Florida State wide receiver Rashad Greene made history early in Monday night’s BCS title game.
The 6-foot, 180-pound junior became the first Seminole in 11 years to amass 1,000 receiving yards in a season. NFL star Anquan Boldin was the last FSU player to accomplish that feat, in 2002.
At halftime, Greene had four of his team’s six catches for 63 yards. That pushed him to 1,044 this season — the seventh-best mark in program history . He also extended his team lead by recording a catch in his 29th consecutive game, a streak that began when he was the MVP of the Champs Sports Bowl in 2011.
Greene is already all over FSU’s record books. Last year, he became the first ‘Nole in 13 years to score a receiving, rushing and special teams touchdown in the same season.
Another Seminole was also approaching FSU history. RB Devonta Freeman’s six carries for 46 yards in the first two quarters pushed his season total to 989 yards. That’s the eighth-best rushing year the Seminoles have ever seen, and it inched toward the 1,000-yard barrier. No FSU player has reached that milestone since Bucs star Warrick Dunn rushed for 1,180 yards in 1996.
Early deficit: FSU's occasional early struggles reached a low Monday. Heisman finalist Tre Mason's 12-yard touchdown catch from Nick Marshall gave Auburn a 7-3 lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
Mason’s 24th touchdown of the season — his first receiving score — gave the Seminoles their first deficit in more than three months. FSU hadn’t trailed in a game since the second quarter against Boston College. That streak spanned 583:42 of game time.
Defensive woes: Auburn's high-powered offense added two more first-half scores on notable plays. Marshall's 50-yard pass to Melvin Ray was the second-longest passing touchdown the Seminoles had allowed this season. It was also the longest scoring play in a national title game in five years.
Marshall’s 4-yard burst around the left edge into the end zone with 5:01 left was only the sixth rushing touchdown FSU had allowed all season, but it was the first given up by the Seminoles’ starting unit.
Auburn gashed FSU for 119 first-half rushing yards. That’s more than seven Seminoles opponents had amassed in complete games, including their last three — Duke, Florida and Idaho.
For kicks: FSU K Roberto Aguayo opened the scoring with a 35-yard field goal and added an extra point in the second quarter and a 41-yard field goal in the third. Those kicks boosted his season points total to 154 — only two shy of the NCAA's single-season record for kickers, set by Oklahoma State's Quinn Sharp last season.
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