2010 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 2010 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Seminoles were led by 1st year head coach Jimbo Fisher and played their home games at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium. They were members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, playing in the Atlantic Division. They finished the season 10–4, 6–2 in ACC play and won the Atlantic Division to earn a spot in the 2010 ACC Championship Game where they were defeated by Virginia Tech 44–33. They were invited to the Chick-fil-A Bowl where they defeated South Carolina 26–17.

Previous Season
Florida State ended the 2009 season with a 7–6 record (4–4 in the ACC). Legendary head coach Bobby Bowden coached his last game at the university on January 1, 2010 in the 2010 Gator Bowl, which they won 33–21 over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Jimbo Fisher took over the head coaching position in the offseason. The Seminoles were ranked #20 in the coaches poll coming into the 2010 season.

Samford
In Jimbo Fisher's first game as Head Coach, the 'Noles dominated the Samford Bulldogs. The first points of the game came on a 4 yard pass from Christian Ponder to fullback Lonnie Pryor. Florida State put 35 points on the board in the second quarter, thanks to three TD passes by Ponder (B. Reed, L. Pryor, T. Easterling), a 4 yard run by Jermaine Thomas, and a 74 yard punt return by Greg Reid. Samford kicked a FG as time expired to make the score 42–3 heading into halftime. The 'Noles were on cruise control this game and in the second half FSU's backups hung another 17 on Samford, and only allowed 3 points. Jimbo Fisher couldn't have asked for a better first game. The same can not be said for Week 2's trip to Norman.

Oklahoma
After Week 1's blowout victory against Samford, the FSU fanbase started to have a confidence about it. That confidence was quickly shattered and beaten as FSU got man-handled in Norman, OK by Bob Stoop's Sooners. The defense got shredded, allowing 47 points, and allowing Landry Jones to look like a Heisman candidate. The offense got shut down after scoring a TD on their first possession. The confidence had turned into a gut-wrenching memory of the 2009 team. But, the 'Noles would rebound.

BYU
The 'Noles kicked off a 5 game win streak against BYU after getting routed by Oklahoma a week before. The 'Noles run game was excellent as it accounted for 278 yards and 3 TD's. Christian Ponder bounced back from an awful performance against Oklahoma, completing 66% of his passes, throwing zero interceptions, and adding 50 yards with his feet. Chris Thompson ran for 123 yards, 83 of which came on one touchdown run. Ty Jones added another 95 and a touchdown. The FSU defense dominated most of the game by only allowing 191 yards and 10 points.

Watchlists

 * Dustin Hopkins
 * Lou Groza Award semifinalist


 * Rodney Hudson
 * Lombardi Award semifinalist
 * Outland Trophy finalist


 * Brandon Jenkins
 * Chuck Bednarik Award semifinalist


 * Ryan McMahon
 * Lombardi Award watchlist
 * Outland Trophy watchlist


 * Christian Ponder
 * Maxwell Award watchlist
 * Davey O'Brien Award watchlist
 * William V. Campbell Trophy finalist
 * Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist


 * Bert Reed
 * Fred Biletnikoff Award watchlist

Players

 * Dustin Hopkins
 * Academic All-America
 * Academic All-ACC


 * Rodney Hudson
 * Unanimous Consensus All-American
 * First-team All-ACC


 * Brandon Jenkins
 * First-team All-ACC


 * E.J. Manuel
 * Academic All-ACC


 * Ryan McMahon
 * Second-team All-ACC


 * Christian Ponder
 * Senior Bowl MVP
 * James Tatum Award winner
 * The National Bobby Bowden Award winner
 * Academic All-American
 * Academic All-ACC


 * Xavier Rhodes
 * FWAA Freshman All-American
 * Rivals.com First-Team Freshman All-American
 * ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year
 * Second-team All-ACC


 * Zebrie Sanders
 * Academic All-ACC

NFL draft
Three seniors would go on and be drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft.