter. After stretching out, he made his game debut with 1:30 left in the 1st half. At the end of the game, his teammates showered him with a bucket of ice water in 26 degree weather, an act usually reserved for the head coach. He is the first Florida State player to ever have the "ice water shower".

    Maryland picked apart by unranked Florida State

    #4 Florida

    Pregame Line: Florida −16.5

    1 2 3 4 Total
    #4 Florida 14 14 10 7 45
    #20 Florida State 3 6 6 0 15

    Florida wins 8th straight while continuing dominance in intrastate rivalry

    Champs Sports Bowl vs. Wisconsin

    Pregame Line:

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Wisconsin 0 3 3 7 13
    Florida State 0 14 14 14 42

    Ponder powers Seminoles' offense, defense routs Badgers

    Rankings
    See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
    Ranking Movement
    PollPreWk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Final
    AP 31 30 28 24 41 35 34 29 24 16 24 20 31 23 29 28 21
    Coaches 30 31 28 25 NR 32 30 28 23 16 24 19 29 24 29 28 23
    Harris Not released 30 30 29 23 18 24 20 28 23 29 28
    BCS Not released 25 15 22 19 NR 20 24 NR

    Statistics

    Team
    TeamOpp
    Scoring 157 40
      Points per Game 39.25 10
    First Downs 24 12
      Rushing 11 3
      Passing 12 6
      Penalty 1 3
    Total Offense 561 176
      Avg per Play 9.8 3.0
      Avg per Game 561 176
    Fumbles-Lost 2–0 3–1
    Penalties-Yards 8–58 6–37
      Avg per Game 58 37
    TeamOpp
    Punts-Yards 2–93 8–272
      Avg per Punt 46.5 34
    Time of Possession/Game 27:44 32:16
    3rd Down Conversions 3 3
    4th Down Conversions 0 0
    Touchdowns Scored 10 0
    Field Goals-Attempts-Long 0–1–0 0–1–0
    PAT-Attempts 9–10 0–0
    Attendance 73024 0
      Games/Avg per Game 1/73024 0/0

    Scores by quarter
    1 2 3 4 Total
    Florida State 62 95 83 83 323
    Opponents 43 41 35 55 174

    Projected 2008 depth chart
    Offensive
    • QB – Christian Ponder so
    • TB – Antone Smith sr
    • FB – Seddrick Holloway jr
    • WR – Preston Parker jr
    • WR – Greg Carr sr
    • TE – Jonathan Hannah jr
    • LT – Rodney Hudson so
    • LG – Evan Bellamy so
    • C – Ryan McMahon so
    • RG – Will Furlong fr
    • RT – Antwane Greenlee fr
    Defense
    • DE – Neefy Moffett sr
    • DE – Everette Brown jr
    • DT – Budd Thacker jr
    • DT – Paul Griffin sr
    • LB – Derek Nicholson sr
    • LB – Kendall Smith so
    • LB – Toddrick Verdell jr
    • CB – Tony Carter sr
    • CB – Michael Ray Garvin sr
    • S – Myron Rolle jr
    • S – Darius McClure sr
    Special Teams
    • K – Zack Hubby so
    • P – Shawn Powell fr
    • K,P – Graham Gano was expected to start at both positions, but had a knee injury during two a days. He is expected back by the Colorado game.

    References
    1. Florida State announces '08 gridiron schedule | news-press.com | The News-Press
    2. ESPN – Bowden not worried about scandal's effect on legacy – College Football
    3. ESPN – Parker to miss two games after guilty plea to two misdemeanors – College Football
    4. Ponder strong in start as FSU whips W. Carolina
    5. Ponder sparks Florida St. with three first-half TDs
    6. Bowden suspends five wide receivers for game against BC
    7. Florida State players brawl with members of Phi Beta Sigma at student union
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