The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN his second New Year’s Six Bowl game, Mavin Saunders and his Florida State Seminoles capped his sophomore campaign and a dramatic mid-season turnaround on a winning note.

The No.11 ranked Seminoles captured Capital One Orange Bowl with a thrilling 33-32 win over No.6 Michigan Wolverines at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.

“What a game, what a season, we just getting started,” Saunders posted on various social media platforms.

Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois connected with Nyqwan Murray on a 12-yard touchdown pass for the game winning score with 36 seconds remaining.

“This is what you’ve got to play for, to be able to make it to an Orange Bowl,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Even though you didn’t win a national championship, to make it to an Orange Bowl, to play a team like Michigan, to play in an environment and atmosphere like this. Any time you keep score, that’s what you’ve got to play for.”

Expected to be a national title contender early on, the Seminoles struggled in the first half of the season with a 3-2 record. They finished strong by ending the year with wins in seven of their last eight games to finish 10-3 and reach double-digit victories for the fifth straight season. They also snapped a two-game bowl skid to avoid becoming the first FSU team to drop three straight bowl games.

Saunders finished the season with 10 receptions for 182 yards, both career highs.

After seeing action sparingly in the first three games of the season, Saunders saw increased minutes against USF when he caught his first pass of the season, a 12-yard reception.

In the following game Saunders finished with three catches for 74 yards, both career highs, in the Seminoles’ 37-35 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels.

He caught one pass for 11 yards the following week against Miami which marked his third consecutive game with a reception and saw that streak come to an end against Wake Forest.

This year marked his second bowl appearance in two years.

The 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl featured Alex Cooper and his Houston Cougars with a 38-24 win over Saunders and the Seminoles at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.

It was the first time Bahamians squared off on opposite sides of a major NCAA football bowl game.

Saunders joined the Frank Rutherford Foundation Programme in Houston, Texas in 2009 as a basketball recruit and played the sport until his junior season when he made the transition to football.

The decision to pursue a career on the gridiron full time has paid great dividends for Saunders as he joined an elite NCAA programme. He joined a list of Bahamian football players at FSU that includes Kamari Charlton, Devard Darling, the late Devaughn Darling and Myron Rolle.

Saunders committed to Florida State during his junior season with the Kinkaid Falcons in Houston. He chose the Seminoles over Arkansas, Houston, Illinois, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas Tech and Utah.