Sean Taylor will try to put the squeeze on FSU again in the Orange.
By MICHAEL SNYDER
Published December 30, 2003
MIAMI - Bobby Bowden has seen enough of Sean Taylor to last a lifetime.
Unfortunately for the Florida State coach, he'll see Taylor again Thursday night in the Orange Bowl. Once again, that could mean headaches for Bowden and the Seminoles.
"This year, we tried to get him the Heisman," Bowden said of Taylor's performance in Miami's 22-14 victory over Florida State on Oct. 11 in Tallahassee. "He had a Heisman day. He dominated our football game. And I watched him this year, and he dominated some others, too. Intercepting passes, stripping the ball out of your hands. Breaking up passes ... looking like a linebacker.
"I can't think of the last player that intimidated us like that. If there's one player that (I'd rather not see play), it would be 26."
The "Deluge at Doak" wasn't just due to the rainy, miserable conditions but to the number of plays Taylor was involved in that gave the Hurricanes their fourth consecutive victory in the rivalry.
The biggest was a 50-yard interception return of a Chris Rix pass that went for a touchdown and put Miami ahead 19-0. Taylor, a junior from Miami's Gulliver Prep, had another interception, a career-high four pass breakups and 11/2 tackles for a loss. He had his hands on three other balls that could have been intercepted.
"He looked like a Florida State receiver," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "(When) the ball was in the air, he was getting more passes than the Florida State receivers were. He did a phenomenal job, and the way he returned the interception for the touchdown before the half, you have to say if there was a difference in the game - that had to be it."
Taylor has been a differencemaker the past two seasons. So much so that it's almost a certainty he will forgo his senior season for the NFL draft in which he likely will be a high first-round pick. When he accepted the team's MVP award, his speech sounded like a farewell.
Taylor, a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award for the top defensive back in the country, was the Big East defensive player of the year in 2003 after compiling 71 tackles (44 solo), nine interceptions - three for TDs - and 13 pass breakups.
"I like changing the game," he said. "Nothing swings it like taking it to the house."
Miami defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said it was obvious FSU's receivers were looking to see where Taylor was in the first meeting.
"If he's around, they're going to drop (passes)," Wilfork said. "We know exactly what receivers go through, and we see it. I don't want to be a receiver on the other end with Sean Taylor roaming."
Even the best admit it. "I knew Sean Taylor was a player because we played them last year," Pittsburgh receiver and Heisman Trophy runner-up Larry Fitzgerald said. "I hope I don't have to see him again. Every game, he's getting a pick, knocking a guy out, doing something out there to spark his team. He did it against us, and he did it all year."
To some, it seems as if Taylor burst on the scene in that game in Tallahassee. But in last season's national championship Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State, Taylor had a huge game, with two interceptions of Craig Krenzel and 11 tackles.
"He's just a real, real talent," Coker said. "Sean's done it for two years now. Without question, he is the best defensive football player in America."
At 6 feet 3, 235 pounds, he has 4.4 speed and the moves from his days as a high school running back. It's the physical part of the game he enjoys most.
"I make sure I can see the guy, and I just try to put my pads on him," Taylor said. "I don't have any specific way of hitting. I just let it all go. I like that physical part of the game. You get to kind of give that person a little bit of what you're feeling. (They'll) be like, "Man, I don't want to run back over there. He's hitting today."'
With this being, in all likelihood, his final matchup with the 'Noles, Taylor wouldn't mind leaving them with a few more big plays to remember him by, including another trip to the end zone. He's quick to point out that he scored a state-record 44 touchdowns as a senior, while rushing for 1,300 yards and leading Gulliver to the 2000 Class 2A state championship.
Bowden might not miss him, but Coker will.
"He ranks very high, maybe as high as it gets," Coker said when comparing Taylor with past great safeties at Miami such as Ed Reed and Bennie Blades. "I made the statement when Sean was a young player that he had the chance to be one of the best safeties to play at the University of Miami. ... I think Sean is certainly in that category."
- Times writer Brian Landman contributed to this story.
