College football: Florida State’s Cheez-It Bowl victory sees buzz for "sickest catch ever"
Orlando, Florida - It was a special year for the Florida State Seminoles that marked the school's best college football season since 2016. The team won the Cheez-It Bowl showdown on Thursday, beating Oklahoma to advance to a 10-game winning season.
The Seminoles' 35-32 bowl victory on Thursday was the cherry on top of a great year for the Florida State team that finally pieced together the vision coach Mike Norvell saw for the program since taking over in 2020.
Falling behind Oklahoma going into the third quarter, the Seminoles turned it on in the second half of the bowl showdown with game-changing plays that sent social media into a frenzy.
Tied at 32 points with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Florida quarterback Jordan Travis found receiver Johnny Wilson for a down-field, 58-yard pass that led Florida State into field goal range.
Wilson's monstrous one-handed catch made social media go berserk, even catching the eye of former Minnesota Vikings player Everett Dawkins, who quote-tweeted the video of the catch with the caption, "Play of the year???"
New York Giants running back Jashaun Corbin also chimed in on the magical play, tweeting, "That boy Johnny Wilson is toughhhhhh !"
Many more fans blown away by the play took to Twitter, with one user sharing, "One of the sickest catches ever. Florida State got a GUY in Johnny Wilson."
Ryan Fitzgerald wins it for Florida State with thrilling field goal kick
Following Wilson's unbelievable catch, the Seminoles were in field goal range to break the tied score between Florida State and Oklahoma.
At the 32-yeard-line, Fitzgerald surprisingly did what he has failed to do under pressure in earlier games this season: make a successful field goal kick.
With the bowl title on the line and 55 seconds on the clock, the Seminole kicker made a successful 3-point field goal kick to ultimately win the game and push back at critics who previously slammed his kicking abilities.
"I hope Ryan Fitzgerald got a hit on that rock tonight," one fan tweeted, acknowledging the rough backlash the kicker has received this year. "Dude has gotten so much flack (more from me than almost anyone) and he came up there and nailed that kick right down the center."
Among the proudest of Fitzgerald was coach Norvell, who gave props to the athlete for his hard work.
"I want to give a shout-out to Ryan [Fitzgerald]. He went through some challenges this year," Norvell said. "He came through in the moment and answered the bell."
The eventful day on the field ended with Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis winning the game's MVP Award after breaking 400 passing yards.
Cover photo: AMES GILBERT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP