FSU Beats Southern Mississippi in Independence Bowl; James Blackman Throws 4 TDs

The Florida State Seminoles salvaged a difficult campaign with a dominant 42-13 victory over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in the 2017 Independence Bowl on Wednesday in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

The Seminoles started the season on a sour note, losing quarterback Deondre Francois for the year in a 24-7 defeat to the Alabama Crimson Tide, and things continued to spiral downward. Head coach Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M on Dec. 1, and star safety Derwin James sat out the bowl game to prepare for the 2018 NFL draft in April.     

Florida State was able to end the year on a hot streak with four straight wins, including the Wednesday's victory at Independence Stadium. Quarterback James Blackman was the star in Shreveport with 233 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes. 

This game started out like so many of Florida State's this season. ESPN's David Hale summed up the first drive against Southern Mississippi's offense:

It looked like the Seminoles were going to stumble their way through another contest, but those early miscues seemed to wake up the entire team.

Blackman picked an opportune time for his best performance of the season after having just 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions coming into the Independence Bowl. 

The ACC Digital Network shared his last touchdown pass of the afternoon:

ESPN Stats & Info noted Blackman is the first Seminoles quarterback to have this type of performance in a bowl game since the 1999 campaign:

Ira Schoffel of Warchant.com pictured how Florida State's former head coach might be reacting to the freshman quarterback's solid play:

JP Peterson of 620 WDAE offered one suggestion for why Blackman was performing so much better against Southern Mississippi:

Running back Cam Akers, who has been a bright spot for Florida State all year, capped off a memorable debut season with 94 yards on 13 carries. His 1,025 rushing yards in 2017 broke Dalvin Cook's freshman school record from 2014. 

ESPN's Booger McFarland believes Akers' outstanding freshman campaign has him set up to do big things in 2018:

Florida State's offense didn't play at a dramatically different pace under interim head coach Odell Haggins, though there wasn't much huddling between plays. 

Cornerback Levonta Taylor had nothing but praise for Haggins' ability as a coach and a leader coming into the game. 

"Coach Haggins has been like a father figure to us," Taylor told reporters Tuesday. "He's been a father figure to everyone on this team, just building the program back up. It's been a rough season, but since he stepped in, everybody is head over heels and ready to go out there and fight for him."

Willie Taggart is going to take over for Haggins as Florida State's head coach, but Haggins will remain on the staff as an associate head coach and defensive line coach next season. 

Taggart had something to say about huddling when he visited the ESPN broadcast booth during the telecast, per ESPN's Andrea Adelson:

It worked well for Florida State against Southern Mississippi. The Seminoles racked up 452 yards after entering the bowl game ranked 106th in FBS with an average of 343.6 yards per game. 

The FSU defense also closed 2017 on a high note. That group limited Southern Mississippi quarterback Kwadra Griggs to 86 yards on 13-of-25 passing with one touchdown through the air, and the team had 260 total yards and 12 first downs.

Running back Ito Smith was the only Golden Eagles player to find consistent success with 16 carries for 92 yards. It was the first time in four games he failed to reach 150 rushing yards.  

Even though this wasn't the end to 2017 it was hoping for, Southern Mississippi can take pride in its 8-5 record and three straight winning seasons after having four total victories from 2012 to 2014.

The Seminoles were out of sorts basically from the start of the season, yet they were able to band together for a strong finish as they prepare to enter a new era under Taggart. 

Florida State will be returning a lot of talent next year, including Francois and Akers, so the future remains bright. The Seminoles could have a big rebound from an otherwise disappointing 7-6 record in 2017.